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Francis (Jack) Putz

Professor
Ph.D.  Cornell University, 1982

209 Carr Hall
352.392.1486

fep@ufl.edu 

Research Interests

As an applied ecologist, my goal is to use science to solve real-world problems related to ecosystem management and conservation. I conduct research on forests and savannas in Florida, but also in South American (principally Bolivia), South Africa, and Southeast Asia. I hold joint appointments at UF with the School of Forest Resources and Conservation and the Center for Latin American Studies. Off campus, I hold a professorship in international conservation at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and am a Senior Research Associate with the Center for International Forestry (CIFOR) in Indonesia. My research ranges from ethnobotany and natural history to biomechanics and physiological ecology, but my principal interest is in the tropical forest silviculture. So as to promote adoption of the improved forest management methods that my research and that of my students and collaborators reveals, I am much involved in market-based mechanisms for conservation and development including forest product certification and carbon offsets.

Representative Publications

Larion, K.*, G. Burleigh, and F.E. Putz. Pith width, leaf area, and twig thickness. American Journal of Botany (in preparation).

Alencar, A.+, G.P. Asner, and F. E. Putz. Forest fragmentation and drought are changing forest fire regimes in Amazonia. PlosBiology (in review).

Graves, S.J.* and F. E. Putz. Bark thickness at different heights on stems of fire-resistant and fire-susceptible Floridian oaks (Quercus spp.). American Journal of Botany (in preparation).

West, T.* and F.E. Putz. Indigenous community benefits from a de-centralized approach to REDD+ in Brazil. Global Environmental Change (in review).

Griscom, B., P. Ellis, and F.E. Putz. Carbon emissions performance in commercial logging concessions of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Global Change Biology (in review).

Putz, F.E. Futures of forests and forestry in the tropics. Biotropica (in review).

Brando, P.M.+, A. Alencar,+ D. Nepstad, and F.E. Putz. Abrupt increases in Amazonian tree mortality due to drought-fire interactions. Science (in review).

Putz, F.E. Root growth responses of lianas and trees to spatial heterogeneity in soil nutrients. In, S. Schnitzer, F. Bongers, R. Burnham, and F.E. Putz (editors), Ecology of Lianas. Earthscan Press, London.

Schnitzer, S.A.+, F.E. Putz, F. Bongers, and K. Kroening. Liana publication rate climbing. Biotropica (in review).

Wainwright, A.E.** and F.E. Putz. Scientific names matter to marketability: A comparative taste test of infusions of a native Florida holly (Ilex vomitoria) and yerba mate (I. paraguariensis). Economic Botany (in review).

Eleuterio, A.A.+, M. Aparecido de Jesus, and F.E. Putz. Short- term impacts of selective logging on the diversity of decay fungi in Amazonian Brazil. Biological Conservation (in review).

Putz, F.E., C. D. Canham, and S. Ollinger**. Root foraging efficiencies of trees and shrubs. Journal of Ecology (in revision).

Poorter, L., A. McNeil, V.-H. Hurtado, H.H.T. Prins, and F.E. Putz. Bark thickness and life history strategies of tropical dry- and moist forest trees. Functional Ecology (in press).

Silvério, D.V., P.M. Brando+, J. Balch, M.M.C. Bustamente, and F.E. Putz. Testing the Amazon savannization hypothesis: fire effects on the invasion of a neotropical forest by cerrado native and exotic pasture grasses. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (in press).

Putz, F. E. 2013. Complexity confronting tropical silviculturalists. Pages 165-186 in, C. Messier, K. J. Puettman, and K.D. Coates, editors. Managing Forests as Complex Adaptive Sytems; Building Resilience to the Challenge of Global Change. Earthscan, New York.

Ruslandi, A. Klassen, F.E. Putz, and C. Romero. 2013. Certification of responsible natural forest management in Indonesia: Progress despite obstacles. International Union of Forest Research Organizations, Helsinki, Finland.

Putz, F. E. 2012. Spring comes to North Florida. The Palmetto 29: 8-9.

Medjibe, V.P.+, F. E. Putz, and C. Romero. 2012. Certified and uncertified logging concessions compared in Gabon: Changes in stand structure, tree species, and biomass. Environmental Management DOI 10.1007/S00267-012-006-4.

Putz, F.E. and C. Romero. 2012. Helping curb tropical forest degradation by linking REDD+ with other conservation interventions: A view from the forest. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 4: 670- 677.

Medjibe, V.P*. and F.E. Putz. 2012. Cost comparisons of reduced- impact and conventional logging in the tropics. Journal of Forest Economics 18: 242-256.

Ruslandi*, J. Halperin, and F.E. Putz. 2012. Effects of felling gap proximity on residual tree mortality and growth in a dipterocarp forest in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 24: 1- 13.

Putz, F. E. 2012. Coastal forest retreats as sea level rises. The Palmetto 29: 8-11.

Ruslandi*, O. Venter, and F.E. Putz. 2011. Over-estimating the costs of conservation in Southeast Asia. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 9: 542-544.

Putz, F.E. 2011. Biodiversity conservation in tropical forests managed for timber. Pages 91-101 in, Silviculture in the Tropics, S. Gunter, B. Stimm, M. Weber, and R. Mosandl (editors), Springer-Verlag, Berlin.

Putz, F.E., P.A. Zuidema, T. Synnott, M. Peña-Claros+, M. A. Pinard+, Douglas Sheil, J. K. Vanclay, P. Sist, S. Gourlet-Fleury, B. Griscom, J. Palmer, and R. Zagt. 2012. Sustaining conservation values in selectively logged tropical forests: The attained and the attainable. Conservation Letters 5: 296-303.

Veldman, J.W.* and F.E. Putz. 2011. Grass-dominated vegetation, not species-diverse natural savanna, replaces degraded tropical forests on the southern edge of the Amazon Basin. Biological Conservation 144: 1419- 1429.

Brando, P.M.*, D.C. Nepstad, B. Bolker, J.K. Balch, B. Bolker, M.C. Christman, M. Coe, and F.E. Putz. 2012. Post-fire tree mortality in a neotropical tropical forest: the roles of bark traits, tree size, and wood density, and fire behavior. Global Change Biology 17: 2245-2260.

Peña-Claros+, M., L. Poorter, A. Alacón, G. Blate+, U. Choque, T.S. Fredericksen, M.J. Justiniano, C. Leaño, J. C. Licona, W. Pariona, F.E. Putz, L. Quevedo+, and M. Toledo*. 2012. Soil effects on forest structure and diversity in a moist and a dry tropical forest. Biotropica 44: 276-283.

Salimon, C.I., F.E. Putz, L. Menezes-Filho, A. Anderson, M. Silveira, I.F. Brown, and L. C. Oliveira. 2011. Estimating state-wide carbon stocks for a REDD plan in Acre, Brazil. Forest Ecology and Management 262: 555-560.

Medgibe, V.P.*, M. Starkey, A.A. Ndouna**, H.R. Memiaghe**, and F.E. Putz. 2011. Impacts of timber extraction on above-ground forest biomass on Monts de Cristal in Gabon. Forest Ecology and Management 262: 1799- 1806.

Putz, F.E. 2011. Would you prefer red coontie or white? Outstanding mysteries about a traditional food. The Palmetto 28: 13-15.

Sasaki, N., T. Owari, and F.E. Putz. 2011. Time to substitute wood bioenergy for nuclear power in Japan. Energies 4: 1051-1057.

Geselbracht, L., K. Freeman., E. Kelly, D. R. Gordon, and F. E. Putz. 2011. Retrospective and prospective model simulations of sea level rise impacts on Gulf of Mexico coastal marshes and forests in Waccasassa Bay, Florida. Climate Change 107: 35-57.

Sasaki, N., G.P. Asner, W. Knorr, P.D. Durst, H. Priyadi, and F.E. Putz. 2011. Approaches to classifying and restoring degraded tropical forests for the anticipated REDD+ climate change mitigation mechanism. iForest- Biogeosciences and Forestry 4: 1-6.

Nasi, R., F.E. Putz, P. Pacheco, S. Wunder, and S. Anta. 2011. Sustainable forest management and carbon in tropical Latin America: The case for REDD+. Forests 2: 200-217.

Caravalho*, E., L. Kobziar, and F.E. Putz. 2011. Fire ignition patterns and charcoal production in a pine flatwoods in Florida. International Journal of Wildland Fire 20:474-477.

Veldman*, J.M. and F.E. Putz. 2010. Long-distance dispersal of invasive grasses by logging vehicles in a tropical dry forest. Biotropica 42: 607-703.

DeWalt, S.J. and F.E. Putz (with 15 other authors) 2010. Global patterns of liana density and basal area vary with mean annual precipitation. Biotropica 42: 309-317.

Putz, F.E. and K. H. Redford. 2010. Tropical forest definitions, degradation, phase shifts, and further transitions. Biotropica 42: 10- 20.

Mazzei*, L., P. Sist, A. Ruschel, F.E. Putz, P. Marco, W. Pena, and W. Baitz. 2010. Carbon retention with reduced-impact logging in the Eastern Amazon. Forest Ecology and Management 259: 367-373.

Veldman*, J.W., B. Mostacedo+, M. Peña-Claros+, and F.E. Putz. 2009. Selective logging and fire as drivers of alien grass invasion in a tropical dry forest of Bolivia. Forest Ecology and Management 258: 1643- 1649.

Varner+, J.M., F.E. Putz, M.J. Mitchell, J.K. Hiers, J.J. O’Brien, and D.R. Gordon. 2009. Post-fire tree stress and growth following smoldering duff fires. Forest Ecology and Management 258: 2467-2474.

Putz, F.E. and R. Nasi. 2009. Carbon benefits from avoiding and repairing forest degradation. Pages 249-262 in, Realising REDD+: National Strategy and Policy Options, Arild Angelsen (editor), Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia.

Putz, F.E. and P.A. Zuidema. 2009. Conserving carbon in tropical forests: pitfalls and possibilities. Pages 19-24 in, A. J. Van Bodegom, Herman Savenije, and Marieke Wit (eds). Forests and Climate Change: Adaptation and Mitigation. Tropenbos International, Wageningen, The Netherlands. xvi + 160 pp.

Sasaki, N. and F.E. Putz. 2009. Critical need for new definitions of “forest” and “forest degradation” in global climate change agreements. Conservation Letters doi: 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2009.00067.x see also: Putz, F.E. and N. Sasaki. 2009. Response to Guariguata, M.R., Nasi, R. & Kanninen, M. Conservation Letters. Most downloaded paper of 2009. See stories in Nature (http: //www.nature.com/news/2009/090819/full/news.2009.842.html), Mongabay, and CarbonPositive.

Paz*, C. and F.E. Putz. 2009. Anthropogenic soils and tree distributions in a lowland forest in Bolivia. Biotropica 41: 665-675.

Palumbo*, M. J., S.T. Talcott, and F.E. Putz. 2009. Ilex vomitoria: An overlooked North American caffeine source. Economic Botany 63: 130-137.

Mostacedo*, B., F.E. Putz, T. S. Fredericksen, A. Villca, and T. Palacios. 2009. Contributions of root and stump sprouts to natural regeneration in a logged tropical dry forest in Bolivia. Forest Ecology and Management 258: 978-985.

Putz, F.E. and K.H. Redford. 2009. Dangers of carbon-based conservation. Global Environmental Change 19: 400-401.

Putz, F.E. 2009. Trying to eat tread softlies. The Palmetto 26: 12-13.

Putz, F.E., P. Zuidema, M.A. Pinard+, R.G.A. Boot, J. A. Sayer, D. Sheil, P. Sist, Elias, and J.K. Vanclay. 2008. Tropical forest management for carbon retention. PLOS Biology 6: 1368-1369.

Putz, F.E., P. Sist, T.S. Fredericksen, and D. Dykstra. 2008. Reduced-impact logging: challenges and opportunities. Forest Ecology and Management 256: 1427-1433.

Peña-Claros+, M., Peters, E.M., Justiniano*, M.J., Bongers, F., Blate+, G.M., Fredericksen, T.S., Putz, F.E., 2008. Regeneration of commercial trees species following silvicultural treatments in a moist tropical forest. Forest Ecology and Management 255: 1283-1293.

Peña-Claros+, M., L., T.S. Fredericksen, A. Alarcon, G.M. Blate+, U. Choque, C. Leaño, B. Mostacedo+, W. Pariona, Z. Villegas, and F.E. Putz. 2008. Beyond reduced-impact logging: silvicultural treatments to increase growth rates of tropical trees. Forest Ecology and Management 256: 1458-1467.

Marshall Mattson*, K.D. and F.E. Putz. 2008. Sand pine (Pinus clausa) seedling distribution and biomechanics in relation to microsite condition and proximity to nurse plants. Forest Ecology and Management 256: 1458-1467.

Current Graduate Students

NameEmailResearch Interest
Xavier Haro gxharocarrion@ufl.eduConservation Biology
Vincent Medjibe medjibe@ufl.eduForest management & carbon in Africa
Thales Pupo West thales.west@ufl.eduREDD+, improved forest management
Anand Roopsind aroopsind@ufl.eduTropical Forest Management and Conservation
Ruslandi Ruslandi r.ruslandi@ufl.eduTropical Forest Ecology and Management
Alexander Shenkin ashenkin@ufl.eduForest dynamics in Bolivia
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