Woods Hole Research Center

Senior Scientist / Leader of Amazon Program
Woods Hole Research Center
149 Woods Hole Road
Falmouth, MA 02540-1644

Phone:

508-444-1536

Fax:

508-444-1836

Email:

Education

Ph.D. - University of Wisconsin-Madison
1997, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Dissertation: Global Simulation of Lakes and River Transport in Climate Models, and Investigation of Lake/Climate Feedbacks During the Middle Holocene.

M.S. - University of Wisconsin-Madison
1992, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Dissertation: The Response of the Simulated Hydrologic Cycle to Interglacial and Glacial Boundary Conditions: Implications for Major Continental Drainage Basins and Ocean Basins

B.A. - Miami University
1985, Geology

Professional Experience

• 2011 - Present: Senior Scientist, The Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, Massachusetts
• 2005 - 2011: Associate Scientist; Woods Hole Research Center
• 2003-2004: Associate Scientist; Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment -Institute for Environmental Studies; University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 1999-2003: Assistant Scientist; Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment -Institute for Environmental Studies; University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 1997-1999: Post Doctoral Fellow; Climate, People, and Environment Program-Institute for Environmental Studies; University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 1998-1999: Adjunct Instructor, Madison Area Technical College, Madison, WI
• 2000: Visiting Scientist; Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
• 1997: Visiting Scientist; Dynamic Palaeoclimatology Unit, Lund University; Sweden

Research Interests

I am investigating the effects of land cover change, land use decisions and climate variability on ecosystem integrity in tropical South America. My current research is focused on combining field and remotely sensed data with numerical modeling tools to address how human land management affects the water and energy balance, regional climate and discharge to the oceans.

Selected publications

Castanho A.D.A., M.T. Coe, M.H. Costa, Y. Malhi, D. Galbraith, and C.A. Quesada, 2013: Response of simulated above ground biomass and net primary productivity in the Amazon to spatial and temporal variability in the physical environment, Biogeosciences, in press.

Castello, L., D.G. McGrath, L.L. Hess, M.T. Coe, V.F. Renó, P. Petry, and C.C. Arantes, 2013: The Vulnerability of Amazon wetlands, Conservation Letters, doi: 10.1111/conl.12008

Coe, M.T, T.R. Marthews, M.H. Costa, D. Galbraith, N. Greenglass, H.M.A. Imbuzeiro, N.M. Levine, Y. Malhi, P. Moorcroft, M.N. Muza, T.L. Powell, S. Saleska, L.A. Solorzano, and J. Wang, 2013: Deforestation and climate feedbacks threaten the ecological integrity of south-southeastern Amazonia, Phil. Trans. R. Soc., B, 20120155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0155.

Macedo, M.N., M.T. Coe, R.S. DeFries, M. Uriarte, P.M. Brando, C. Neill, and W.S. Walker, 2013: Land use-driven stream warming in southeastern Amazonia, Phil. Trans. R. Soc., B, 20120153. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0153.

Neill, C., M.T. Coe, S.H. Riskin, A.V. Krusche, H. Elsenbeer, M.N. Macedo, R. McHorney, P. Lefebvre, E.A. Davidson, R. Scheffler, M. Figueira, S. Porder, and L.A. Deegan, 2013: Watershed responses to Amazon soybean cropland expansion and intensification: Impact or resilience? Phil. Trans. R. Soc., in press.

Davidson, E.A., A.C. de Araújo, P. Artaxo, J. K. Balch, I. F. Brown, M.M. da C. Bustamante, M.T. Coe, R.S. DeFries, M. Keller, M. Longo, J. W. Munger, W. Schroeder, B.S. Soares-Filho, C.M. Souza Jr., S.C. Wofsy, 2012: The Amazon basin in transition. Nature, doi:10.1038/nature10717.

Soares-Filho, B.S., Silvestrini, R.A., D.C. Nepstad, P.M. Brando, H.O. Rodrigues, A. Alencar, M.T. Coe, C. Locks, L.S. Lima, L. Hissa, and C. Stickler, 2012: Forest fragmentation, climate change and understory fire regimes on the Amazonian landscape of the Xingu headwaters, Landscape Ecology, doi:10.1007/s10980-012-9723-6.

Wolh, E., A. Barros, N. Brunsell, N. Chappell, M.T. Coe, T. Giambelluca, S. Goldsmith, R. Harmon, J. Hendrickx, J. Juvik, J. McDonnell, and F. Ogden, 2012: A research vision for hydrology of the humid tropics: Balancing water, energy, and land use. Nature Clim. Change, 10.1038/nclimate1556

Coe, M.T., E.M. Latrubesse, M.E Ferreira, and M.L. Amsler, 2011: The Effects of deforestation and climate variability on the streamflow of the Araguaia River, Brazil, Biogeochemistry, DOI: 10.1007/s10533-011-9582-2.

Brando, P.M., D.C. Nepstad, J.K. Balch, B. Bolker, M.C. Christman, M.T. Coe, and J.E. Putz, 2011: Fire-induced tree mortality in a neotropical forest: The roles of bark traits, tree size, wood density, and fire behavior, Global Change Biol. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02533.x

Ferreira, L.G., G.P. Asner, D.E. Knapp, E.A. Davidson, M.T. Coe, M.M.C. Bustamante, and E.L. de Oliveira, 2011: Equivalent water thickness in savanna ecosystems: MODIS estimates based on ground and EO-1 Hyperion data. IJRS, doi:10.1080/01431161.2010.523731.

Hayhoe, S, C. Neill, R. McHorney, S. Porder, P. Lefebvre, M.T. Coe, H. Elsenbeer and A. Krusche, 2011: Conversion to soy on the Amazonian agricultural frontier increases streamflow without affecting stormflow dynamics, Global Change Biology, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02392.x.

Stickler, C.M., D.C. Nepstad, M.T. Coe, D.G. McGrath. H.O. Rodrigues, W.S. Walker, B.S. Soares-Filho, and E.A. Davidson, 2009: The potential ecological costs and co-benefits of REDD: A critical review and case study from the Amazon region, Global Change Biology, 15, 2803–2824, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02109.x.

Coe, M.T., M.H. Costa, and B.S. Soares-Filho, 2009: The Influence of historical and potential future deforestation on the stream flow of the Amazon River - Land surface processes and atmospheric feedbacks, J. Hydrol. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.02.043.

Costa, M.H., M.T. Coe, and J-L Guyot, 2009: Effects of climatic variability and deforestation on flow regime, In: Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Project in Amazonia: A synthesis, accepted.

Garcia-Montiel, D.C., M.T. Coe, M.P. Cruz, J.N. Ferreira, E.M. da Silva, and E.A. Davidson, 2008: Estimating seasonal changes in volumetric soil water content at landscape scales in a savanna ecosystem using two-dimensional resistivity profiling, Earth Inter., 12, 1-25.

Coe, M.T., M.H. Costa and E.A. Howard, 2007: Simulating the surface waters of the Amazon River Basin: Impacts of new river geomorphic and dynamic flow parameterizations, Hydrol. Procs. 21, doi: 10.1002/hyp.6850.

Coe, M.T. and C.M. Birkett, 2007: The Desiccation of Lake Chad, in: Our Changing Planet: The View from Space, M.D. King, C.L Parkinson, K.C. Partington, and R.G. Williams, eds., Cambridge University Press, 400 pp.

Foley, J.A., G.P. Asner, M.H. Costa, M.T. Coe, R. DeFries, H.K. Gibbs, E.A. Howard, S. Olson, J. Patz, N. Ramankutty and P. Snyder, 2007: Amazonian revealed: Forest degradation and loss of ecosystem goods and services in the Amazon Basin, Frontiers in Ecol. and Environ. 5(1): 25-32.

Li, K.Y., M.T. Coe, N. Ramankutty, and R. De Jong, 2007: Modeling the hydrological impact of land-use change in West Africa, J. Hydrol. 337, 258-268, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.01.038

Cardille, J. A., S. R. Carpenter, M. T. Coe, J. A. Foley, P. C. Hanson, M. G. Turner, and J. A. Vano 2007: Carbon and water cycling in lake-rich landscapes: Landscape connections, lake hydrology, and biogeochemistry, J. Geophys. Res., 112, G02031, doi:10.1029/2006JG000200.

Li, K.Y., R. De Jong, M.T. Coe, N. Ramankutty, 2006: Root water uptake based upon a new water stress reduction and asymptotic root distribution function, Earth Interact., 10, paper 10-014, 1 - 22.

Li, K.Y., M.T. Coe, and N. Ramankutty, 2005, Investigation of hydrological variability in West Africa using land surface models, J Clim., 18, (16), 2893-2908.

Foley, J.A., R. DeFries, G.P. Asner, C. Barford, G. Bonan, S.R. Carpenter, F.S. Chapin, M.T. Coe, G.C. Daily, H.K. Gibbs, J.H. Helkowski, T. Holloway, E.A. Howard, C.J. Kucharik, C. Monfreda, J.A. Patz, I.C. Prentice, N. Ramankutty, and P.K. Snyder, 2005: Global consequences of land use, Science, 309, 570-574.

Coe, M.T., and C.M. Birkett, 2004: Calculation of river discharge and prediction of lake height from satellite radar altimetry: Example for the Lake Chad Basin, Water Resour. Res., 40, (10), 10.1029/2003WR002543.