Richard A. Houghton

Richard A. Houghton
Senior Scientist
Woods Hole Research Center
149 Woods Hole Road
Falmouth, MA 02540-1644
Phone: 508-540-9900 x116
Fax: 508-540-9700

Education

Ph.D. - State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1979

B.A. - Hamilton College, 1965

Professional Experience

  • 1989 - present: Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center, Woods Hole, MA
  • 1993 - 1994: Visiting Senior Scientist, Office of Mission to Planet Earth, NASA, Washington, D.C.
  • 1987 - 1989: Associate Scientist, The Woods Hole Research Center, Woods Hole, MA
  • 1984 - 1987: Assistant Scientist, The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Lab., Woods Hole, MA
  • 1975 - 1984: Research Associate, The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Lab., Woods Hole, MA
  • 1967 - 1974: Research Associate, Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY

Research Interests

The global carbon cycle, terrestrial ecosystems, land-use change, response of ecosystems to climatic change.

Recent publications

Goodale, C.L., M.J. Apps, R.A. Birdsey, C.B. Field, L.S. Heath, R.A. Houghton, J.C. Jenkins, G. H. Kohlmaier, W. Kurz, S. Liu, G.-J. Nabuurs, S. Nilsson, and A.Z. Shvidenko. 2002. Forest carbon sinks in the northern hemisphere. Ecological Applications 12:891-899.

Houghton, R.A. 2002. Magnitude, distribution and causes of terrestrial carbon sinks and some implications for policy. Climate Policy 2:71-88.

Houghton, R.A. 2003. Revised estimates of the annual net flux of carbon to the atmosphere from changes in land use and land management 1850-2000. Tellus 55B:378-390.

Houghton, R.A. 2003. Why are estimates of the terrestrial carbon balance so different? Global Change Biology 9:500-509.

Houghton, R.A., and J.L. Hackler. 2003. Sources and sinks of carbon from land-use change in China. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 17(2), 1034, doi:10.1029/2002GB001970.

Houghton, R.A. 2003. The contemporary carbon cycle, pp. 473-513. In Biogeochemistry (ed. W.H. Schlesinger) Vol. 8 Treatise on Geochemistry (eds. H.D. Holland and K.K. Turekian), Elsevier-Pergamon, Oxford, U.K.

House, J.I., I.C. Prentice, N. Ramankutty, R.A. Houghton and M. Heimann. 2003. Reconciling apparent inconsistencies in estimates of terrestrial CO2 sources and sinks. Tellus 55B: 345-363.

Hirsch, A.I., W.S. Little, R.A. Houghton, N.A. Scott, and J.D. White. 2004. The net carbon flux due to deforestation and forest re-growth in the Brazilian Amazon: Analysis using a process-based model. Global Change Biology 10:908-924.

Houghton, R.A., and C.L. Goodale. 2004. Effects of land-use change on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems. Pages 85-98 in: R.S. DeFries, G.P. Asner, R.A. Houghton (editors), Ecosystems and Land Use Change. American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.

Houghton, R.A., F. Joos, and G.P. Asner. 2004. The effects of land use and management on the global carbon cycle. Pages 237-256 in G. Gutman, A.C. Janetos, C.O. Justice, E.F. Moran, J.F. Mustard, R.R. Rindfuss, D. Skole, B.L. Turner II, and M.A. Cochrane (editors), Land Change Science: Observing, Monitoring, and Understanding Trajectories of Change on the Earth's Surface. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Current projects

Carbon cycle, African forests, Russian forests, land use, U.S. carbon budget, fire and logging in the Amazon

Achievements & awards

  • Honorary Doctorate from the Faculty of Forest Science, University of Munich, 1995