
Steven Kembel
Associate Professor,Université du Québec à Montréal
Department of Biology
E-mail: kembel.steven_w@uqam.ca
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ResearchPlant leaves and roots are home to thousands of different species of microbes, including bacteria, fungi and microscopic plants and animals. While some of these microbes are harmful, many have neutral or beneficial effects on their hosts. However, methods to measure microbial biodiversity in depth have only recently been developed, meaning that knowledge about how and why plants and microbes interact is only at an early stage of development. Dr. Steven Kembel is studying the biodiversity of microbes living on plants. He aims to better understand how plant hosts influence the microbial communities living on their leaves and roots, and how these microbes, in turn, influence the growth, health and functioning of their hosts. Kembel is examining microbial diversity by sequencing microbial DNA from environmental samples. His research includes studying plant-microbe interactions in tropical, temperate and boreal forests, as well as experimental-manipulating microbes growing on plants in the lab and in natural ecosystems. Kembel’s research is highlighting ecologically important plant-associated microbes in forests around the globe. As well, his research will provide better understanding of the evolution of plant-microbe interactions, and will offer important insights into the potential responses of forest ecosystems to global change. Kembel’s research could also lead to improvements to sustainable forestry and agriculture through the management of plant-microbe interactions.QCBS studentsMona ParizadehPh.D. Pedro Henrique Pereira BragaPh.D. Juanita Carolina RodríguezPh.D. Hélène Dion-PhenixM.Sc. Previous students (since 2009)Rim KhlifaPostdoctoral fellow Joel JamessonPh.D. Isabelle Laforest-LapointePh.D. Geneviève LajoiePh.D. Mathieu LandryPh.D. Rémi MaglionePh.D. Alana Di VitoM.Sc. Melbert SchwarzM.Sc. Luis TovarM.Sc. Involvement within the QCBS
Relevant QCBS research themes
Examples of species studiedCeanothus roderickii Rhamnaceae Ceanothus Bradyrhizobium Manitoba Pseudomonas aeruginosa Arabidopsis thaliana Acer saccharum Publications75- Glial Cell-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Induces Enteric Neurogenesis and Improves Colon Structure and Function in Mouse Models of Hirschsprung Disease Soret R , Schneider S , Bernas G , Christophers B , Souchkova O , Charrier B , Righini-Grunder F , Aspirot A , Landry M , Kembel S W , Faure C , Heuckeroth R O , Pilon N , 2020 Gastroenterology (Date Added: 2020-11-23) 74- Adaptive matching between phyllosphere bacteria and their tree hosts in a neotropical forest Lajoie G , Maglione R , Kembel S W , 2020 Microbiome (Date Added: 2020-06-02) 73- Transfer index, NetUniFrac and some useful shortest path-based distances for community analysis in sequence similarity networks Xing H , Kembel S W , Makarenkov V , 2020 Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) (Date Added: 2020-05-16) 72- Limited initial impacts of biomass harvesting on composition of wood-inhabiting fungi within residual stumps Boué C , DeBellis T , Venier L A , Work T T , Kembel S W , 2019 PeerJ (Date Added: 2020-01-08) 71- Microsite conditions influence leaf litter decomposition in sugar maple bioclimatic domain of Quebec Bélanger N , Collin A , Ricard-Piché J , Kembel S W , Rivest D , 2019 Biogeochemistry (Date Added: 2019-11-07) 70- Shared mycorrhizae but distinct communities of other root-associated microbes on co-occurring native and invasive maples , 2019 PeerJ (Date Added: 2019-11-03) 69- Functional Diversity: An Epistemic Roadmap Malaterre C , Dussault A C , Rousseau-Mermans S , Barker G , Beisner B E , Bouchard F , Desjardins E , Handa I T , Kembel S W , Lajoie G , Maris V , Munson A D , Odenbaugh J , Poisot T , Shapiro B J , Suttle C A , 2019 BioScience (Date Added: 2019-10-25) 68- Making the Most of Trait-Based Approaches for Microbial Ecology Lajoie G , Kembel S W , 2019 Trends in Microbiology (Date Added: 2019-07-14) 67- The prevalence of nonlinearity and detection of ecological breakpoints across a land use gradient in streams D’Amario S C , Rearick D C , Fasching C , Kembel S W , Porter-Goff E , Spooner D E , Williams C J , Wilson H F , Xenopoulos M A , 2019 Scientific Reports (Date Added: 2019-03-25) 66- Plant host identity and soil macronutrients explain little variation in sapling endophyte community composition: Is disturbance an alternative explanation? Griffin E A , Harrison J G , Kembel S W , Carrell A A , Joseph Wright S , Carson W P , 2019 Journal of Ecology (Date Added: 2019-03-10) 65- Gut microbiota-mediated Gene-Environment interaction in the TashT mouse model of Hirschsprung disease Touré A M , Landry M , Souchkova O , Kembel S W , Pilon N , 2019 Scientific reports (Date Added: 2019-02-05) 64- Soils associated to different tree communities do not elicit predictable responses in lake bacterial community structure and function Ruiz-González C , Archambault E , Laforest-Lapointe I , del Giorgio P A , Kembel S W , Messier C , Nock C A , Beisner B E , 2018 FEMS microbiology ecology (Date Added: 2019-04-21) 63- Ecophylogenetics clarifies the evolutionary association between mammals and their gut microbiota Gaulke C A , Arnold H K , Humphreys I R , Kembel S W , O’Dwyer J P , Sharpton T J , 2018 mBio (Date Added: 2018-11-04) 62- Experimental evaluation of the importance of colonization history in early-life gut microbiota assembly Martínez I , Maldonado-Gomez M X , Gomes-Neto J C , Kittana H , Ding H , Schmaltz R , Joglekar P , Cardona R J , Marsteller N L , Kembel S W , Benson A K , Peterson D A , Ramer-Tait A E , Walter J , 2018 eLife (Date Added: 2018-10-19) 61- Variation in the leaf and root microbiome of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) at an elevational range limit Wallace J , Laforest-Lapointe I , Kembel S W , 2018 PeerJ (Date Added: 2018-08-22) 60- Canadian butterfly climate debt is significant and correlated with range size Lewthwaite J M M , Angert A L , Kembel S W , Goring S J , Davies T J , Mooers A , 2018 Ecography (Date Added: 2018-08-01) 59- Can sugar maple establish into the boreal forest? Insights from seedlings under various canopies in southern Quebec Collin, A, Messier, C, Kembel, SW, Bélanger, N 2018 Ecosphere (Date Added: 2018-05-17) 58- Tree Leaf Bacterial Community Structure and Diversity Differ along a Gradient of Urban Intensity Laforest-Lapointe, I, Messier, C, Kembel, SW 2017 MSystems (Date Added: 2018-05-17) 57- Low light availability associated with American beech is the main factor for reduced sugar maple seedling survival and growth rates in a hardwood forest of Southern Quebec Collin A , Messier C , Kembel S , Bélanger N , 2017 Forests (Date Added: 2017-12-25) 56- Identifying the core seed bank of a complex boreal bacterial metacommunity Ruiz-González C , Niño-García J P , Kembel S W , del Giorgio P A , 2017 ISME Journal (Date Added: 2017-12-25) 55- Leaf bacterial diversity mediates plant diversity and ecosystem function relationships Laforest-Lapointe, I, Paquette, A, Messier, C, Kembel, SW 2017 Nature (Date Added: 2017-06-02) 54- Climate, soil and plant functional types as drivers of global fine-root trait variation Freschet G T , Valverde-Barrantes O J , Tucker C M , Craine J M , McCormack M L , Violle C , Fort F , Blackwood C B , Urban-Mead K R , Iversen C M , Bonis A , Comas L H , Cornelissen J H C , Dong M , Guo D , Hobbie S E , Holdaway R J , Kembel S W , Makita N , Onipchenko V G , Picon-Cochard C , Reich P B , de la Riva E G , Smith S W , Soudzilovskaia N A , Tjoelker M G , Wardle D A , Roumet C , 2017 Journal of Ecology (Date Added: 2017-04-28) 53- ‘Equivalent numbers’ for species, phylogenetic or functional diversity in a nested hierarchy of multiple scales Pavoine, S, Marcon, E, Ricotta, C, Kembel, S 2016 Methods in Ecology and Evolution (Date Added: 2016-12-05) 52- Host species identity, site and time drive temperate tree phyllosphere bacterial community structure Laforest-Lapointe, I, Messier, C, Kembel, SW 2016 Microbiome (Date Added: 2016-12-05) 51- Tree phyllosphere bacterial communities: exploring the magnitude of intra- and inter-individual variation among host species Laforest-Lapointe, I, Messier, C, Kembel, SW 2016 PeerJ (Date Added: 2016-12-05) 50- Phylogenetic turnover along local environmental gradients in tropical forest communities Baldeck, CA, Kembel, SW, Harms, KE, Yavitt, JB, John, R, Turner, BL, Madawala, S, Gunatilleke, N, Gunatilleke, S, Bunyavejchewin, S, Kiratiprayoon, S, Yaacob, A, Supardi, MNN, Valencia, R, Navarrete, H, Davies, SJ, Chuyong, GB, Kenfack, D, Thomas, DW, Dalling, JW 2016 Oecologia (Date Added: 2016-10-11) 49- A simple approach for maximizing the overlap of phylogenetic and comparative data Pennell, MW, FitzJohn, RG, Cornwell, WK, Kembel, S 2016 Methods in Ecology and Evolution (Date Added: 2016-06-27) 48- The Biogeography of Putative Microbial Antibiotic Production H Morlon , T K O'Connor , J A Bryant, LKC, Kembel, SW, J L Green, aBJMB 2015 PLoS ONE (Date Added: 2016-06-27) 47- Blackbones of evolutionary history test biodiversity theory for microbes O’Dwyer, JP, Kembel, SW, T J Sharpton, 2015 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Date Added: 2016-06-27) 46- A global meta-analysis of the relative extent of intraspecific trait variation in plant communities Siefert, A, Violle, C, Chalmandrier, L, Albert, CH, Taudiere, A, Fajardo, A, Aarssen, LW, Baraloto, C, Carlucci, MB, Cianciaruso, MV, de L Dantas, V, de Bello, F, Duarte, LDS, Fonseca, CR, Freschet, GT, Gaucherand, S, Gross, N, Hikosaka, K, Jackson, B, Jung, V, Kamiyama, C, Katabuchi, M, Kembel, SW, Kichenin, E, Kraft, NJB, Lagerstrom, A, Bagousse-Pinguet, YL, Li, Y, Mason, N, Messier, J, Nakashizuka, T, Overton, JMC, Peltzer, DA, Perez-Ramos, IM, Pillar, VD, Prentice, HC, Richardson, S, Sasaki, T, Schamp, BS, Schob, C, Shipley, B, Sundqvist, M, Sykes, MT, Vandewalle, M, Wardle, DA 2015 Ecology Letters (Date Added: 2015-12-07) 45- Phylogenetic gradient analysis: environmental drivers of phylogenetic variation across ecological communities Peres-Neto, PR, Kembel, SW 2015 Plant Ecology (Date Added: 2015-10-22) 44- Evolution of the indoor biome Martin, LJ, Adams, RI, Bateman, A, Bik, HM, Hawks, J, Hird, SM, Hughes, D, Kembel, SW, Kinney, K, Kolokotronis, S-O, Levy, G, McClain, C, Meadow, JF, Medina, RF, Mhuireach, G, Moreau, CS, Munshi-South, J, Nichols, LM, Palmer, C, Popova, L, Schal, C, Täubel, M, Trautwein, M, Ugalde, JA, Dunn, RR 2015 Trends in Ecology & Evolution (Date Added: 2015-04-07) 43- Architectural design drives the biogeography of indoor bacterial communities Kembel, SW, Meadow, JF, O'Connor, TK, Mhuireach, G, Northcutt, D, Kline, J, Moriyama, M, Brown, GZ, Bohannan, BJM, Green, JL 2014 PloS one (Date Added: 2017-07-31) 42- Bacterial communities on classroom surfaces vary with human contact J F Meadow, AEA 2014 Microbiome (Date Added: 2016-06-27) 41- Plant traits and taxonomy drive host associations in tropical phyllosphere fungal communities S W Kembel and R C Mueller, 2014 Botany (Date Added: 2016-06-27) 40- Relationships between phyllosphere bacterial communities and plant functional traits in a neotropical forest S W Kembel, TKO 2014 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Date Added: 2016-06-27) 39- Drawing ecological inferences from coincident patterns of population- and community-level biodiversity Vellend, M, Lajoie, G, Bourret, A, Múrria, C, Kembel, SW, Garant, D 2014 Molecular Ecology (Date Added: 2014-05-01) 38- Ecology in the age of DNA barcoding: the resource, the promise and the challenges ahead Joly, S, Davies, TJ, Archambault, A, Bruneau, A, Derry, A, Kembel, SW, Peres-Neto, P, Vamosi, J, Wheeler, TA 2014 Molecular Ecology Resources (Date Added: 2014-03-04) 37- Indoor airborne bacterial communities are influenced by ventilation, occupancy, and outdoor air source Meadow, JF, Altrichter, AE, Kembel, SW, Kline, J, Mhuireach, G, Moriyama, M, Northcutt, D, O'Connor, TK, Womack, AM, Brown, GZ, Green, JL, Bohannan, BJM 2014 Indoor Air (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 36- Global marine bacterial diversity peaks at high latitudes in winter Ladau, J, Sharpton, TJ, Finucane, MM, Jospin, G, Kembel, SW, O'Dwyer, J, Koeppel, AF, Green, JL, Pollard, KS 2013 ISME Journal (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 35- Global diversity of drought tolerance and grassland climate-change resilience Craine, JM, Ocheltree, TW, Nippert, JB, Towne, EG, Skibbe, AM, Kembel, SW, Fargione, JE 2013 Nature Climate Change (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 34- Estimating metacommunity extent using data on species abundances, environmental variation, and phylogenetic relationships across geographic space Maurer, BA, Kembel, SW, Rominger, AJ, McGill, BJ 2013 Ecological Informatics (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 33- A taxonomic comparison of local habitat niches of tropical trees Baldeck, CA, Kembel, SW, Harms, KE, Yavitt, JB, John, R, Turner, BL, Chuyong, GB, Kenfack, D, Thomas, DW, Madawala, S, Gunatilleke, N, Gunatilleke, S, Bunyavejchewin, S, Kiratiprayoon, S, Yaacob, A, Nur Supardi, MN, Valencia, R, Navarrete, H, Davies, SJ, Hubbell, SP, Dalling, JW 2013 Oecologia (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 32- Phylogenetic sampling theory sheds light on the structure of complex microbial communities J P O'Dwyer, SWK 2012 PLoS Computational Biology (Date Added: 2016-06-27) 31- Phylogenetic Diversity Theory Sheds Light on the Structure of Microbial Communities O'Dwyer, JP, Kembel, SW, Green, JL 2012 PLoS Computational Biology (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 30- Microsatellite markers from Ceanothus roderickii (Rhamnaceae) using next-generation sequencing technology Burge, DO, Jui, G, Kembel, SS, Zhukovsky, K 2012 American Journal of Botany (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 29- Incorporating 16S Gene Copy Number Information Improves Estimates of Microbial Diversity and Abundance Kembel, SW, Wu, M, Eisen, JA, Green, JL 2012 PLoS Computational Biology (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 28- Flowering phenology as a functional trait in a tallgrass prairie Craine, JM, Wolkovich, EM, Gene Towne, E, Kembel, SW 2012 New Phytologist (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 27- Architectural design influences the diversity and structure of the built environment microbiome Kembel, SW, Jones, E, Kline, J, Northcutt, D, Stenson, J, Womack, AM, Bohannan, BJM, Brown, GZ, Green, JL 2012 ISME Journal (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 26- The phylogenetic diversity of metagenomes Kembel, SW, Eisen, JA, Pollard, KS, Green, JL 2011 PLoS ONE (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 25- Functional consequences of climate change-induced plant species loss in a tallgrass prairie Craine, JM, Nippert, JB, Towne, EG, Tucker, S, Kembel, SW, Skibbe, A, McLauchlan, KK 2011 Oecologia (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 24- Effect of local community phylogenetic structure on pollen limitation in an obligately insect-pollinated plant Sargent, RD, Kembel, SW, Emery, NC, Forrestel, EJ, Ackerly, DD 2011 American Journal of Botany (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 23- PhyLOTU: A high-throughput procedure quantifies microbial community diversity and resolves novel taxa from metagenomic data Sharpton, TJ, Riesenfeld, SJ, Kembel, SW, Ladau, J, O'Dwyer, JP, Green, JL, Eisen, JA, Pollard, KS 2011 PLoS Computational Biology (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 22- Phylogenetic community structure and phylogenetic turnover across space and edaphic gradients in western Amazonian tree communities Fine, PVA, Kembel, SW 2011 Ecography (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 21- Independent evolution of leaf and root traits within and among temperate grassland plant communities Kembel, SW, Cahill Jr , JF 2011 PLoS ONE (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 20- Diversification of Ceanothus (Rhamnaceae) in the California Floristic province Burge, DO, Erwin, DM, Islam, MB, Kellermann, J, Kembel, SW, Wilken, DH, Manos, PS 2011 International Journal of Plant Sciences (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 19- Relationship between cystic fibrosis respiratory tract bacterial communities and age, genotype, antibiotics and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Klepac-Ceraj, V, Lemon, KP, Martin, TR, Allgaier, M, Kembel, SW, Knapp, AA, Lory, S, Brodie, EL, Lynch, SV, Bohannan, BJM, Green, JL, Maurer, BA, Kolter, R 2010 Environmental Microbiology (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 18- Phylogenetic diversity metrics for ecological communities: Integrating species richness, abundance and evolutionary history Cadotte, MW, Jonathan Davies, T, Regetz, J, Kembel, SW, Cleland, E, Oakley, TH 2010 Ecology Letters (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 17- Paleotemperature proxies from leaf fossils reinterpreted in light of evolutionary history Little, SA, Kembel, SW, Wilf, P 2010 PLoS ONE (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 16- A floristic study of the white-sand forests of Peru Fine, PVA, Garca-Villacorta, R, Pitman, NCA, Mesones, I, Kembel, SW 2010 Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 15- Picante: R tools for integrating phylogenies and ecology Kembel, SW, Cowan, PD, Helmus, MR, Cornwell, WK, Morlon, H, Ackerly, DD, Blomberg, SP, Webb, CO 2010 Bioinformatics (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 14- The merging of community ecology and phylogenetic biology Cavender-Bares, J, Kozak, KH, Fine, PVA, Kembel, SW 2009 Ecology Letters (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 13- Disentangling niche and neutral influences on community assembly: Assessing the performance of community phylogenetic structure tests Kembel, SW 2009 Ecology Letters (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 12- Shoot, but not root, competition reduces community diversity in experimental mesocosms Lamb, EG, Kembel, SW, Cahill Jr , JF 2009 Journal of Ecology (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 11- In situ phylogenetic structure and diversity of wild Bradyrhizobium communities Sachs, JL, Kembel, SW, Lau, AH, Simms, EL 2009 Applied and Environmental Microbiology (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 10- Phylocom: Software for the analysis of phylogenetic community structure and trait evolution Webb, CO, Ackerly, DD, Kembel, SW 2008 Bioinformatics (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 9- Short-term effects of cut-to-length versus full-tree harvesting on understorey plant communities and understorey-regeneration associations in Manitoba boreal forests Kembel, SW, Waters, I, Shay, JM 2008 Forest Ecology and Management (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 8- Improving the scale and precision of hypotheses to explain root foraging ability Kembel, SW, De Kroon, H, Cahill Jr , JF, Mommer, L 2008 Annals of Botany (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 7- Does phylogenetic relatedness influence the strength of competition among vascular plants? Cahill Jr , JF, Kembel, SW, Lamb, EG, Keddy, PA 2008 Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 6- The phylogenetic structure of a neotropical forest tree community Kembel, SW, Hubbell, SP 2006 Ecology (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 5- Causes of pattern in plant communities where environmental change is rapid and species longevity is short Cousens, RD, Dale, MRT, Taylor, J, Law, R, Moerkerk, M, Kembel, SW 2006 Journal of Vegetation Science (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 4- Within-stand spatial structure and relation of boreal canopy and understorey vegetation Kembel, SW, Dale, MRT 2006 Journal of Vegetation Science (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 3- Plant phenotypic plasticity belowground: A phylogenetic perspective on root foraging trade-offs Kembel, SW, Cahill Jr , JF 2005 American Naturalist (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 2- Differential genetic influences on competitive effect and response in Arabidopsis thaliana F Cahill Jr , J, Kembel, SW, Gustafson, DJ 2005 Journal of Ecology (Date Added: 2014-02-19) 1- Short-term effects of cut-to-length versus full-tree harvesting on conifer regeneration in jack pine, mixedwood, and black spruce forests in Manitoba Waters, I, Kembel, SW, Gingras, J-F, Shay, JM 2004 Canadian Journal of Forest Research (Date Added: 2014-02-19) In the mediaLes écureuils sont-ils en train de devenir fous? 2018-10-07 Palmarès Québec Science 2018-01-04 Arbres et communautés bactériennes Actualités UQAM 2014-09-15 30.000 Bakterienarten tummeln sich am Arbeitsplatz Ingenieur.de 2014-05-02 Jedem Büro seine Bakterienflora - Nachrichten Print - DIE WELT - Wissen (Print DW) - DIE WELT DIE WELT 2014-03-02 How indoors attract bacteria present in homes - The Times of India The Times of India 2014-02-02 How our indoors can influence types of bacteria present in homes - Siasat The siasat Daily 2014-01-31 Connectedness, Human Use Of Buildings Shape Indoor Bacterial Communities - MediMoon MediMoon (Dr Khezar Hayat) 2014-01-30 Oregon researchers show how building design impacts indoor bacteria - Media Relations university of oregon 2014-01-29 Connectedness, human use of buildings shape indoor bacterial communities -- ScienceDaily Science Daily 2014-01-29 Building Design Influences Bacterial Growth - Popular Science Popular Science (Brooke Borel) 2014-01-29 Actualités UQAM - Neuf professeurs reçoivent plus de 3,2 millions de dollars pour leurs recherches Actualités UQAM 2014-01-09 |