Faculty Profile for Dr. Jason Philip Martina

profile photo for Dr. Jason Philip Martina
Dr. Jason Philip Martina
Assistant Professor — Biology
SUPP 384
phone: (512) 245-0565
Scholarly/Creative Work
Grants
Service

Biography Section

Biography and Education

 Jason Martina is an assistant professor at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX (started fall 2019). His primary research interests involve better understanding global change phenomena in wetland and grassland ecosystems. Before coming to Texas State, he was the program coordinator of the EEB and ABS programs at Texas A&M University and an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management. He received his Ph.D. at Michigan State University with Drs. Steve Hamilton and Merritt Turetsky and completed a postdoc at the University of Michigan with Drs. Deborah Goldberg and Bill Currie.

Research Interests

 We study global change in wetlands and grasslands. We use field, laboratory and computational modeling techniques to test hypotheses concerning some of the most important drivers of global change, such as biological invasion, nitrogen deposition and climate change. We look at plant invasions holistically, from the species traits and external drivers that allow these aggressive species to dominant, to what effects their dominance has on the ecosystem, with the overall goal of using newly gained information to manage their populations and restore invaded ecosystems. While we mainly focus on the causes and consequences of biological invasion, we also study nutrient pollution, disturbance, endangered species and restoration of degraded ecosystems.

Some questions we address include: How do global change drivers (such as eutrophication, disturbance, etc.) affect plant community composition? Why do certain species become invasive? What physiological, reproductive, and morphological traits allow for their competitive superiority? What are the consequences of invasion to the native biota and how do these changes affect nutrient cycling and carbon storage? What restoration techniques best control their populations?

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • Spohn, M., & Martina, J. P. (2023). The positive effect of plant diversity on soil organic carbon depends on climate. Nature Communications, 14(1).
  • Wilfahrt, P., & Martina, J. P. (2023). Nothing lasts forever: dominant species decline under rapid environmental change in global grasslands. Journal of Ecology, 111, 2472–2482.
  • Garbowski, M., & Martina, J. P. (2023). Nutrient enrichment alters seasonal beta-diversity in global grasslands. Journal of Ecology, 111, 2134–2145.
  • Rogan, J., & Martina, J. P. (2023). Genetic and demographic consequences of range contraction patterns during biological annihilation. Scientific Reports, 13.
  • Siciliano-Martina, L. M., & Martina, J. P. (2023). Factors influencing the timing and frequency of litters in captive fennec foxes (Vulpes zerda). Animal Reproduction Science, 248.

Selected Grants

  • Martina, Jason Philip. Dissertation Completion Fellowship, College of Natural Science, MSU, $6000. (Funded: 2011). Grant.
  • Martina, Jason Philip. Dissertation Continuation Fellowship, College of Natural Science, MSU, $6000. (Funded: 2010). Grant.
  • Martina, Jason Philip. Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Small Grant, $1500. (Funded: 2010). Grant.
  • Martina, Jason Philip, Meitzen, Kimberly Michelle. Upper San Marcos River Aquatic Invasive Species Removal and Native Vegetation Repatriation, State, $50000. (Submitted: February 2023, Funded: January 2024 - Present). Grant.
  • Martina, Jason Philip. Constraints of the Recruitment of an Invasive C4 in a Native C4 Grassland, Federal, $7500. (Submitted: April 2023, Funded: June 2023 - Present). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Reviewer / Referee
Wetlands Ecology and Management
November 2023-Present
Member
Department Chair Search Committee
October 2023-Present
Member
Promotion for NTL Faculty Committee
August 2023-Present
Attendee / Participant
NASA Carbon Monitoring System Panel
May 2023-Present
Editorial Review Board Member
Scientific Reports
November 2022-Present