1983, PhD, Rangeland Ecosystem Science, Colorado State University
1980, MS, Rangeland Ecosystem Science, Colorado State University
1975, BA, Biology, Augustana College

1999-Present, Professor, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, The University of Arizona
1993-1999, Professor and Associate Department Head, Department of Rangeland Ecology & Management, Texas A&M University
1991-1992, Visiting Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research
1988-1993, Associate Professor, Department of Rangeland Ecology & Management, Texas A&M University
1983-1988, Assistant Professor, Department of Range Science, Texas A&M University

Interactions between grasses and woody plants in relation to soils, climate, fire, and grazing. Models are used in conjunction with remote sensing, dendrochronology, and stable isotope chemistry to reconstruct vegetation history, and to predict changes.

RNR 200: Conservation of Natural Environments
RAM 619: Ecology of Savannas, Shrublands, and Woodlands

Stokes CJ, SR Archer. 2010. Niche differentiation and neutral theory: an integrated perspective on shrub assemblages in a parkland savanna. Ecology 91:1152-1162.

Liu F, XB Wu, E Bai, TW Boutton, SR Archer. 2010. Spatial scaling of ecosystem C and N in a subtropical savanna landscape. Global Change Biology 16: 2213-2223. Liu F. XB Wu, E Bai, TW Boutton, SR Archer. 2011. Quantifying soil organic carbon in complex landscapes: an example of grassland undergoing encroachment of woody plants. Global Change Biology 17: 1119-1129.

Browning DM and SR Archer. 2011. Protection from livestock fails to deter shrub proliferation in a desert landscape with a history of heavy grazing. Ecological Applications 21:1629–1642.

Bestelmeyer BT, DP Goolsby, and SR Archer. 2011. Spatial perspectives in state-and-transition models: a missing link to land management? Journal of Applied Ecology 48:746-757.

Barger NN, SR Archer, JL Campbell, CH Huang, J. Morton, AK Knapp. 2011. Woody plant proliferation in North American drylands: a synthesis of impacts on ecosystem carbon balance. Journal Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences 116, G00K07, doi:10.1029/2010JG001506.

Bai E, TW Boutton, F Liu, XB Wu, CT Hallmark, and SR Archer. 2012. Spatial variation of soil δ13C and its relation to carbon input and soil texture in a subtropical lowland woodland. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 44:102-112.

Throop HL, SR Archer, HC Monger, S Waltman. 2012. When bulk density methods matter: implications for estimating soil organic carbon pools in coarse soils. Journal of Arid Environments 77:66-71.

Throop HL, LG Reichman, OE Sala, SR Archer. 2012. Response of dominant grass and shrub species to water manipulation: An ecophysiological basis for shrub invasion in a Chihuahuan Desert Grassland. Oecologia 169:373–383.

Bai E, TW Boutton, F Liu, XB Wu, SR Archer. 2012. Spatial patterns of soil δ13C reveal grassland-to-woodland successional processes. Organic Geochemistry 42: 1512-1518

Barnes PB, HL Throop, ML Abbene, SR Archer. 2012. Soil coverage reduces photodegradation and promotes development of soil-microbial films on dryland leaf litter. Ecosystems 15:311-321. DOI: 10.1007/s10021-011-9511-1

von Arx G, SR Archer, MK Hughes, 2012. Long-term functional plasticity in plant hydraulic architecture in response to release from drought stress. Annals of Botany 109:1091-1100

Hewins DB, SR Archer, GS Okin, RL McCulley, HL Throop. 2012. Soil-litter mixing accelerates decomposition in a Chihuahuan Desert grassland. Ecosystems 16:183-195.

Bai E, TW Boutton, F Liu, XB Wu, SR Archer. 2013. 15N isoscapes in a subtropical savanna parkland: spatial-temporal perspectives. Ecosphere 4(1):4. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES12-00187.1.

Liu F, SR Archer, F Gelwick, E Bai, TW Boutton, X Wu. 2013. Woody plant encroachment into grasslands: spatial patterns of functional group distribution and community development. PLOS One 8(12): e84364. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084364.

Lee H, J Fitzgerald, DB Hewins, RL McCulley, SR Archer, T Rahn, HL Throop. 2014. Soil moisture and soil-litter mixing effects on surface litter decomposition: A controlled environment assessment. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 72:123-132.

Browning, DM, J Franklin, SR Archer, JK Gillan, DP Guertin. 2014. Spatial patterns of grassland-shrubland state transitions: a 74 year record on grazed and protected areas. Ecological Applications 24:1421-1433

Archer SR and KI Predick. 2014. Woody plant proliferation and the ecology of “brush management”: an ecosystem services perspective. Journal of Ecology 102:1394-1407.

Bestelmeyer BT, GS Okin, MC Duniway, SR Archer, NF Sayre, JC Williamson, JE Herrick. 2015. Desertification, land use and the transformation of global drylands. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 13:28-36.

Peters DPC, KM Havstad, SR Archer, OE Sala. 2015. Beyond desertification: new paradigms for dryland landscapes. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 13:4-12.

Fellow, Ecological Society of America (ESA) (2016-present)

Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2009-Present)

Distinguished Achievement Award, Alumni Council, Augustana College (1996)

Outstanding Achievement Award, Society for Range Management (1995)