Faculty/Staff Directory
First Name
Sarah
Last Name
Johnson
Email
johnss4@gvsu.edu
Title
- Assistant Professor
Website
https://www.greatlakesplantecology.com/
Office Address
3311 Kindschi Hall of Science
Office Phone
616-331-2803
Areas of Expertise
Botany, Ecology, Great Lakes Region Plant Communities, Rare Plant Conservation
Courses Taught at GVSU
BIO 303 - Plant Morphology
BIO 433 - Plant Ecology
Research Interests
I study biodiversity and ecological change across forests, wetlands, and coastal ecosystems of the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest. My students and I investigate how plant communities and at-risk species respond to environmental drivers such as fluctuating water levels, invasive species, and herbivory. I combine analyses of historical datasets with field-based monitoring and collaborate with natural resource professionals on vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning. Systems I have studied include forest understories, coastal dunes and wetlands, peatlands, floodplain and swamp forests, aquatic macrophytes in large impoundments, and rare plants on rocky shorelines and Lake Superior islands.
Education
Ph.D. Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.S. Biology, East
Carolina University
B.S. Biology, Northland College
Select Publications
See my website for full list.
Anderson*, O.C., S.E. Johnson, S. Schachameyer*, S.L. Ray*, and M.J. Cooper. 2025. Hydrologic connections in Apostle Islands coastal wetlands: exploring dynamics and resilience to Lake Superior water level fluctuations. J. of Great Lakes Research, revise & resubmit January 2025.
Rolls, R.J., D.C. Deane, S.E. Johnson, J. Heino, M.J. Anderson, and K.E. Ellingsen. 2023. Biotic homogenisation and differentiation as directional change in beta diversity: synthesising driver-response relationships to develop conceptual models across ecosystems. Biological Reviews 98: 1388-1423.
Meeker, J.E., D. Wilcox, S.E. Johnson, N. Tillison. 2023. Tracking vegetation transitions due to invasion of cattail (Typha) in Lake Superior coastal peatlands. Wetlands, 43:18.
Johnson, S.E., M. Sinclair*, E. Leonard*, F. Rosenbower*. 2022. Development of strategies for monitoring and managing sandscape vegetation, with an assessment of declining vegetation in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Natural Resource Report. NPS/APIS/NRR—2022/2373. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrr-2293187
Beck, J.J., D. Li, S.E. Johnson, D. Rogers, K.M. Cameron, K.J. Sytsma, T.J. Givnish, and D.M. Waller. 2022, Functional traits mediate broad-scale species-environment distributions among temperate forest herbs while fine-scale species’ associations remain unpredictable. American Journal of Botany, 12: 1991-2005.
Johnson, S.E. 2021. Status and change in rare plants of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore: 1990s–2019. Natural Resource Report. NPS/APIS/NRR—2021/2317. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrr-2287739.
Johnson, S.E., J.S. Mead*, M.J. Widen*, E.E. Leonard*. 2021. The challenging past and precarious future of Canada yew (Taxus canadensis) in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Natural Resource Report. NPS/APIS/NRR—2021/2251. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrr-2285336.
Waller, D.M., A.K. Paulson, J.H. Richards, W.S. Alverson, C. Bai, K. Amatangelo, S.E. Johnson, D. Li, G. Sonnier, and R.H. Toczydlowski. 2021. Functional trait data for vascular plant species from eastern North America. Ecology doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3527.
Sonnier, G., S.E. Johnson, and D.M. Waller. 2020. Fragmentation reduces the importance of nichebased factors relative to dispersal traits in structuring temperate forest understories. Journal of Vegetation Science 31: 75-83.
Johnson, S.E., K.L. Amatangelo, P.A. Townsend, and D.M. Waller. 2016. Large, connected floodplain forests prone to flooding best sustain plant diversity. Ecology 97: 3019-3030.
Johnson, S.E., E.M. Mudrak, and D.M. Waller. 2014. Local increases in diversity accompany community homogenization in floodplain forest understories. Journal of Vegetation Science 25: 885-896.
Johnson, S.E., and D.M. Waller. 2013. Influence of dam regulation on 55-year shifts in overstory of riparian forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 43: 159-170.
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