Ann Dieffenbacher-Krall

Information:  I work with the director on day-to-day management of the School Biology and Ecology and oversee the undergraduate programs in Biology, Zoology, and Botany.  I advise transfer students, am part of the First-Year Advising Team, and provide support for SBE faculty and students. 

Research Topic:  Quaternary paleoecology, abrupt climate change, plant ecology, paleohydrology, chironomid ecology, inference models

Research program:  The answers to climate change questions about the magnitude and rate of past changes and shifts in seasonality depend on very accurate records of past climate change. Prediction of future climate changes requires a comprehensive understanding of the world’s climate system and the impact of human activities on that system. The primary focus of my research is to reconstruct past climate changes to serve the objective of understanding the causes of climate change.

Publications:

Marlon, J.R., N. Pederson, C. Nolan, S. Goring, B. Shuman, R. Booth, P.J. Bartlein, M.A. Berke, M. Clifford, E. Cook, A. Dieffenbacher-Krall, M.C. Dietze, A. Hessl, J. B. Hubeny, S.T. Jackson, J. Marsicek, J. McLachlan, C.J. Mock, D.J.P. Moore, J. Nichols, A. Robertson, K. Schaefer, V. Trouet. C. Umbanhowar, J.W. Williamas, and Z. Yu. 2017. Climatic history of the northeastern United States during the past 3000 years. Climate of the Past 13: 1355-1379.

Dieffenbacher-Krall, A.C., H.W. Borns Jr., A.M. Nurse, G.E.C. Langley, S. Birkel, L.C. Cwynar, L.A. Doner, C.C. Dorion, J. Fastook, G.L. Jacobson Jr., C. Sayles.  2016. Younger Dryas paleoenvironments and ice dynamics in Northern Maine: a multi-proxy, case history. Northeastern Naturalist 23: 67-87. 

Massaferro, J., I. Larocque-Tobler, S.J. Broks, M. Vandergoes, A. Dieffenbacher-Krall, and P. Moreno. 2014. Quantifying climate change in Huelmo mire (Chile, Northwestern Patagonia) during the Last Glacial Termination using a newly developed chironomid-based temperature model. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 399: 214-224.

Vandergoes, M.J., A.G. Hogg, D.J. Lowe, R.M. Newnham, G.H. Denton, J. Southon, D.J.A. Barrell, M. Blaauw, C.J.N. Wilson, M.S. McGlone, A.S.R. Allan, P.C. Almond, F. Petchey, K. Dabell, A.C. Dieffenbacher-Krall. 2013. A revised age for the Kawakawa/Oruanui tephra, a key marker for the Last Glacial Maximum in New Zealand. Quaternary Science Reviews 74: 195-201.

Cranston, P.S., E. Barley, G.E. Langley, A. Dieffenbacher-Krall, A. Longmuir, J. Zloty. 2011. Propsilocerus Kieffer (Diptera: Chironomidae) from the Nearctic. Aquatic Insects 33: 343-350.

McWethy, D.B., C. Whitlock, J.M. Wilmshurst, M.S. McGlone, M. Fromont, X. Li, A. Dieffenbacher-Krall, W.O. Hobbs, S.C. Fritz, and E.R.Cook. 2010. Rapid landscape transformation in South Island, New Zealand, following initial Polynesian settlement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 107: 21343-21348.

Zink, K.-G., M.J. Vandergoes, K. Mangelsdorf, A.C. Dieffenbacher-Krall, and L. Schwark. 2010. Application of bacterial glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) to develop modern and past temperature estimates from New Zealand lakes. Organic Geochemistry, 41: 1060-1066.

Massaferro, J.I., P.I. Moreno, G. Denton, M. Vandergoes, and A. Dieffenbacher-Krall. 2009. Chironomid and pollen evidence for climate fluctuations during the Last Glacial Termination in NW Patagonia. Quaternary Science Reviews 28: 517-525.

Vandergoes, M.V., A.C. Dieffenbacher-Krall, R.M. Newnham, G.H. Denton, and M. Blaauw. 2008. Cooling and changing seasonality in the Southern Alps, New Zealand during the Antarctic Cold Reversal. Quaternary Science Reviews 27: 589-601.

Dieffenbacher-Krall, A.C., M.V. Vandergoes, and G.H. Denton. 2007. An inference model for mean summer air temperatures in the Southern Alps, New Zealand, using subfossil chironomids.  Quaternary Science Reviews 26: 2487-2504.

Grimm, E.C., W.A. Watts, G.L. Jacobson Jr., B.C.S. Hansen, H. Almquist, and A.C. Dieffenbacher-Krall. 2006. Warm wet Heinrich Events in Florida.  Quaternary Science Reviews 25: 2197-2211.

Dieffenbacher-Krall, A.C., and A.M. Nurse. 2005. Late-glacial and Holocene record of lake levels of Mathews Pond and Whitehead Lake, Northern Maine, USA. Journal of Paleolimnology 34: 283-310.

Norton, S.A., E.R. Perry, T.A. Haines, and A.C. Dieffenbacher-Krall. 2004. Paleolimnological assessment of Grove and Plow Shop Ponds, Ayer, Massachusetts, USA – A superfund site. Journal of Environmental Monitoring 6: 1-11.

Dieffenbacher-Krall, A.C., and G.L. Jacobson Jr. 2001. Post-glacial changes in the geographic ranges of certain aquatic vascular plants in North America. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Biology and Environment 101B (1-2): 79-84.

Almquist, H., A.C. Dieffenbacher-Krall, R. Flanagan-Brown, and D. Sanger. 2001. The Holocene record of lake levels of Mansell Pond, Central Maine, USA. The Holocene 11: 189-201.

Dieffenbacher-Krall, A.C., and W.A. Halteman. 2000. The relationship of modern plant remains to water depth in alkaline lakes in New England. Journal of Paleolimnology 24: 213-339.

Dieffenbacher-Krall, A.C. 1996. Paleo- and historical-ecology of the Cutler grasslands, Cutler, ME, USA. Natural Areas Journal, 16 (1): 3-13. 

Jacobson, G.L. Jr., A. Dieffenbacher-Krall. 1995. White pine and climate change: Insights from the past. Journal of Forestry, 93 (7): 39-42.