Daniel L. Potts, Ph.D.

Laboratory website

Research Interests

I trained as a plant physiological and ecosystem ecologist at the University of Arizona and have served on Buffalo State's faculty since 2007. My research primarily examines the responses of plants and soils to rainfall variability in semi-arid ecosystems.

Courses Taught

BIO 104 - Environmental Biology
BIO 213 - Introduction to Ecology & Evolution 
BIO 333 - Biological Form, Function, and Diversity
BIO 389 - Plants & Society
BIO 408 - Plant Physiology
BIO 619 - Plant Ecology
BIO 621 - Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology

Recent Publications

F. Zhang, J. Biederman, N. Pierce, D.L. Potts, S.C. Reed, W.K. Smith. 2024. Direct and legacy effects of varying cool-season precipitation totals on ecosystem carbon flux in a semi-arid mixed grassland. Plant, Cell & Environment. DOI: 10.1111/pce.15175

M. Javadian, R.L. Scott, J.A. Biederman, F. Zhang, J.B. Fisher, S.C. Reed, D.L. Potts, M.L. Villareal, A.F. Feldman, W.K. Smith. 2023. Thermography captures the differential sensitivity of dryland functional types to changes in rainfall event timing and magnitude. New Phytologist. 
DOI: 10.1111/nph.19127

F. Zhang, J. Biederman, C. Devine, N. Pierce, D. Yan, M. Javadian, D.L. Potts, W. Smith. 2023. Using high frequency digital repeat photography to quantify the sensitivity of a semi-arid grassland ecosystem to the temporal repackaging of precipitation. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 
DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109539

F. Zhang, J. Biederman, N. Pierce, D. Potts, C. Devine, Y. Hao, W. Smith. 2022. Precipitation temporal repackaging into fewer, larger storms delayed seasonal timing of peak photosynthesis in a semi-arid grassland. Functional Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13980