About

Jim Hood is an Associate Professor at the Ohio State University in the Aquatic Ecology Laboratory. He is an ecologist who studies the patterns and fluxes of nutrients and energy in freshwater ecosystems. His research broadly focuses on two questions: how nutrient supply and temperature influence the growth and nutrient balance of organisms, and how these individual responses sum to shape ecosystem processes. His work involves examining the linkages between invertebrates, primary producers, and nutrient cycles, contributing to a deeper understanding of ecosystem dynamics in freshwater environments.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• World Wide Web
• Database
• Forestry
• Geography
• Chemistry

Selected publications

• Seasonal synchronicity and multi-decadal stability of headwater biogeochemistry in the northern temperate zone

  Biogeochemistry · 2025-09-08

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Temporal patterns in chemistry of headwater streams reflect responses of water and elemental cycles to perturbations occurring at local to global scales. We evaluated multi-scale temporal patterns in up to 32 y of monthly observations of stream chemistry (ammonium, calcium, dissolved organic carbon, nitrate, total dissolved phosphorus, and sulfate) in 22 reference catchments within the northern temperate zone of North America. Multivariate autoregressive state-space (MARSS) models were applied to quantify patterns at multi-decadal, seasonal, and shorter intervals during a period that encompassed warming climate, seasonal changes in precipitation, and regional declines in atmospheric deposition. Significant long-term trends in solute concentrations within a subset of the catchments were consistent with recovery from atmospheric deposition (e.g., calcium, nitrate, sulfate) and increased precipitation (e.g., dissolved organic carbon). Lack of evidence for multi-decadal trends in most catchments suggests resilience of northern temperate ecosystems or that subtle net effects of simultaneous changes in climate and disturbance regimes do not result in directional trends. Synchronous seasonal oscillations of solute concentrations occurred across many catchments, reflecting shared climate and biotic drivers of seasonality within the northern temperate zone. Despite shared patterns among catchments at a seasonal scale, multi-scale temporal patterns were statistically distinct among even adjacent headwater catchments, implying that local attributes of headwater catchments modify the signals imparted by atmospheric phenomena and regional disturbances. To effectively characterize hydrologic and biogeochemical responses to changing climate and disturbance regimes, catchment monitoring programs could include multiple streams with contributing areas that encompass regional heterogeneity in vegetation, topography, and elevation. Overall, detection of long-term patterns and trends requires monitoring multiple catchments at a frequency that captures periodic variation (e.g., seasonality) and a duration encompassing the perturbations of interest.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Improving and testing in-stream phosphorus cycling in SWAT+

  2021

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • World Wide Web
  • Computer Science

  Earth and Space Science Open Archive PosterOpen AccessYou are viewing the latest version by default [v1]Improving and testing in-stream phosphorus cycling in SWAT+AuthorsSushantMehaniDMargaretKalcicJimHoodiDSee all authors Sushant MehaniDCorresponding Author• Submitting AuthorThe Ohio State UniversityiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1565-9591view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressMargaret KalcicThe Ohio State Universityview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressJim HoodiDThe Ohio State UniversityiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6365-0762view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email address

  PublisherDOI

• Bridging Food Webs, Ecosystem Metabolism, and Biogeochemistry Using Ecological Stoichiometry Theory

  Frontiers in Microbiology · 2017-07-12 · 85 citations

  reviewOpen access

  ecosystem process rates). ES theory holds the promise to be a unifying concept to link across hierarchical scales of patterns and processes in ecology, but this has not been fully achieved. Therefore, we propose connecting the expertise of aquatic ecologists and biogeochemists with ES theory as a common currency to connect food webs, ecosystem metabolism, and biogeochemistry, as they are inherently concatenated by the transfer of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous through biotic and abiotic nutrient transformation and fluxes. Several new studies exist that demonstrate the connections between food web ecology, biogeochemistry, and ecosystem metabolism. In addition to a general introduction into the topic, this paper presents examples of how these fields can be combined with a focus on ES. In this review, a series of concepts have guided the discussion: (1) changing biogeochemistry affects trophic interactions and ecosystem processes by altering the elemental ratios of key species and assemblages; (2) changing trophic dynamics influences the transformation and fluxes of matter across environmental boundaries; (3) changing ecosystem metabolism will alter the chemical diversity of the non-living environment. Finally, we propose that using ES to link nutrient cycling, trophic dynamics, and ecosystem metabolism would allow for a more holistic understanding of ecosystem functions in a changing environment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Macrophyte communities as an important seasonal sink for P and N in an urban and agricultural watershed in Southern Ontario.

  AGUSM · 2009-05-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• Nina Welti

  Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

  3 shared

• Andrew G. Hirst

  University of Liverpool

  2 shared

• Helmut Hillebrand

  Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg

  2 shared

• Andrew S. Mehring

  University of Louisville

  2 shared

• John S. Kominoski

  Florida International University

  1 shared

• Laodong Guo

  University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

  1 shared

• Keeley L. MacNeill

  University of Nebraska–Lincoln

  1 shared

• Margaret Kalcic

  1 shared

Labs

• Aquatic Ecology LaboratoryPI