Faculty Profile

Benjamin Tracy, Ph.D.

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Dr. Tracy

Associate Professor, Grassland Ecosystem Management

Appointment

Teaching : 0%

Research : 50%

Extension : 50%

Web

Education

  • B.S. Biology, Rutgers Univ., 1986
  • M.S. Enviornmental Science, Penn State Univ., 1988
  • Ph.D. Ecology, Syracuse Univ., 1996
 

Link to recent CV

Current Projects

  1. Determining optimal species mixtures to improve yield stability in grazing systems
  2. Integration of warm-season and cool-season pastures in a rotationally stocked grazing system

Recent Honors

  • Outstanding or Innovative Extension Program. Team Award for Dudley Smith Initiative. University of Illinois Extension. 2005.
  • Incomplete List of Teachers Ranked Excellent by Their Students. University of Illinois. Spring 2005 and Spring 2006.

Recent Publications

  1. Tracy, B.F. and M.A. Sanderson. 2004. Relationships between forage plant diversity and weed invasion in pasture communities. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 102:175-183.
  2. Tracy, B.F. and M.A. Sanderson. 2004. Productivity and stability relationships in mowed pastures of varying species composition. Crop Sci. 44: 2180-2186.
  3. Sanderson, M.A., R.H. Skinner, D.J. Barker, G.R. Edwards, B.F. Tracy, and D.A. Wedin. 2004. Plant species diversity and management of temperate forage and grazing land ecosystems. Crop Sci. 44:1132-1144.
  4. Tracy, B.F., I.J. Renne, J. Gerrish, and M.A. Sanderson. 2004. Effects of plant diversity on invasion of weed species in experimental pasture communities. Basic Appl. Ecol. 5: 543-550.
  5. Tracy, B.F. and I.J. Renne. 2005. Re- infestation of endophtye-infected tall fescue (E+) in renovated endophyte-free (E) pastures under rotational stocking. Agron. J. 97:1473-1477.
  6. Renne, I.J., B.F. Tracy and I.A. Colonna. 2006. Shifts in grassland invasibility: effects of soil resources, disturbance, composition, and invader size. Ecology 87: 2264-2277.
  7. Tracy, B.F. and D.B. Faulkner. 2006. Pasture and cattle responses in rotationally stocked grazing systems sown with differing levels of species richness. Crop Sci. 46:2062-2068.
  8. Sulc, R.M. and B.F. Tracy. 2007. Integrated crop-livestock systems in the Midwestern USA. Agron. J. 99:335-345.
  9. Sanderson, M.A., S.C. Goslee, K.J. Soder, R.H. Skinner, B.F. Tracy, and A. Deak. 2007. Plant species diversity, ecosystem function, and pasture management. Can. J. Plant Sci. 87:479-487.
  10. Tracy, B. F., and Sanderson, M. A. 2007. Decomposition of forage species mixtures in pasture has inconsistent effects on soil nitrogen. Online. Forage and Grazinglands doi:10.1094/FG-2007-0625-02-RS.

My Work Groups

Keywords

  • Grazing systems
  • grassland ecology
  • plant-animal interactions
  • plant diversity