Randall Kolka

Adjunct Assistant Professor
[email protected]

USDA Forest Service Forestry Sciences Lab
1831 Hwy 169 E
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
United States

Randy's Google Scholar Profile
Randy's USDA Forest Service Site
Education
  • BS, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point - 1990
  • MS, University of Minnesota - 1993
  • PhD, University of Minnesota - 1996

Areas of Interest

Land Management, Natural Ecosystems

Research

I conduct watershed or landscape level soil and hydrological research involving upland, riparian and wetland soil carbon, mercury and nutrient dynamics and relating these studies to upland land use and pollution transport to surface waters. I investigate ecosystem restoration and the linkages between upland and riparian or wetland communities. Also, I study the functions and implications of global climate change.

Select Publications

  • Kastendick, D.N., E.K. Zenner, B.J. Palik, R.K. Kolka, and C.R. Blinn. 2012. Effects of harvesting on nitrogen and phosphorus availability in riparian management zone soils in Minnesota, USA. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 42: 1784-1791.
  • Helmers, M.J., X. Zhou, H. Asbjornsen, R. Kolka, M.D. Tomer, and R.M. Cruse. 2012. Sediment removal by perennial filter strips in row-cropped ephemeral watersheds. Journal of Environmental Quality, 41(5): 1531-1539.
  • Parsekian, A.D., L. Slater, S.D. Sebestyen, R.K. Kolka, D. Ntarlagiannis, J. Nolan, and P. Hanson. 2012. Comparison of uncertainty in peat volume and soil carbon estimated using GPR and probing. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 76(5): 1911-1918.
  • Jurgensen, M., R. Tarpey, J. Pickens, R. Kolka, and B. Palik. 2012. The long-term effects of silvicultural thinnings on soil carbon and nitrogen pools. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 76: 1418-1425.
  • Mitchell, C.P.J., R.K. Kolka, and S. Fraver. 2012. The singular and combined effects of blowdown, salvage logging and wildfire on forest floor and soil mercury pools. Environmental Science and Technology, 46: 7963-7970.
  • Powers, M.D., R.K. Kolka, J.B. Bradford, B.J. Palik, S. Fraver, and M.F. Jurgensen. 2012. Carbon storage across a chronosequence of thinned and unmanaged red pine stands. Ecological Applications, 22(4): 1297-1307.
  • Gabriel, M., R. Kolka, T. Wickman, L. Woodruff, and E. Nater. 2012. Latent effect of soil organic matter oxidation on mercury cycling within a southern Boreal ecosystem. Journal of Environmental Quality, 41:495-505.
  • Kolka, R.K., A. Steber, K.N. Brooks, C.H. Perry, and M.D. Powers. 2012. Relationships between soil compaction following aspen harvests and harvest season, soil texture, and landscape position. Northern Journal of Applied Forestry, 29(1): 21-25.
  • Kolka, R.K., B.J. Palik, D.P. Tersteeg, and J.C. Bell. 2011. Effects of riparian buffers on hydrology of northern seasonal ponds. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), 54(5): 2111-2116.
  • Kolka, R.K., S.S. Sebestyen, E.S. Verry, and K.N. Brooks (Eds.). 2011. Peatland Biogeochemistry and Watershed Hydrology at the Marcell Experimental Forest. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 488 pp.