Matthew E Baker

Research Interests

Watershed ecology; urban forest ecology; biodiversity, hydrology, geomorphology and biogeochemistry in urban and rural systems; riparian ecosystems; landscape ecology; geospatial applications

Recent Research Activities

• • Understanding tree species response to urban heat using high resolution remote sensing (NSF)
  • Stream corridor characterization across the Chesapeake Bay watershed (Chesapeake Bay Program)
  • Watershed-scale evaluation of BMP effects on stream incision and chemistry in Baltimore (Chesapeake Bay Trust)
  • Species and Community response of forest patches to urbanization gradients across cites in the Eastern US (SESYNC, USFS)
  • Measuring the impacts of stream restoration on physical habitat with remote observation from UAVs (MD SeaGrant)
  • Geomorphic effects of dam removal on the Patapsco River (American Rivers, NOAA)
  • Biodiversity, structural, and functional characteristics of forest patches along urban land use gradients (in partnership with Baltimore Greenspace, USFS, Baltimore Ecosystem Study)
  • Long-term change in urban forests: the ForestGEO network (Smithsonian Institution)
  • Threshold Indicator Taxa ANalysis (TITAN): download R package from CRAN here

Selected Recent Publications

* denotes student/postdoc author

Alonzo, M, ME Baker, A Amini. (submitted) Clarifying how tree canopy cools the air and surfaces in cities at very high resolution. Nature Cities.

Sonti, NF, ME Baker, M Allman*, R Hallett, M Katoski*, K Latuar, M Piana, C Pregizter. (submitted). Whose woods are these? Forest patch characteristics and ownership across cities of the eastern United States. Landscape and Urban Planning.

Schmit, JP, L Johnson, ME Baker, L Darling*, R Fahey, DH Locke, AT Morzillo, MFJ Aronson, NF Sonti, M Johnson. (in revision) The influence of urban and agricultural landscape context on forest diversity and structure across ecoregions. Ecosphere.

Darling*, L, DH Locke, CR Rollinson, JP Schmit, AT Morzillo, ML Johnson , RT Fahey, LR Johnson, ME Baker , BS Hardiman (accepted). Ecological and segregationist histories impact access to ecosystem services from forests. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

Baker ME, I Yesilonis, K Lautar, L Templeton*, B Shoebe*, J Bos*, and NF Sonti. (accepted) Distributed urban forest patch sampling detects edge effects for monitoring and management. Ecosphere.

Baker, ME, D Saavedra, X Cang*, K Walker 2024. Hydrography Mapping Supporting Modeling and Targeted Conservation: Project Overview and Lessons Learned. Final project report to the U.S. EPA.

Sonti, NF, ME Baker, J Lagrosa, M Allman*, M Katoski*, JM Grove. 2024. Historical land cover of Baltimore City’s forest: Past insights for present-day ecology. Landscape Ecology 09131.

Kyaw* TY, M Alonzo, M Baker, S Eisenman, JS Caplan. 2024. Reflectance spectroscopy can predict tree functional trait responses to heat stress. Remote Sensing 16(13):2291.

Collins, MJ, ME Baker, MJ Cashman, AJ Miller, S VanRyswick. 2024. Releasing sediments while reconnecting rivers: dynamics of sediment evacuation from dam ponds. Earth Surface Processes & Landforms 5850.

Metes*, M, A Miller, M Baker, K Hopkins, D Jones*. 2024. A lidar based method to remotely maps gullying and incision in Maryland Piedmont headwater streams. Geomorphology 109205.

Locke, DH, M Baker, M Alonzo, Y Yang, C Ziter, C Murphy-Dunning, J O’Neil-Dunne. 2024. Do trees cool the same every summer’s day? Temporal non-stationarity in urban environments from bike-based air temperature monitoring in New Haven, CT. Heliyon 25041.

Locke, DH, M Baker, M Alonzo, Y Yang, C Ziter, C Murphy-Dunning, J O’Neil-Dunne 2024. Data and replication code for analyzing the variation in urban tree canopy and air temperature reduction in New Haven, Connecticut, 2019 – 2021. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. RDS-2024-0012

Delavaux, C et al. 2023. Mycorrhizal feedbacks linked to global forest biodiversity gradient. Nature Communications.

Weller DE, ME Baker, RS King. 2023. Improved methods for quantifying the effects of catchment spatial patterns on aquatic responses. Landscape Ecology.

Alonzo M, M Baker, J Caplan, A Williams*, A Elmore. 2023. Canopy composition drives variation in urban growing season more than the heat island effect. Science of the Total Environment.

Dixon*, AP, ME Baker, EC Ellis 2023. Passive monitoring of avian habitat on working lands. Ecological Applications.

Arseniou* G, D MacFarlane, K Calders, M Baker. 2023. Accuracy differences in aboveground woody biomass estimation with terrestrial laser scanning for trees in urban and rural forests in different leaf conditions. Trees: Structure and Function 10.1007/s00468-022-02382-1

Van Appledorn*, M and ME Baker. 2022. Flood regimes alter the role of landform and topographic constraint on functional diversity in floodplain forests. Ecography.

Morzillo, AT, KJ Lautar, KL King, L Rhodes, L Scott, M Johnson, M Clarke, LK Campbell, LR Johnson, S Pincetl, NF Sonti, DH Locke, JP Schmit, RT Fahey, ME Baker. 2022 A tale of urban forest patch governance in four eastern US cities. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127693.

Metes*, M, DK Jones*, ME Baker, AJ Miller, D Hogan, JV Loperfido, KH Hopkins. 2022. Ephemeral Stream Network Extraction from Lidar‐Derived Elevation and Topographic Attributes in Urban and Forested Landscapes. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 13012

Swan, CM, ME Baker, D Borowy*, A Johnson*, M Shcheglovitova*, A Sparkman*, F Valente Neto*, M Van Appledorn*, N Voelker*. 2022 Loss of Phylogenetic Diversity under Landscape Change. Science of the Total Environment.

Alonzo, M, M Baker, Y Gao, V Shandas. 2021. Spatial configuration and time of day impact the magnitude of urban tree canopy cooling. Environmental Research Letters https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac12f2

Davies, SJ et al. 2020. ForestGEO: Understanding Forest Diversity and Dynamics through a Global Observatory Network.  Biological Conservation 253, 108907

Dixon*, A, M Baker, E Ellis. 2020. Agricultural landscape composition linked with acoustic measures of avian diversity. Land https://doi.org/10.3390/land9050145.

Bezerra*, M, M Baker, M Palmer, S Filoso. 2020. Gully formation in headwater catchments under sugarcane agriculture in Brazil. Journal of Environmental Management 110271.

Pickett, S., Cadenasso, M., Baker, M., Band, L., Boone, C., Buckley, G., Groffman, P., Grove, M., Irwin, E., Kaushal, S., LaDeau, S., Miller, A., Nilon, C., Romolini, M., Rosi, E., Swan, C., Szlavecz, K. 2020. Theoretical Perspectives of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study: Conceptual Evolution in a Social-Ecological Research Project, Bioscience 70(4):297–314. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz166.

Van Appledorn* M, ME Baker, AJ Miller. 2019. Empirical evaluation of 2D unsteady hydraulic models for applications in floodplain forest ecology. Physical Geography https://doi.org/10.1080/02723646.2019.1676186.

Baker, ME, ML Schley*, JO Sexton. 2019. Impacts of expanding impervious surface on specific conductance in urbanizing streams. Water Resources Research https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR025014.

Phillips*, T, M Baker, K Lautar, I Yesilonis, M Pavao-Zuckerman. 2019. The capacity of urban forest patches to infiltrate stormwater is influenced by soil physical properties and soil moisture. Journal of Environmental Management 246: 11-18.

Van Appledorn* M, ME Baker, AJ Miller. 2019. River-valley morphology, basin size, and flow-event magnitude interact to produce wide variation in flooding dynamics. Ecosphere 10(1):e02546.

Macchi, L, C Levers, M Baumann, M Baker, T Kummerle. 2019. Satellite-based tree and shrub cover reveal thresholds in the bird community of the South American dry Chaco. J. Applied Ecology 1-11, DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13342.

Recent Presentations

Ph.D. Students

Master’s Students

Nicati Robidoux (UMBC-GES), Michelle Katoski (UMBC-GES), Tyrah Cobb-Davis (UMBC-iCARE-GES), Zach Banham (UMBC-GES), Erin Hamner (UMBC-iCARE-GES), Philip Worster (UMBC-GES), Sarah McDonald (UMBC-GES), Donovin Smith (UMBC-iCARE-GES), Megan Curtiss (UMBC-GES), John Dinnall (UMBC-GES)

Former  Students

Drew Powell (MS 2023, @USEPA), Hayley Oakland (MS 2020 @Mont St Univ), Zach Clifton (MS 2018; @USGS), Katherine Ralston (MS 2017), Molly Van Appledorn (MS 2009, PhD 2016, @USGS), Dan Jones (MS 2013, @USGS), Haley Martin (MS 2012), Christina Simini (MS 2012, @ECS Mid-Atlantic), Matthew Panunto (MS 2012, @USFS), Mattie Whitmore (MS 2012, @Booze Allen), Andrew Hill (MS 2010, @BLM), Amanda Schulz (MS 2010)

Other Activities

Associate Editor, Freshwater Science

Expert Witness: Freshwater Monitoring & Assessment, Ecological Restoration

Member, Science and Technology Advisory Committee, Chesapeake Bay Program

Courses Taught

Graduate Research Methods, Physical Geography, Watershed Science and Management, Forest Ecology, Watershed Analysis & Modeling, Riparian Ecosystems, Applied Landscape Ecology