Match tier Confirmed
Presence Current · Arkansas
Last published 2026
Sources OpenAlex · ORCID
Refreshed 2026-10-08

Natalie A. Clay

Affiliation confirmed via AI analysis of OpenAlex, ORCID, and web sources.

Federal Grant PI

Associate Professor

Also affiliated: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (2014–2015); Colby College (2010); University of Arkansas System (2025); University of Oklahoma (2010–2017); Louisiana Tech University (2016–2023); Mississippi State University (2014–2016)

14 h-index 49 pubs 1,138 cited

  • Ecosystem
  • Animals
  • Sodium
  • Ants
  • Wood
  • Isoptera
  • Rainforest
  • Plant Leaves
  • Forests
  • Coleoptera
  • Sodium Chloride
  • Trees
  • Tropical Climate
  • Panama
  • Cellulose

Biography and Research Information

OverviewAI-generated summary

Natalie A. Clay's research group at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville investigates ecological processes, with a particular focus on the interactions between organisms and their environment. Recent work has examined the role of bark beetles in forest ecosystems, including their impact on decomposition rates and biogeochemical cycles. Studies have also explored the influence of fungal species on termite feeding behavior in wood and the presence of sodium limitation in ant and termite populations in Neotropical savannas.

Her research has been supported by federal funding, including a $503,649 NSF grant for collaborative research on terrestrial riparian-stream carbon connections across a salt gradient. Clay leads a research group and has collaborated with other researchers at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, including Michelle A. Evans-White and Donald B. Shepard. Her work has resulted in 53 publications, with a h-index of 16 and over 2,200 citations.

Metrics

  • h-index: 14
  • Publications: 49
  • Citations: 1,138

Positions

  • Associate Professor publications 2023–2026
    University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Entomology and Plant Pathology ORCID

Selected Publications

  • Lizards at the Crossroads: How Microclimate and Habitat Structure Drive Species Turnover in a Neotropical Ecotone (2026)
    Austral Ecology DOI OpenAlex
  • Changes in Forest Hydrology and Biogeochemistry Following a Simulated Tree Mortality Event of Southern Pine Beetle: A Case Study (2026)
    Forests DOI OpenAlex
  • Hidden worlds: Testing applicability of acoustic methods for examination of deadwood arthropod communities (2025)
    Agricultural and Forest Entomology DOI OpenAlex
  • Deadwood Supports Carnivores in Leaf Litter Communities in a Bark Beetle-Attacked Deadwood Simulation Experiment (2025)
    Forest Science 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • Condo or cuisine? The function of fine woody debris in driving decomposition, detritivores, and their predators (2024)
    Ecology 4 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Bark beetle-driven community and biogeochemical impacts in forest ecosystems: a review (2024)
    Annals of the Entomological Society of America 27 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Decomposition of bark beetle-attacked trees after mortality varies across forests (2023)
    Forest Ecology and Management 6 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Herpetofauna of protected areas in the Caatinga VIII: An updated checklist for the Serra das Confusões region with new data from Serra Vermelha, Piauí, Brazil (2023)
    Biota Neotropica 4 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Isolating the drivers of the species‐area relationship in experimental habitat islands (2023)
    Journal of Biogeography 2 citations DOI OpenAlex

View all publications on OpenAlex →

Federal Grants 1 $503,649 total

Collaboration Network

53 Collaborators 30 Institutions 5 Countries

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