Response of Boreal Larches to Climate Change in Northernmost China

Date: 

Thursday, February 14, 2019, 3:30pm to 4:45pm

Location: 

Pierce Hall 100F, 29 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA

Speaker: LIU Jialin

Liu Jialin, Visiting Fellow, Harvard-China Project; Ph.D. Student, Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology, Northeast Forestry University

Abstract: Boreal larch is the typical zonal forest type in the Siberian boreal-arctic ecozone, a region profoundly influenced by climate change due to the polar amplification effect. Larches are notably distinct from other boreal conifers due to their deciduous habit. Despite the extensive work that has been done on boreal spruces and pines, there are currently only a few studies that focus on the surface-atmosphere exchanges in boreal larches. In our studies we combine flux-observations, tree physiological measurements, satellite products, empirical function modeling, and machine-learning algorithm to investigate characteristics of carbon and water exchanges and ecological responses to climatic forcing in a boreal larch site near the southern edge of Siberia (northernmost China). Our series of studies forms an important basis for exploring mechanisms that control responses of Siberian larches to climate change and factors that influence their long-term ecosystem stability and sustainability.

Sponsored by China Project, Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.