Current Projects

Peatlands hold enormous stores of carbon, and the rates of carbon decomposition depend on water table fluctuations that contribute to aerobic or anaerobic conditions in the soil. Climate change can potentially increase carbon emissions due to its influence on hydrological processes across the watershed, and we are investigating these processes through a combination of physical models and field measurements at the Marcell Experimental Forest in northern Minnesota.

This project has been funded by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. 

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• Feng, X. et al. (2020). Climate sensitivity of peatland methane emissions mediated by seasonal hydrologic dynamics. Geophysical Research Letters, p.e2020GL088875. 

• Jones et al. (2022). Soil frost controls streamflow generation processes in headwater catchments. Journal of Hydrology, 617, 128801.

Predicting plant responses during drought requires knowledge of the environmental drivers (e.g., soil and atmospheric conditions) as well as the physiological mechanisms that mediate how plants experience water stress. We are developing theoretical models at the leaf, plant, and ecosystem-levels based on optimization theory to advance understanding of plant water use strategies and their responses during drought. This project is funded through the National Science Foundation CAREER program.

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• "Using sapflow to infer plant hydraulic properties" - EOS. 

• Lu et al. (2022). Intra‐specific variability in plant hydraulic parameters inferred from model inversion of sap flux data. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, e2021JG006777. 

• Feng et al. (2022). Instantaneous stomatal optimization results in suboptimal carbon gain due to legacy effects. Plant, Cell & Environment.

• Sloan et al. (2021). Plant hydraulic transport controls transpiration sensitivity to soil water stress. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 25.8 (2021): 4259-4274.

• Lu et al. (2020). Optimal stomatal drought response shaped by competition for water and hydraulic risk can explain plant trait covariation. New Phytologist. 225 (3), 1206-1217. 

The use of vegetation in urban watersheds (i.e., green infrastructure) can reduce flooding and cool neighborhoods. However, nutrients from urban vegetation can also pollute downstream waters. The benefits and burdens of green infrastructure depend on their spatial configuration within the urban watershed. As part of the MSP Urban Long Term Ecological Research program, we are collecting data on the flow of water and nutrients through urban watersheds and using models to help identify tradeoffs between the benefits and burdens that urban watersheds provide to urban residents.

This project is also funded by the Minnesota Stormwater Research Council.

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• "U of M researchers in St. Paul study how urban trees affect environment" - Twin Cities Pioneer Press. (Read the PDF version here).