Dr Yao Liu

Assistant Professor

School: Geography and Natural Sciences

The role of time is central for understanding climate change impacts on our ecosystems. A primary theme of my research is “ecological memory” – How do past environmental and biological conditions shape the current behaviour of an ecological system? To answer this, I study the temporal dynamics and memory effects in systems spanning a range of time scales:

Photosynthesis in fluctuating environments
Tree growth
Ecosystem carbon fluxes
Ecosystem (particularly forest) origination, transformation, and resilience

I specialise in Bayesian data analysis, and my research often combines observational, experimental, and modelling approaches. For example, I am using chlorophyll fluorescence monitoring, manipulative experiments on plant mutants, and data-driven dynamical system models to understand the memory of non-photochemical quenching and how its various components work together in fluctuating environments.

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Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
The importance of monsoon precipitation for foundation tree species across the semiarid Southwestern U.S, Samuels-Crow, K., Peltier, D., Liu, Y., Guo, J., Welker, J., Anderegg, W., Koch, G., Schwalm, C., Litvak, M., Shaw, J., Ogle, K. 30 Mar 2023, In: Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Estimation of pollen productivity and dispersal: How pollen assemblages in small lakes represent vegetation, Liu, Y., Ogle, K., Lichstein, J., Jackson, S. 1 Aug 2022, In: Ecological Monographs
Examining the role of environmental memory in the predictability of carbon and water fluxes across Australian ecosystems, Page, J., De Kauwe, M., Abramowitz, G., Cleverly, J., Hinko-Najera, N., Hovenden, M., Liu, Y., Pitman, A., Ogle, K. 5 Apr 2022, In: Biogeosciences
Temperature memory and non-structural carbohydrates mediate legacies of a hot drought in trees across the southwestern USA, Peltier, D., Guo, J., Nguyen, P., Bangs, M., Wilson, M., Samuels-Crow, K., Yocom, L., Liu, Y., Fell, M., Shaw, J., Auty, D., Schwalm, C., Anderegg, W., Koch, G., Litvak, M., Ogle, K. Jan 2022, In: Tree Physiology
Tree growth sensitivity to climate varies across a seasonal precipitation gradient, Yocom, L., Ogle, K., Peltier, D., Szejner, P., Liu, Y., Monson, R. Apr 2022, In: Oecologia
A hierarchical, multivariate meta-analysis approach to synthesising global change experiments, Ogle, K., Liu, Y., Vicca, S., Bahn, M. Sep 2021, In: New Phytologist
Temporal controls on crown nonstructural carbohydrates in southwestern US tree species, Peltier, D., Guo, J., Nguyen, P., Bangs, M., Gear, L., Wilson, M., Jefferys, S., Samuels-Crow, K., Yocom, L., Liu, Y., Fell, M., Auty, D., Schwalm, C., Anderegg, W., Koch, G., Litvak, M., Ogle, K. 4 Nov 2020, In: Tree Physiology

Further Information

TEACHING

SPRING 2023

Module Lead: Biodiversity and Climate Change (KE5031)

Instructor: Geography Fieldwork (KE4003), Our Living Planet (KE4011), Introduction to Physical Environments (KE4014), Research and Fieldwork in Physical Geography (KE5027), Dissertation (KE6000)

AUTUMN 2022

Instructor: Understanding and Communicating Environmental Issues (KE3005), Academic Skills and Personal Development (KE4010), Work Placement Year (KE5034)

SPRING 2022

Module Lead: Biodiversity and Climate Change (KE5031)

Instructor: Geography Fieldwork (KE4003), Research and Fieldwork in Physical Geography (KE5027), Dissertation (KE6000)

AUTUMN 2021

Module Lead: Understanding and Communicating Environmental Issues (KE3005)

Instructor: Academic Skills and Personal Development (KE4010)

SPRING 2021

Instructor: Biodiversity and Climate Change (KE5031), Our Living Planet (KE4011), Geography Fieldwork (KE4003), Dissertation (KE6000)

AUTUMN 2020

Instructor: Understanding and Communicating Environmental Issues (KE3005), Academic Skills and Personal Development (KE4010)

Qualifications