Research Interests

(1) Plant phenology
(2) Tree physiology
(3) Climate change

Project

Drought events associated with climate change have already been reported to have caused wide-spread forest mortality across the globe. As the two potentially physiological processes which can eventually lead to tree death, on the one hand consensus has been reached that carbon starvation of trees in response to drought is rather the exception than the rule, one the other hand the nature of hydraulic failure and which component of the plant hydraulic system in trees is indeed the most vulnerable to drought and ultimately causes tree mortality remains yet unclear. In this project, I will investigate (i) the lethal thresholds of tissue dehydration in roots, stems and leaves of six temperate tree species and assess (ii) the physiological and temporal coordination of foliar and branch water potentials, loss of hydraulic conductivity in roots, stems and leaves and tissue dehydration during the progression of drought for the same six species. With this research, we will be able to contribute significant new insight into a highly relevant question at the interface of plant ecology, physiology and biogeochemistry which will help to better predict the fate of global forests and their ecosystem goods and services in a changing climate.

Education

2020 – ongoing PhD student in the Physiological Plant Ecology group, University of Basel, Switzerland
2016 – 2019 M.Sc. in Botany, Yunnan University, China.
2012 – 2016 B.Sc. in Applied Meteorology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, China.