Education

Ph.D., Environment, Duke University, 2019

M.S., Statistics, Duke University, 2019

B.Eng., Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, 2014

Research

Ecohydrology, ecosystem resilience, global change ecology, drought, plant hydraulics, Arctic-boreal ecosystem

Selected Publications

Zhang, Y., Wang, J. A., Berner, L. T., Goetz, S. J., Zhao, K., & Liu, Y. (2024). Warming and disturbances affect Arctic-boreal vegetation resilience across northwestern North America. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 8(12), 2265-2276.

Liu, Y., Holm, J. A., Koven, C. D., Salmon, V. G., Rogers, A., & Torn, M. S. (2024). Large divergence of projected high latitude vegetation composition and productivity due to functional trait uncertainty. Earth’s Future, 12(8), e2024EF004563.

Liu, Y., Riley, W. J., Keenan, T. F., Mekonnen, Z. A., Holm, J. A., Zhu, Q., & Torn, M. S. (2022). Dispersal and fire limit Arctic shrub expansion. Nature communications, 13(1), 3843.

Liu, Y., Holtzman, N. M., & Konings, A. G. (2021). Global ecosystem-scale plant hydraulic traits retrieved using model–data fusion. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 25(5), 2399-2417.

Liu, Y., Kumar, M., Katul, G. G., Feng, X., & Konings, A. G. (2020). Plant hydraulics accentuates the effect of atmospheric moisture stress on transpiration. Nature Climate Change, 10(7), 691-695.

Liu, Y., Kumar, M., Katul, G. G., & Porporato, A. (2019). Reduced resilience as an early warning signal of forest mortality. Nature Climate Change, 9(11), 880-885.

Liu, Y., Parolari, A. J., Kumar, M., Huang, C. W., Katul, G. G., & Porporato, A. (2017). Increasing atmospheric humidity and CO2 concentration alleviate forest mortality risk. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(37), 9918-9923.

Courses & Presentations

GEOG 191 Environmental Statistics (Spring 2026)

GEOG M206 Introduction to Biophysical Modeling (Spring 2026)