* = corresponding author. Published works use the al-folio bibliography card layout and are grouped in reverse chronological order.
Selected Publications
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Forest carbon modeling improved through hierarchical assimilation of pool-based measurements
Yu Zhou* and Christopher A. Williams
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 2025
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Large CO2 removal potential of woody debris preservation in managed forests
Yiqi Luo, Ning Wei, Xingjie Lu, and 8 more authors
Nature Geoscience, 2025
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Evidence and attribution of the enhanced land carbon sink
Sybille Ruehr, Trevor F. Keenan, Christopher Williams, and 7 more authors
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 2023
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Beyond biomass to carbon fluxes: Application and evaluation of a comprehensive forest carbon monitoring system
Yu Zhou*, Christopher A. Williams, Nicholas Hasler, and 2 more authors
Environmental Research Letters, 2021
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A multiyear gridded data ensemble of surface biogenic carbon fluxes for North America: Evaluation and analysis of results
Yu Zhou, Christopher A. Williams, Thomas Lauvaux, and 5 more authors
Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 2020
In Review or Revision
- Under review. Zhou, J., Quan, Q., Huang, W., Hanson, P., Ricciuto, D., Mayes, M., Griffiths, N., Salmon, V., Weber, S., Jiang, L., Zhou, Y., Shi, X., Chen, W., Zhang, Y., & Luo, Y. The fate of peatland carbon interactively determined by elevated carbon dioxide and warming. PNAS.
Published
2026
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Photosynthetic optimum temperature plays a minor role in the increase of terrestrial carbon uptake from 2000 to 2019
Chongyang Xu, Hongyan Liu, Dan Yakir, and 18 more authors
One Earth, 2026
Summary Gross primary productivity (GPP; ecosystem-level photosynthesis) represents the largest terrestrial carbon flux and is highly sensitive to temperature. Despite global warming, the trends and controlling factors of optimum temperature (Topt) and maximum rates of GPP (GPPmax) remain uncertain. We investigated the drivers of Topt and GPPmax trends during 2000–2019 using global observations of ground-based eddy covariance and satellite-based sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. Although GPPmax increased worldwide, Topt increased only in tropical and temperate regions but remained unchanged globally and in arid and cold regions. Thermal acclimation via shifting Topt was constrained by atmospheric and soil dryness, explaining less than 20% of the global GPPmax rise. In contrast, GPPmax trends were more strongly driven by stomatal regulation improving water-use efficiency and by enhanced canopy development under dryness constraints. These findings challenge the expectation that thermal acclimation is central to projecting GPP under warming and highlight dynamic physiological-structural shifts that sustain terrestrial carbon uptake.
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Effect of global change drivers on carbon fluxes and resilience of European forests
Forest Ecology and Management, 2026
Accepted
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Hydraulic Redistribution Decreases with Precipitation Magnitude and Frequency in a Dryland Ecosystem: A Data-Model Fusion Approach
A. K. Chandel, M. Cattry, Y. Zhou, and 4 more authors
Biogeosciences, 2026
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Precipitation variability interacts with mean precipitation to restructure a semiarid grassland community
Jennifer A. Rudgers, Laureano A. Gherardi, Purbendra Yogi, and 14 more authors
Ecology, 2026
Abstract Climate forecasts project change not only in the mean of climate variables but also in their variance. If these dual changes interact, then future ecological dynamics will be difficult to predict using current experimental approaches, which typically change the mean or impose a single extreme event, such as drought. We designed a new field experiment to factorially reduce mean precipitation and increase its interannual variability. Across 4 years, drier, more variable precipitation additively reduced aboveground primary productivity by 48%–69% and interactively reduced the dominant plant species, but had no effect on the plant species predicted to dominate in the future, which could lead to state transition. Drier, more variable precipitation also interactively reduced biodiversity more than either climate factor alone, with 37%–42% fewer plant species than under ambient conditions, a pattern that matched declining richness during the past 20 years of ongoing climate change. Drier, more variable precipitation restructured the composition and spatiotemporal variation of the plant community. Altered precipitation mean or variance affected 14% of plant species, with eight species sensitive to the mean × variance interaction. Results suggest that future forecasts of plant community structure may be inadequate if they fail to incorporate climate mean × variance interactions.
2025
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Forest carbon modeling improved through hierarchical assimilation of pool-based measurements
Yu Zhou* and Christopher A. Williams
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 2025
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Large CO2 removal potential of woody debris preservation in managed forests
Yiqi Luo, Ning Wei, Xingjie Lu, and 8 more authors
Nature Geoscience, 2025
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Drought-induced peatland carbon loss exacerbated by elevated CO2 and warming
Quan Quan, Jiawei Zhou, Paul J. Hanson, and 16 more authors
Science, 2025
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An Enhanced Phenology Dataset for Global Drylands from 2001 to 2019
Yuyan Dong, Yu Zhou*, Li Zhang, and 5 more authors
Scientific Data, 2025
2024
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Hybrid Modeling in Earth System Science
Yu Zhou
In Land Carbon Cycle Modeling Matrix Approach, Data Assimilation, Ecological Forecasting, and Machine Learning, 2024
2023
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Evidence and attribution of the enhanced land carbon sink
Sybille Ruehr, Trevor F. Keenan, Christopher Williams, and 7 more authors
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 2023
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Intensive land-use is associated with development status in port cities of Southeast Asia
Yuyan Dong, Yu Zhou*, Li Zhang, and 2 more authors
Environmental Research Letters, 2023
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Across-model spread and shrinking in predicting peatland carbon dynamics under global change
Enqing Hou, Siyan Ma, Yuanyuan Huang, and 8 more authors
Global Change Biology, 2023
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Infrastructure to factorially manipulate the mean and variance of precipitation in the field
Jennifer A. Rudgers and others
Ecosphere, 2023
2022
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Hurricanes substantially reduce the nutrients in tropical forested watersheds in Puerto Rico
Jiaxin Sun, Xiaohua Wei, Yu Zhou, and 2 more authors
Forests, 2022
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A modified Vegetation Photosynthesis and Respiration Model (VPRM) for the eastern USA and Canada, evaluated with comparison to atmospheric observations and other biospheric models
Sharon M. Gourdji, Anna Karion, Ileana Lopez-Coto, and 7 more authors
Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 2022
2021
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Beyond biomass to carbon fluxes: Application and evaluation of a comprehensive forest carbon monitoring system
Yu Zhou*, Christopher A. Williams, Nicholas Hasler, and 2 more authors
Environmental Research Letters, 2021
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Joint CO2 mole fraction and flux analysis confirms missing processes in CASA terrestrial carbon uptake over North America
Sha Feng, Thomas Lauvaux, Christopher A. Williams, and 5 more authors
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2021
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Atmospheric Carbon and Transport-America (ACT-America) data sets: Description, management, and delivery
Yaxing Wei and others
Earth and Space Science, 2021
2020
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A multiyear gridded data ensemble of surface biogenic carbon fluxes for North America: Evaluation and analysis of results
Yu Zhou, Christopher A. Williams, Thomas Lauvaux, and 5 more authors
Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 2020
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Increased carbon uptake and water use efficiency in global semi-arid ecosystems
Li Zhang, Jingfeng Xiao, Yao Zheng, and 2 more authors
Environmental Research Letters, 2020
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Species diversity with comprehensive annotations of wood-inhabiting poroid and corticioid fungi in Uzbekistan
Yusufjon Gafforov, Alexander Ordynets, Ewald Langer, and 7 more authors
Frontiers in Microbiology, 2020
2019
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Spatiotemporal transition of institutional and socioeconomic impacts on vegetation productivity in Central Asia over last three decades
Yu Zhou, Li Zhang, Jingfeng Xiao, and 3 more authors
Science of the Total Environment, 2019
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Seasonal characteristics of model uncertainties from biogenic fluxes, transport, and large-scale boundary inflow in atmospheric CO2 simulations over North America
Sha Feng, Thomas Lauvaux, Kenneth J. Davis, and 6 more authors
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2019
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The carbon balance of the southeastern US forest sector as driven by recent disturbance trends
Hanyue Gu, Christopher A. Williams, Nicholas Hasler, and 1 more author
Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 2019
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Improved simulation of carbon and water fluxes by assimilating multi-layer soil temperature and moisture into process-based biogeochemical models
Min Yan, Zhi Li, Xiaoli Tian, and 2 more authors
Forest Ecosystems, 2019
2017
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Vegetation change and its driving factors in global drylands during the period of 1982-2012
Yao Zheng, Li Zhang, Yu Zhou, and 1 more author
Arid Zone Research, 2017
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The performance of airborne C-band PolInSAR data on forest growth stage types classification
Qian Feng, Li Zhou, Erxue Chen, and 3 more authors
Remote Sensing, 2017
2016
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Drought events and their effects on vegetation productivity in China
Li Zhang, Jingfeng Xiao, Yu Zhou, and 3 more authors
Ecosphere, 2016
2015
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Climate contributions to vegetation variations in central Asian drylands: Pre- and post-USSR collapse
Yu Zhou, Li Zhang, Rasmus Fensholt, and 3 more authors
Remote Sensing, 2015
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Contributions of natural and human factors to increases in vegetation productivity in China
Jingfeng Xiao, Yu Zhou, and Li Zhang
Ecosphere, 2015
2014
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A comparison of satellite-derived vegetation indices for approximating gross primary productivity of grasslands
Yu Zhou, Li Zhang, Jingfeng Xiao, and 3 more authors
Rangeland Ecology & Management, 2014
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Drought impact on vegetation productivity in the Lower Mekong Basin
Bing Zhang, Li Zhang, Huadong Guo, and 4 more authors
International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2014
Presentations
- 2026. Zhou, Y., Gharun, M., Xiao, J., Guerrieri, R., Li, X., & Buchmann, N. Atmospheric Deposition Outweighs Dryness in Regulating European Ecosystem Productivity. Swiss Forest Lab Science Day, Bern, Switzerland.
- 2025. Zhou, Y., Gharun, M., & Buchmann, N. Interactive Effect of Nitrogen Deposition and Drought on Forest Carbon Sequestration. eLTER meeting, Tampere, Finland.
- 2025. [Invited] Zhou, Y. Improved estimation of forest carbon dynamics via model-data fusion. Grassland Seminar, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
- 2024. Zhou, Y., Litvak, M.E., Fan, J., Guo, W., Duman, T., Gomes, C., & Luo, Y. AI-powered interpretation of dryland carbon dynamics. AGU Fall Meeting, Washington DC, USA.
- 2023. Zhou, Y., Rudgers, J., Cui, E., Lehmann, J., Quan, Q., Xia, J., Wang, R., Sun, Y., Gomes, C., You, F., & Luo, Y. Convergent Pattern of Plant Strategies in Varied Dryness Conditions. AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA.
- 2022. Zhou, Y., Hou, E., Litvak, M.E., Rudgers, J., Collins, S.L., Pockman, W., & Luo, Y. Improved Estimates of Carbon and Water Dynamics by TECO-Dryland and Data Assimilation. AGU Fall Meeting, Chicago, USA.
- 2019. Zhou, Y., Williams, C.A., Kulakowski, D., & Rogan, J. Linking Biomass Data with Carbon Cycle Modeling. AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA.
- 2018. Zhou, Y., Williams, C.A., Lauvaux, T., Feng, S., Keller, K., & Davis, K.J. A multi-year gridded data product of surface biogenic carbon fluxes for North America: Evaluation and analysis of results. AGU Fall Meeting, Washington DC, USA.
- 2018. Zhou, Y. & Williams, C.A. Improving the Predictive Ability of the Global Carbon Cycle Models. Ecological Society of America annual meeting, New Orleans, USA.