|
Research Interests: My research interests are interdisciplinary
and center on the late Quaternary paleoecology and paleoclimatology. I’m interested in using multiple proxy
data in studying dynamics of vegetation, climate, hydrology and carbon cycle
and their connections. I have used multiple paleoecological
records (pollen, conifer stomata and plant macrofossils) derived from lake
and wetland sediments to reconstruct past flora and vegetation changes and to
discuss environmental influences on dynamics/succession of upland and wetland
vegetation. Reconstructed change in vegetation from these paleoecological
records together with independent proxies on climate from oxygen isotopes and
on soil/ landscape development from elemental geochemistry provide valuable
data in discussing past ecosystem processes related to
climate-soil-vegetation interactions. I’m also interested in paleoclimatic
and paleohydrologic applications of stable-isotope
and elemental geochemistry techniques. I have used these geochemical records
from lacustrine carbonates (bulk marl, mollusc and ostracode shells)
in investigating deglacial climate oscillations,
mid-Holocene droughts and late Holocene wet-dry climate cycles. I have also
involved in a project of using present-day lake water samples to calibrate
isotopic and geochemical paleo-records. Over the
last few years, I have worked on Holocene paleoclimate
variations and associated peat carbon accumulation dynamics in continental
peatlands using high-resolution 14C dating and paleoecological
records. This line of research also involves modelling
long-term peatland dynamics, especially for
continental peatlands in western Recent and ongoing projects: Collaborative
Research: Identifying Hydroclimatic Regimes of
Carbon Stability in Northern Peatlands - Holocene Data Analysis and Process-based
Modeling. National Science Foundation – Carbon and
Water in the Earth System Program. Principal Investigator (PI): Yu, with PIs:
Frolking ( Understanding
Holocene Climate Variability in the Northeast: Insights from Multiple
Sedimentary Proxy Records. The Petroleum
Research Fund - American Chemical Society (Type AC). Principal Investigator:
Yu. $80,000 for two years from 6/2005 to 8/2007. Collaborative
Research: Pilot Study for Testing Potential of Paired Lakes on the NE Tibetan
Plateau for Multidisciplinary Study of Interaction Between Hydrochemical Evolution and Environmental Change. National Science Foundation – Geobiology
and Environmental Geochemistry/Global Change Programs. PIs: Z.C. Yu ( Environmental
Changes and Strategy in Northwest China. Chinese National Natural Science Foundation
(Chinese NSF) – National Outstanding Scholar Program, Principal Investigator:
Yu (with collaborator F.H. Chen at Carbon
Accumulation in the Fens of Boreal, Western Canada. National Science Foundation –
Integrated Carbon Cycle Program. Co-PI with K. Wieder
( Planning a
Russian-American Peatland Research Program: A
Coordinated Approach. National
Science Foundation – International Plan and Workshops Program, $34,091 for 08/05-08/06.
Co-PIs: D.H. Vitt, M. Turetsky,
M. Vile, Z.C. Yu, and R.K. Wieder. Awarded to
Southern Illinois University, In Search of Stable
Isotopic Records of Deglacial Climate Oscillations
in Mid-Atlantic Region. The Petroleum Research Fund - American Chemical Society. Principal
investigator: Yu. $35,000 for 9/2002 - 8/2004 (extended to 8/2005). |