Main work

• Dendroecology of conifer species and the resilience of tree growth to extreme weather events on the Tibetan Plateau;

• The trade-off and synergy of ecosystem services among different forest restoration approaches in subalpine mountains;

• The spatial planning of water conservation forest and the optimal scheme of subalpine forest management.

Prof. Zhang Yuandong and his team's results indicate that the majority of tree growth on the monsoonal Tibetan Plateau has benefited from recent summer warming. At alpine treelines, higher spring and growing season temperatures are beneficial for the radial growth of spruce but could cause drought stress to fir, which drives the divergent responses and the spatial variability for trees on the east edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Natural mixed forest restoration can be a promising approach for increasing C sequestration capacity in the subalpine region. Minjiang fir is the best tree species for water conservation, hydrologic regulation and water storage, old growth fir forests have the best water conservation capacity, fir and broad-leaved mixed forest is the best restoration type to conserve water in the subalpine areas of Southwestern China.

Key research projects

• Spatial-temporal variation of tree-ring sensitivity to climate and its mechanism in eastern Tibet Plateau, National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2023-2026;

• The influence of climate warming on tree-ring temperature sensitivity and its mechanism in the mountains, northwestern China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2020-2023;

• Formation and synergy mechanism of ecosystem service in national ecological barrier areas, National key research and development plan of China, 2018-2021;

• Spatiotemporal variation of tree growth response to climate change at alpine treelines in southwestern China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2018-2021.

Awards & achievements

• Key technologies and applications of forest vegetation restoration and water conservation function improvement in the upper reaches of Minjiang River, 2020, First Prize of Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award;

• Coupling and long-term evolution mechanism of forest vegetation ecohydrological processes in the Minjiang River Basin in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, 2015, First Prize of Liang Xi Forestry Science and Technology Award.

Published articles & books

• Zhongtong Peng, Qifeng Mo, Liangjun Zhu, Qingao Lu, Jiaqing Cai, Mingming Guo, Kun Xu, Yuandong Zhang*, 2023, Divergent responses of Picea crassifolia Kom. in different forest patches to climate change in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, Forest Ecosystems, 10, 100153.

• Zhongtong Peng, Yuandong Zhang*, Liangjun Zhu, Mingming Guo, Qingao Lu, Kun Xu, Hui Shao, Qifeng Mo, Shirong Liu, 2023, Spatial and temporal patterns of the sensitivity of radial growth response by Picea schrenkiana to regional climate change in the Tianshan Mountains, Journal of Forestry Research, 34(6), 1669-1681

• Qingao Lu, Yuandong Zhang*, Bochao Song, Hui Shao, Xiaorui Tian, Shirong Liu, 2023, The responses of ecological indicators to compound extreme climate indices in Southwestern China, Ecological Indicators, 157, 111253

• Hui Shao, Yuandong Zhang*, Zhen Yu, Fengxue Gu, Zhongtong Peng, 2022, The resilience of vegetation to the 2009/2010 extreme drought in Southwest China, Forests, 13, 851.

• Chunming Shi, Cong Gao, Yuandong Zhang*, Fangzhong Shi，Miaogen Shen, Songlin Shi, 2021,The majority of tree growth on the monsoonal Tibetan Plateau has benefited from recent summer warming[J], Catena, 207,105649.

• Hui Shao, Yuandong Zhang*, Fengxue Gu, Chunming Shi, Ning Miao, Shirong Liu, 2021, Impacts of climate extremes on ecosystem metrics in southwest China, Science of the Total Environment, 776, 145979.

• Zhongda Hu, Yuandong Zhang*, Fengxue Gu, Yaobin Li, Hui Shao, Shirong Liu, 2020, Local residents' perceptions of climate and ecological changes in the eastern Tibetan Plateau, Regional Environmental Change, 20,56.

• Wenqi Song, Changcheng Mu, Yuandong Zhang*, Xu Zhang, Zongshan Li, Huiying Zhao, Xiaochun Wang*, 2020, Moisture-driven changes in the sensitivity of the radial growth of Picea crassifolia to temperature, Northeastern Tibetan Plateau, Dendrochronologia 64, 125761.

• Mingming Guo, Yuandong Zhang*, Shirong Liu*, Fengxue Gu, Xiaochun Wang, Zongshan Li, Chunming Shi, Zexin Fan, 2019, Divergent growth between spruce and fir at alpine treelines on the east edge of the Tibetan Plateau in response to recent climate warming, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 276–277,107631.

Other results

• Technical specification for restoration and sustainable management of degraded forests in Southwest China.