Qiong Gao
Contact:
Email: shiqun.gao@gmail.com
Office phone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 1-4375
Education
| Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA | Agricultural Engineering | PhD 1987 |
| Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA | Agricultural Engineering | MS 1984 |
| Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China | Agricultural Machinery | BS 1976 |
Research Interests:
1. Multiscale ecosystem modeling. The goal is to scale or link processes at plant organ, individual, spatially homogeneous patches, spatiall hegerogeneous landscapes and regions. Some case studies have been accomplished with general rules derived.
2. Modeling of ecosystem adaptation to environmental changes. There were many simulation models for various ecosystems constructed over the past few decades to quantify the responses of the ecosystems to past and future environmental changes. Many of these models, if not all, tended to use fixed model structure (fixed rooting depth, for example) and fixed physiological processes, ignoring the fact the ecosystems are adapting to the changing environments. A more relialistic model should include as much as the ecosystem adaptation such as physiological and morphological adaptations.
3. Coupling ecosystem processes with changes in anthropogentic activities such as land use change including urburn sprawl and deurbanization, temporal/spatial variations in population and education, and increased resource exploration. Many developing countries in this world have the experiencing fast economic development, which has brought about great impacts on world ecosystems. Realistic ecosystem assessments at regional and global scales must include these impacts as an intrinsic part.
Selected publications:
Yu, M., Gao, Q., and Epstein, H.E. 2009, Ecophysiological characteristics on photosynthesis and stomatal conductance of dominant C3 and C4 species in semi-arid and arid grassland. South African Journal of Botany doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2009.04.006
Yu, M., Gao, Q., Epstein, E., and Zhang, X.. 2008, An ecohydrological analysis for optimal use of redistributed water among vegetation patches in sandy grasslands. Ecological Applications 18(7): 1679-1688
Zhu, K. and Gao, Q., 2008, Quantifying regional ecosystem services based on simulation using the SWAT model for the upper-mid Yellow River basin. Oct 17-21, International Symposium for SWAT application, Beijing, China
Gao, Q., Yu, M., Liu, Y. Xu, H., Xu, X., 2007, Modelling interplay between regional net ecosystem carbon balance and soil erosion in a crop pasture transition region, Journal of Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences, 112, G04005, doi:10.1029/2007JG000455.[PDF]
Peng, C., Ouyang, H., Gao, Q., Jiang, Y., Zhang, F., Li, J., Yu, Q., 2007, Building a green railway in China, Science, 316:546-547.[PDF]
