Talk Title:  Climate Change Impact on Wetland Ecosystems: A Hydrological Perspectives

Guest speaker: Prof. Wenhong Li, Associate Professor of Earth & Climate Sciences, Duke University

Host: Prof. Ding Ma, Assistant Professor of Atmospheric and Environmental Science, Duke Kunshan University

Time: 9AM-10AM, Friday December 2, CST.

Zoom ID: 650 476 0215

Biography:

Dr. Li’s research interests focus primarily on climate dynamics, land-atmosphere interaction, hydroclimatology, and climate modeling. Her current research is to understand how the hydrological cycle changes in the current and future climate and their impacts on the ecosystems, subtropical high variability and change, unforced global temperature variability, and climate and health issues.

Abstract:

Wetlands provide numerous essential ecosystem services for sustainable development. However, wetlands are increasingly stressed due to climate change and related hydrological extremes.  In recent decades, frequent droughts, floods, in conjunction with sea-level rise, have dramatically affected wetland structure, productivity, and services through altering wetland hydrological processes.  Wetland degradation has been observed in many places, but the causes are not well understood especially on large scales. In this talk, I will introduce a new framework that combines remote sensing and wetland modeling for detecting and understanding wetland degradation on regional scales. Impact of climate change induced disturbances and extremes on the wetland ecosystems over the Southeast United States will also be discussed.

This event is organized by the DKU Environmental Science Research Group, with the Environmental Research Center and the Division of Natural and Applied Sciences