Xiu Lin Gao
@xiulingao.bsky.social
Fire ecologist looking at climate, vegetation, fire feedbacks in the Earth system using field and modeling studies. Views my own.
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
I wrote to my representatives @hirono.senate.gov @schatz.bsky.social, and Ed Case to tell them to stop the dismantlement of NCAR. You can do the same with your representatives at this link.
Save NCAR from being dismantled today!
The Trump Administration has vowed to dissolve the center that provides critical extreme weather and climate data for our nation.
agu.quorum.us
December 17, 2025 at 8:23 PM
I wrote to my representatives @hirono.senate.gov @schatz.bsky.social, and Ed Case to tell them to stop the dismantlement of NCAR. You can do the same with your representatives at this link.
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
NCAR is quite literally our global mothership.
Everyone who works in climate and weather has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources.
Dismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet.
Unbelievable.
Everyone who works in climate and weather has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources.
Dismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet.
Unbelievable.
Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado
The Trump administration is breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
www.usatoday.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:59 AM
NCAR is quite literally our global mothership.
Everyone who works in climate and weather has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources.
Dismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet.
Unbelievable.
Everyone who works in climate and weather has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources.
Dismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet.
Unbelievable.
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
I'm very sad to say William Bond, of the University of Cape Town & Fellow of the Royal Society (@royalsociety.org ), has passed away. It is a great loss. He was an enthusiastic ecologist and a critical thinker. I learned a lot, and I still had a lot to learn from him. RIP. 😢
🧪🌎🔥🌿🌳🪴🌐 #PlantScience
🧪🌎🔥🌿🌳🪴🌐 #PlantScience
December 4, 2025 at 10:06 PM
I'm very sad to say William Bond, of the University of Cape Town & Fellow of the Royal Society (@royalsociety.org ), has passed away. It is a great loss. He was an enthusiastic ecologist and a critical thinker. I learned a lot, and I still had a lot to learn from him. RIP. 😢
🧪🌎🔥🌿🌳🪴🌐 #PlantScience
🧪🌎🔥🌿🌳🪴🌐 #PlantScience
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
Making a climate model that works well is really, really hard. So hard, in fact, that the people who do make it happen rarely have the time or energy to talk about how hard it is on the internet. So most other people have very little understanding about how hard it is... But boy is it hard #NorESM3
November 18, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Making a climate model that works well is really, really hard. So hard, in fact, that the people who do make it happen rarely have the time or energy to talk about how hard it is on the internet. So most other people have very little understanding about how hard it is... But boy is it hard #NorESM3
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
Important new paper by Luke Collins and colleagues: "Extremely large fires shape fire severity patterns across the diverse forests of British Columbia [BC], Canada"
Key findings:
1. Fires in BC have increased in size from 1986-2021
2. Bigger fires have larger patches of high-severity fire
🧪🌍🔥
Key findings:
1. Fires in BC have increased in size from 1986-2021
2. Bigger fires have larger patches of high-severity fire
🧪🌍🔥
Extremely large fires shape fire severity patterns across the diverse forests of British Columbia, Canada
Warming and drying conditions are driving increases in wildfire size and annual area burned across the forests of British Columbia, Canada. The impact of increasing fire activity on these forests rem...
doi.org
August 19, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Important new paper by Luke Collins and colleagues: "Extremely large fires shape fire severity patterns across the diverse forests of British Columbia [BC], Canada"
Key findings:
1. Fires in BC have increased in size from 1986-2021
2. Bigger fires have larger patches of high-severity fire
🧪🌍🔥
Key findings:
1. Fires in BC have increased in size from 1986-2021
2. Bigger fires have larger patches of high-severity fire
🧪🌍🔥
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
The PhUnFETTy lab will have four presentations at #ESA2025. These will cover plant ecophysiology, trait ecology, eutrophication, water availability, mycorrhizae, demography, theory, modeling, and more!
Check out the flyer and replies below for more details. Hope to see you in Baltimore!
Check out the flyer and replies below for more details. Hope to see you in Baltimore!
August 11, 2025 at 1:16 PM
The PhUnFETTy lab will have four presentations at #ESA2025. These will cover plant ecophysiology, trait ecology, eutrophication, water availability, mycorrhizae, demography, theory, modeling, and more!
Check out the flyer and replies below for more details. Hope to see you in Baltimore!
Check out the flyer and replies below for more details. Hope to see you in Baltimore!
Led by Adam Hanbury-Brown, we found that Sierra Nevada dry conifer forests will become carbon sources and shift to oak-dominated forests under 2.5 °C warming by the late 21st century, regardless of management. Uncertainty remains due to limited data for constraining key model parameters is.gd/dm9aPu
Will thinning and fuel reduction treatments help dry conifer forests persist under climate change? - IOPscience
Will thinning and fuel reduction treatments help dry conifer forests persist under climate change?, Hanbury-Brown, Adam, Holm, Jennifer, Tortorelli, Claire, Young, Derek, Gao, Xiulin, Koven, Charlie, ...
is.gd
July 31, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Led by Adam Hanbury-Brown, we found that Sierra Nevada dry conifer forests will become carbon sources and shift to oak-dominated forests under 2.5 °C warming by the late 21st century, regardless of management. Uncertainty remains due to limited data for constraining key model parameters is.gd/dm9aPu
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
We are collecting records of fire behaviour in the UK!
Do you have fire behaviour observations (recent or historical) for a specific location, date and time? We welcome you to fill in this survey to help us to validate and improve FireInSite fire behaviour predictions.
Survey link: arcg.is/CyqWj2
Do you have fire behaviour observations (recent or historical) for a specific location, date and time? We welcome you to fill in this survey to help us to validate and improve FireInSite fire behaviour predictions.
Survey link: arcg.is/CyqWj2
July 31, 2025 at 9:43 AM
We are collecting records of fire behaviour in the UK!
Do you have fire behaviour observations (recent or historical) for a specific location, date and time? We welcome you to fill in this survey to help us to validate and improve FireInSite fire behaviour predictions.
Survey link: arcg.is/CyqWj2
Do you have fire behaviour observations (recent or historical) for a specific location, date and time? We welcome you to fill in this survey to help us to validate and improve FireInSite fire behaviour predictions.
Survey link: arcg.is/CyqWj2
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
Simulating Lightning‐Induced Tree Mortality in the Dynamic Global Vegetation Model LPJ‐GUESS
🔗 buff.ly/2DnFgZ0
🔗 buff.ly/2DnFgZ0
July 18, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Simulating Lightning‐Induced Tree Mortality in the Dynamic Global Vegetation Model LPJ‐GUESS
🔗 buff.ly/2DnFgZ0
🔗 buff.ly/2DnFgZ0
Just a reminder that you can still submit your abstract to our session by July 30th.
If you are doing wildfire-relevant research, especially with the goals to understand the complex climate, vegetation, soil, fire, and human interactions in the Earth system, please consider submitting abstracts to our #AGU #fire session:
agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/pr...
agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/pr...
<i>The Role of Fire in the Earth System: Understanding Drivers, Feedbacks, and Interactions with the Land, Atmosphere, and Society</i>
Anthropogenic and natural fires are an important component of the Earth system. Geographic location, fuel type, seasonality and intensity of fire largely determine the sign and magnitude of feedbacks ...
agu.confex.com
July 17, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Just a reminder that you can still submit your abstract to our session by July 30th.
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
🌳 🔥 🌎 Our new paper: The extreme fire-prone #weather underpinning some of the worst #wildfire episodes this century has become more than twice as likely due to #climate change—a trend now evident across much of the world's tropical and mid-latitude #forests.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Climate change has increased the odds of extreme regional forest fire years globally - Nature Communications
The authors show that extreme fire years in global forests align with rare fire weather extremes. Climate change has made such extremes 88-152% more probable. These findings highlight the need for act...
www.nature.com
July 11, 2025 at 8:54 AM
🌳 🔥 🌎 Our new paper: The extreme fire-prone #weather underpinning some of the worst #wildfire episodes this century has become more than twice as likely due to #climate change—a trend now evident across much of the world's tropical and mid-latitude #forests.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
This week I participated in a workshop and was struck by the difference between younger male collegues who were speaking up like they were used to being listened to, and younger female collegues who were timid and not used to being listened to. Damn, are we still here…
July 11, 2025 at 7:51 AM
This week I participated in a workshop and was struck by the difference between younger male collegues who were speaking up like they were used to being listened to, and younger female collegues who were timid and not used to being listened to. Damn, are we still here…
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
Another new paper published today using ECOSTRESS again to predict wildfire—this time burn severity—one week before occurrence across New Mexico. This paper also outlines a framework for using machine learning with these data and applications.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@drwkid.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@drwkid.bsky.social
Assessment of spatial autocorrelation and scalability in fine-scale wildfire random forest prediction models - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Assessment of spatial autocorrelation and scalability in fine-scale wildfire random forest prediction models
www.nature.com
July 1, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Another new paper published today using ECOSTRESS again to predict wildfire—this time burn severity—one week before occurrence across New Mexico. This paper also outlines a framework for using machine learning with these data and applications.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@drwkid.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@drwkid.bsky.social
If you are doing wildfire-relevant research, especially with the goals to understand the complex climate, vegetation, soil, fire, and human interactions in the Earth system, please consider submitting abstracts to our #AGU #fire session:
agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/pr...
agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/pr...
<i>The Role of Fire in the Earth System: Understanding Drivers, Feedbacks, and Interactions with the Land, Atmosphere, and Society</i>
Anthropogenic and natural fires are an important component of the Earth system. Geographic location, fuel type, seasonality and intensity of fire largely determine the sign and magnitude of feedbacks ...
agu.confex.com
June 26, 2025 at 10:39 PM
If you are doing wildfire-relevant research, especially with the goals to understand the complex climate, vegetation, soil, fire, and human interactions in the Earth system, please consider submitting abstracts to our #AGU #fire session:
agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/pr...
agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/pr...
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
Like I've said before, if you have any doubts about climate change, just go to a super-boring insurance conference and listen to the super-boring panels where they dryly talk about the growing threat of disasters so catastrophic and unpredictable in scope they simply cannot be insured at any price.
Wild how the Fed chair saying that *entire regions of the United States* won’t be able to get a mortgage in the next decade barely registered as a news event
June 18, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Like I've said before, if you have any doubts about climate change, just go to a super-boring insurance conference and listen to the super-boring panels where they dryly talk about the growing threat of disasters so catastrophic and unpredictable in scope they simply cannot be insured at any price.
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
My first PhD paper is now published in #STOTEN! We used a long-term fire experiment and ecosystem monitoring protocol to quantify the effect of burning on the productivity, respiration and ecosystem #carbon balance of Cerrado #savanna (1/6)
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The effect of fire on the carbon fluxes and productivity of Brazilian woodland savannas
The effects of altered fire regimes within open ecosystems are poorly understood and can have serious consequences on functioning and conservation acr…
www.sciencedirect.com
June 4, 2025 at 9:27 PM
My first PhD paper is now published in #STOTEN! We used a long-term fire experiment and ecosystem monitoring protocol to quantify the effect of burning on the productivity, respiration and ecosystem #carbon balance of Cerrado #savanna (1/6)
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
New study by Wang, Braghiere (@renatobrgh.bsky.social) et al. shows how the use of #plant traits can improve modeling of global #carbon, #water, and #energy fluxes, and consequently lead to improved #climate projections. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Impacts of leaf traits on vegetation optical properties in Earth system modeling - Nature Communications
Earth system models often categorize plants to just a few functional types, and plant characteristics are defined per type, neglecting their diversity. The authors show how the use of plant traits can...
www.nature.com
June 2, 2025 at 12:43 PM
New study by Wang, Braghiere (@renatobrgh.bsky.social) et al. shows how the use of #plant traits can improve modeling of global #carbon, #water, and #energy fluxes, and consequently lead to improved #climate projections. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
PSA that the FATESmodel can now in principle do grazing, thanks to @ckoven.bsky.social ‘s excellent efforts. People who measure the C,N or P efficiency of grazing animals, please do chime in if you can help us refine it!
February 24, 2025 at 8:41 AM
PSA that the FATESmodel can now in principle do grazing, thanks to @ckoven.bsky.social ‘s excellent efforts. People who measure the C,N or P efficiency of grazing animals, please do chime in if you can help us refine it!
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
1/n
Please see our new paper in Nature Communications!
We used 1,851 tree-ring fire-scar sites and contemporary fire perimeters to quantify the prevalence of wildfire from 1600-1880 compared to 1984-2022. 🧪🌍🔥
Our key findings are as follows ...
Please see our new paper in Nature Communications!
We used 1,851 tree-ring fire-scar sites and contemporary fire perimeters to quantify the prevalence of wildfire from 1600-1880 compared to 1984-2022. 🧪🌍🔥
Our key findings are as follows ...
A fire deficit persists across diverse North American forests despite recent increases in area burned - Nature Communications
Across many North American forests, recent years with exceptional area burned are not unprecedented when considering the multi-century perspective offered by fire-scarred trees. Nevertheless, abundant...
www.nature.com
February 10, 2025 at 3:12 PM
1/n
Please see our new paper in Nature Communications!
We used 1,851 tree-ring fire-scar sites and contemporary fire perimeters to quantify the prevalence of wildfire from 1600-1880 compared to 1984-2022. 🧪🌍🔥
Our key findings are as follows ...
Please see our new paper in Nature Communications!
We used 1,851 tree-ring fire-scar sites and contemporary fire perimeters to quantify the prevalence of wildfire from 1600-1880 compared to 1984-2022. 🧪🌍🔥
Our key findings are as follows ...
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
The most iconic figure in the environmental sciences is the Keeling Curve, the CO₂ record from Mauna Loa, Hawaii.
@noaa.gov had a wonderful site where you could visualize and download these data, and now it's just gone. These data belong to us and we should not let this happen!
@noaa.gov had a wonderful site where you could visualize and download these data, and now it's just gone. These data belong to us and we should not let this happen!
February 5, 2025 at 11:38 AM
The most iconic figure in the environmental sciences is the Keeling Curve, the CO₂ record from Mauna Loa, Hawaii.
@noaa.gov had a wonderful site where you could visualize and download these data, and now it's just gone. These data belong to us and we should not let this happen!
@noaa.gov had a wonderful site where you could visualize and download these data, and now it's just gone. These data belong to us and we should not let this happen!
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
January 2025 was quite unexpectedly the warmest January on record at 1.75C above preindustrial, beating the prior record set in 2024.
This is despite the presence of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific, with the El Niño event of 2023/2024 long faded. www.theclimatebrink....
This is despite the presence of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific, with the El Niño event of 2023/2024 long faded. www.theclimatebrink....
February 2, 2025 at 8:57 PM
January 2025 was quite unexpectedly the warmest January on record at 1.75C above preindustrial, beating the prior record set in 2024.
This is despite the presence of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific, with the El Niño event of 2023/2024 long faded. www.theclimatebrink....
This is despite the presence of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific, with the El Niño event of 2023/2024 long faded. www.theclimatebrink....
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
Happy to share a new paper, "Effects of Hot Versus Dry Vapor Pressure Deficit on Ecosystem Carbon and Water Fluxes," led by the amazing Miriam Johnston w/ @mallorybarnes.bsky.social and others agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
January 28, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Our @newphyt.bsky.social paper with @ckoven.bsky.social and others used a dynamic vegetation model to understand how grass allometry and phenology influence annual grassland matter and energy exchange and their seasonality, as well wildfire dynamics: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/....
California annual grass phenology and allometry influence ecosystem dynamics and fire regime in a vegetation demography model
Grass-dominated ecosystems cover wide areas of the land surface yet have received far less attention from the Earth System Model (ESM) community. This limits model projections of ecosystem dynamics ...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 30, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Our @newphyt.bsky.social paper with @ckoven.bsky.social and others used a dynamic vegetation model to understand how grass allometry and phenology influence annual grassland matter and energy exchange and their seasonality, as well wildfire dynamics: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/....
Reposted by Xiu Lin Gao
We are looking for a grant-funded doctoral resarcher on a project focusing on how tree and shrub expansion into the tundra impact biodiversity and carbon balance @Department of Geosciences and Geography @helsinkiuni.bsky.social! DM me if you are interested, and please share!
January 28, 2025 at 10:58 AM
We are looking for a grant-funded doctoral resarcher on a project focusing on how tree and shrub expansion into the tundra impact biodiversity and carbon balance @Department of Geosciences and Geography @helsinkiuni.bsky.social! DM me if you are interested, and please share!