Feng Sheng Hu

 

Professor of Plant Biology
Affiliate, Department of Geology
Program in Ecology, Evolutionary & Conservation
Environmental Council
177 Morrill  MC-116
(217) 244-2982

Education

Ph.D., 1994, University of Washington
M.S., 1990, University of Maine
B.S., 1983, Xiamen University

Teaching

IB150, Ecology & Evolution
IB337, Ecosystem Ecology

Research Overview

I am a broadly trained ecologist working at the interfaces of biological, geological and climatological sciences. The overall objective of my research is to understand patterns and mechanisms of long-term ecosystem dynamics under changing climatic conditions. To achieve this objective, I use "the natural experiments of the past" that are archived in geological deposits. These deposits offer a long-term holistic perspective into past environmental conditions, some of which do not exist today but may be analogs of different climatic conditions in the future. In pursuing my research interests, I have integrated traditional paleoecological techniques (e.g., pollen analysis) and state-of-the-art analytical tools (e.g., biomarker, stable-isotope, and chloroplast-DNA techniques). Current research projects in my laboratory apply this integrative approach to the study of environmental dynamics at various spatial and temporal scales. These projects focus on (1) abrupt climatic change and effect on forests/grasslands/peatlands, (2) geomorphic control over vegetation patterns and biogeochemical processes of tundra ecosystems, (3) molecular genetics of boreal-forest-biome development, and (4) climate-fire-vegetation interaction. Research sites include arctic, boreal, and temperate ecosystems in Alaska, Michigan, Minnesota, Washington, and Russia. Students working with Professor Hu can choose Department of Plant Biology, Department of Geology, or the campus-wide Graduate Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation as their home unit, but they should all be interested in

Recent Publications

Anderson LL, Hu FS, Nelson DM, Petit RJ and Paige KN   (2006)  Ice-age endurance: DNA evidence for a white spruce refugium in Alaska. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 103: 12447-12450. 

 

Gavin DG and Hu FS  (2006)  Spatial variation of climatic and non-climatic controls on species distribution: The range limit of Tsuga heterophylla.  Journal of Biogeography 33: 1384-1396.

 

Gavin DG, Hu FS, Lertzman K and Corbett P   (2006)  Weak control of stand-scale fire history during the late Holocene in southeastern British Columbia.  Ecology 87:1722-1732.