Yan Li

Visiting graduate student
Department of Forest Resources
1530 Cleveland Avenue North
St. Paul, MN 55108

Education
University of Minnesota, Department of Forest Resources, current
Nanjing University in China, Department of Ecology, current
Nanjing University in China, B.A., Department of Biology, 2004

Research
My major is functional ecology. My thesis research in China involves linking plant life history strategy, allometric growth, and ecological stoichiometry using relative growth rate. During the past three years, I’ve collected data on plant functional traits (e.g., relative growth rate, biomass allocation, essential element content, photosynthetic parameters and pigment content) along altitude and latitude gradients, in order to find the mechanism involved in responses of plant functional traits to environment.

I also do some research on leaf gas exchange and photosynthetic acclimation in Tibet winter wheat, by transplanting crop species from plateau to low-altitude environments. The results have implications in decision-making for future crop production. Results also suggest that alpine species may become invasive and expand their range under global warming.

Publications
Li Y; Li H. T.; Jin D. M.; Sun S. C. (2007) Application of WBE model to ecology. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 27: 3018-3031. (In Chinese)

Li Y.; Li G. Y.; Yang D. M.; Sun S. C. (2008) Effects of consumer diversity on food web structure and ecosystem functioning. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 28: 1-13.

Hometown
I was born in Anhui Province, China and studied in Jiangsu Province from 2000. I will stay in Minnesota for about two years.

Interests
I like outdoor sports, for example climbing, jogging, camping. I also enjoy cooking and I love animals.