Zhiliang Zhu, Ph.D.
Dr. Zhiliang Zhu is a senior physical scientist with USGS. He works in the Ecosystem Mission Area and focuses on ecosystem carbon management research including carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emission reduction, and landscape vulnerability assessment.
My areas of expertise are in climate change mitigation, carbon cycle research, GHG emission accounting, ecosystem ecology (wildfire, wetland, and forest ecology), remote sensing, land use change, land cover mapping. I have experiences leading interdisciplinary science (in positions of a research scientist, principal investigator, chief scientist, and program manager) in several environmental fields: climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration, global change ecology, land use change, wildfire.
Professional Experience
2008-present: Senior physical scientist, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA
2007-08: National remote sensing leader, USDA Forest Service, Washington DC
2000-07: Research physical scientist, USGS EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, SD
1994-2000: Principal scientist, Raytheon, EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, SD
1990-94: Research forester, USDA Forest Service, Starkville, MS
Education and Certifications
1989, PhD in natural resource management, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
1984, MS in forestry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
1982, BS in forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
Science and Products
Evaluating k-nearest neighbor (kNN) imputation models for species-level aboveground forest biomass mapping in northeast China
Carbon dioxide emissions and methane flux from forested wetland soils of the Great Dismal Swamp, USA
Executive summary. In Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2): A Sustained Assessment Report
Assessing historical and projected carbon balance of Alaska: A synthesis of results and policy/management implications
Long-term effects of fire and harvest on carbon stocks of boreal forests in northeastern China
The role of environmental driving factors in historical and projected carbon dynamics of wetland ecosystems in Alaska
Effects of contemporary land-use and land-cover change on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in the United States
Modeling wildfire-induced permafrost deformation in an Alaskan boreal forest using InSAR observations
The role of driving factors in historical and projected carbon dynamics of upland ecosystems in Alaska
Agriculture
Grasslands
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and carbon fluxes in ecosystems of Hawai‘i
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 59
Evaluating k-nearest neighbor (kNN) imputation models for species-level aboveground forest biomass mapping in northeast China
Quantifying spatially explicit or pixel-level aboveground forest biomass (AFB) across large regions is critical for measuring forest carbon sequestration capacity, assessing forest carbon balance, and revealing changes in the structure and function of forest ecosystems. When AFB is measured at the species level using widely available remote sensing data, regional changes in forest composition canAuthorsYuanyuan Fu, Hong S He, Todd Hawbaker, Paul D. Henne, Zhiliang Zhu, David R. LarsenCarbon dioxide emissions and methane flux from forested wetland soils of the Great Dismal Swamp, USA
The Great Dismal Swamp, a freshwater forested peatland, has accumulated massive amounts of soil carbon since the postglacial period. Logging and draining have severely altered the hydrology and forest composition, leading to drier soils, accelerated oxidation, and vulnerability to disturbance. The once dominant Atlantic white cedar, cypress, and pocosin forest types are now fragmented, resulting iAuthorsLaurel Gutenberg, K. W. Krauss, John Qu, Changwoo Ahn, Dianna M. Hogan, Zhiliang Zhu, Chenyang XuExecutive summary. In Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2): A Sustained Assessment Report
Central to life on Earth, carbon is essential to the molecular makeup of all living things and plays a key role in regulating global climate. To understand carbon’s role in these processes, researchers measure and evaluate carbon stocks and fluxes. A stock is the quantity of carbon contained in a pool or reservoir in the Earth system (e.g., carbon in forest trees), and a flux is the direction andAuthorsRichard Birdsey, Melanie A. Mayes, Patricia Romero-Lankao, Raymond G. Najjar, Sasha C. Reed, Nancy Cavallaro, Gyami Shrestha, Daniel J. Hayes, Laura Lorenzoni, Anne Marsh, Kathy Tedesco, Tom Wirth, Zhiliang ZhuAssessing historical and projected carbon balance of Alaska: A synthesis of results and policy/management implications
We summarize the results of a recent interagency assessment of land carbon dynamics in Alaska, in which carbon dynamics were estimated for all major terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems for the historical period (1950–2009) and a projection period (2010–2099). Between 1950 and 2009, upland and wetland (i.e., terrestrial) ecosystems of the state gained 0.4 Tg C/yr (0.1% of net primary production, NPPAuthorsA. David McGuire, Hélène Genet, Zhou Lyu, Neal J. Pastick, Sarah M. Stackpoole, Richard Birdsey, David D'Amore, Yujie He, T. Scott Rupp, Robert G. Striegl, Bruce K. Wylie, Xiaoping Zhou, Qianlai Zhuang, Zhiliang ZhuLong-term effects of fire and harvest on carbon stocks of boreal forests in northeastern China
ContextBoreal forests represent about one third of forest area and one third of forest carbon stocks on the Earth. Carbon stocks of boreal forests are sensitive to climate change, natural disturbances, and human activities.AimsThe objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of fire, harvest, and their spatial interactions on boreal forest carbon stocks of northeastern China.MethodsWe useAuthorsChao Huang, Hong S. He, Yu Liang, Zhiwei Wu, Todd Hawbaker, Peng Gong, Zhiliang ZhuThe role of environmental driving factors in historical and projected carbon dynamics of wetland ecosystems in Alaska
Wetlands are critical terrestrial ecosystems in Alaska, covering ~177,000 km2, an area greater than all the wetlands in the remainder of the United States. To assess the relative influence of changing climate, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, and fire regime on carbon balance in wetland ecosystems of Alaska, a modeling framework that incorporates a fire disturbance model and two bioAuthorsZhou Lyu, Helene Genet, Yujie He, Qianlai Zhuang, A. David McGuire, Alec Bennett, Amy Breen, Joy Clein, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Kristofer Johnson, Tom Kurkowski, Neal J. Pastick, T. Scott Rupp, Bruce K. Wylie, Zhiliang ZhuEffects of contemporary land-use and land-cover change on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in the United States
Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) can have profound effects on terrestrial carbon dynamics, yet their effects on the global carbon budget remain uncertain. While land change impacts on ecosystem carbon dynamics have been the focus of numerous studies, few efforts have been based on observational data incorporating multiple ecosystem types spanning large geographic areas over long time horiAuthorsBenjamin M. Sleeter, Jinxun Liu, Colin Daniel, Bronwyn Rayfield, Jason T. Sherba, Todd Hawbaker, Zhiliang Zhu, Paul Selmants, Thomas R. LovelandModeling wildfire-induced permafrost deformation in an Alaskan boreal forest using InSAR observations
The discontinuous permafrost zone is one of the world’s most sensitive areas to climate change. Alaskan boreal forest is underlain by discontinuous permafrost, and wildfires are one of the most influential agents negatively impacting the condition of permafrost in the arctic region. Using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) of Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array tyAuthorsYusef Eshqi Molan, Jin-Woo Kim, Zhong Lu, Bruce K. Wylie, Zhiliang ZhuThe role of driving factors in historical and projected carbon dynamics of upland ecosystems in Alaska
It is important to understand how upland ecosystems of Alaska, which are estimated to occupy 84% of the state (i.e., 1,237,774 km2), are influencing and will influence state‐wide carbon (C) dynamics in the face of ongoing climate change. We coupled fire disturbance and biogeochemical models to assess the relative effects of changing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), climate, logging and fire regimAuthorsHélène Genet, Yujie He, Zhou Lyu, A. David McGuire, Qianlai Zhuang, Joy S. Clein, David D'Amore, Alec Bennett, Amy Breen, Frances Biles, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Kristofer Johnson, Tom Kurkowski, Svetlana (Kushch) Schroder, Neal J. Pastick, T. Scott Rupp, Bruce K. Wylie, Yujin Zhang, Xiaoping Zhou, Zhiliang ZhuAgriculture
Agricultural production is a fundamental activity conducted on 45% of the U.S. land area, 55% of Mexico’s land area, and 7% of Canada’s land area (World Bank 2016). Because of this vast spatial extent and the strong role that land management plays in how agricultural ecosystems function, agricultural lands and activities represent a large portion of the North American carbon budget. Accordingly, iAuthorsAlexander N. Hristov, Jane M. F. Johnson, Charles W. Rice, Molly E. Brown, Richard T. Conant, Stephen J. Del Grosso, Noel P. Gurwick, C. Alan Rotz, Upendra M. Sainju, R. Howard Skinner, Tristram O. West, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Henry Janzen, Sasha C. Reed, Nancy Cavallaro, Gyami ShresthaGrasslands
Key findings:Total grassland carbon stocks in the conterminous United States, estimated to be about 7.4 petagrams of carbon (Pg C) in 2005, are projected to increase to about 8.2 Pg C by 2050. Although U.S. grasslands are expected to remain carbon sinks over this period, the uptake rate is projected to decline by about half. In the U.S. Great Plains, land-use and land-cover changes are expected toAuthorsElise Pendall, Dominique Bachelet, Richard T. Conant, Bassil El Masri, Lawrence B. Flanagan, Alan K. Knapp, Jinxun Liu, Shuguang Liu, Sean M. SchaefferBaseline and projected future carbon storage and carbon fluxes in ecosystems of Hawai‘i
This assessment was conducted to fulfill the requirements of section 712 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and to improve understanding of factors influencing carbon balance in ecosystems of Hawai‘i. Ecosystem carbon storage, carbon fluxes, and carbon balance were examined for major terrestrial ecosystems on the seven main Hawaiian islands in two time periods: baseline (from 2007 - News