Vegetation phenology is the intra-annual rhythm of the start, progression, and ending of vegetation growth. It is widely used as a ‘footprint’ of global change. Phenology modulates carbon, water, and energy exchanges between the biosphere and the atmosphere. It also controls periods of pollen production and thus influences allergy seasons. My doctoral study aimed to understand response of vegetation phenology to global change. My dissertation has:

• Built a framework to separate temporal shifts of phenology related with climate change from those caused by urbanization (Qiu et al., 2020a)
• Characterized the roles of landscape configuration in affecting the spatial patterns of phenology along a rural-to-urban gradient (Qiu et al., 2017)
• Developed a Bayesian spatiotemporal model that enhanced our understanding of the continuous response of phenology to weather stressors and climate change across broad biogeographic gradients (Qiu et al., 2020b)
• Forecasted future phenological shifts using projected climate and weather conditions

There are currently three published papers (listed below) and another one available upon request (listed here)