Global Change Ecohydrology

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGSNRR, CAS). I received my Ph.D. from UCAS in 2024 under the supervision of Prof. Yongqiang Zhang . During my doctoral studies, I completed part of my research training at TU Wien under the guidance of Prof. Günter Blöschl . I currently work in the Large Scale Hydrology Lab , while collaborating internationally to address large-scale hydrological challenges.

My research focuses on global change ecohydrology. I am particularly interested in how hydrological systems maintain resilience under disturbances, such as droughts, wildfires, and deforestation, and avoid irreversible regime shifts under recurring stress. To investigate these processes, I integrate satellite observations, field measurements, and distributed ecohydrological modeling to understand water balance changes, hydrological responses, and vegetation–water feedbacks.

In addition to mechanistic research, I actively engage in data and methodological development, notably the diagnostic evapotranspiration and gross primary production model PML-V2 . My work also involves the development, parallelization, and evaluation of conceptual hydrological models and physically based distributed models. Ultimately, I aim to advance process-based frameworks for monitoring water–carbon interactions and strengthening ecohydrological resilience under global change.

The life in us is like the water in the river. It may rise this year higher than man has ever known it, and flood the parched uplands; even this may be the eventful year, which will drown out all our muskrats. It was not always dry land where we dwell. I see far inland the banks which the stream anciently washed, before science began to record its freshets.

— Henry David Thoreau, Walden, “Conclusion”

Zhenwu Xu 许振武