Yan Li 李琰

Professor · Faculty of Geographical Sciences · Beijing Normal University

I obtained my Ph.D. from Peking University in 2015 and was a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Maryland, College Park from 2015 to 2018. My research focuses on vegetation–climate interactions and climate change impacts on agriculture. I have published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles, including first-author papers in Science, Nature Communications, and Global Change Biology.

yanli@bnu.edu.cn yanli.geo@gmail.com Department Webpage (中文)

Research

My research interest lies in the broad areas of vegetation and climate by combining a variety of statistical/mathematical techniques, geospatial analyses, big earth data (remote sensing), and ecosystem/climate/earth system modeling. My work aims to address the sustainability challenges of the coupled human-natural systems through the lenses of vegetation-climate interaction with broad implications in forestry, renewable energy, and food systems.

• Vegetation and climate interactions
• Impact of land use and land cover change on climate
• Crop response to extreme climate
• Feedbacks of renewable energy (wind and solar) on climate
• Coupled human and natural systems

Research Grants

• Multi-scale climate effects of land cover change combined with biophysical and biogeochemical processes (2024–2027) · General Program of NSFC · PI
• Impacts of wind and solar power facilities on local climate based on multiple remote sensing samples (2020–2022) · Youth Program of NSFC · PI
• Ecohydrological processes and their impacts on ecosystem services in dryland regions (2019–2024) · Key Program of NSFC · Participant
• Mechanisms of human-natural system coupling and optimization of the Yellow River Basin (2020–2024) · Special Funds of NSFC · Participant

Publications

Vegetation and Climate Interactions

• Upwind Moisture Controls on Interannual Variations of Precipitation and Vegetation in China's Drylands
  Li, Y.*, Xu, R., Yang, Z., Zhou, S., Lu, M., Lin, H., et al.
  Geophysical Research Letters, 51(18), e2024GL110997 2024 ↗ Link
• Contribution of Tibetan Plateau ecosystems to local and remote precipitation through moisture recycling
  Li, Y.*, Xu, R., Yang, K., Liu, Y., Wang, S., Zhou, S., Yang, Z., Feng, X., He, C., Xu, Z., & Zhao, W.
  Global Change Biology, 29(3), 702–718 2023 ↗ Link
• Contrasting impacts of forests on cloud cover based on satellite observations
  Xu, R., Li, Y.*, Teuling, A. J., Zhao, L., Spracklen, D. V., Garcia-Carreras, L., … Fu, B.
  Nature Communications, 13(1), 670 2022 ↗ Link
• Partitioning of sensible and latent heat fluxes in different vegetation types and their spatiotemporal variations based on 203 FLUXNET sites
  Lin, H., Li, Y., Zhao, L.
  Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, e2022JD037142 2022 ↗ Link
• Inconsistent estimates of forest cover change in China between 2000 and 2013 from multiple datasets: differences in parameters, spatial resolution, and definitions
  Li, Y.*, Sulla-Menashe, D., Motesharrei, S., Song, X., Ying, Q., Li, S., Ma, Z.
  Scientific Reports, 7, 1–12 2017 ↗ Link
• Potential and actual impacts of deforestation and afforestation on land surface temperature
  Li, Y.*, Zhao, M., Mildrexler, D. J., Motesharrei, S., Mu, Q., Kalnay, E., Zhao, F., Li, S., Wang, K.
  Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 121(24), 14372–14386 2016 ↗ Link
• The role of spatial scale and background climate in the latitudinal temperature response to deforestation
  Li, Y.*, deNoblet-Ducoudré, N., Davin, E. L., Zeng, N., Motesharrei, S., Li, S., Kalnay, E.
  Earth System Dynamics, 7(1), 167–181 2016 ↗ Link
• Local cooling and warming effects of forests based on satellite observations
  Li, Y.*, Zhao, M., Motesharrei, S., Mu, Q., Kalnay, E., Li, S.
  Nature Communications, 6, 6603 2015 ↗ Link

Crop and Climate Interactions

• The biophysical and crop yield effects of irrigation and their changes in China's drylands
  Zi, S., Li, Y.*, Zhang, J., Hou, C., Lin, H., Xu, Z., et al.
  Agricultural Water Management, 313, 109471 2025 ↗ Link
• Divergent responses of maize yield to precipitation in the United States
  Xu, R., Li, Y.*, Guan, K., Zhao, L., Peng, B., Miao, C., & Fu, B.
  Environmental Research Letters, 17(1), 014016 2022 ↗ Link
• Quantifying irrigation cooling benefits to maize yield in the US Midwest
  Li, Y.*, Guan, K.*, Peng, B., Franz, T. E., Wardlow, B., Pan, M.
  Global Change Biology, 1–14 2020 ↗ Link
• Excessive rainfall leads to maize yield loss of a comparable magnitude to extreme drought in the United States
  Li, Y.*, Guan, K.*, Schnitkey, D. G., DeLucia, E., Peng, B.
  Global Change Biology, 25, 2325–2337 2019 ↗ Link
• Toward building a transparent statistical model for improving crop yield prediction: modeling rainfed corn in the U.S.
  Li, Y.*, Guan, K.*, Yu, A., Peng, B., Zhao, L., Li, B., Peng, J.
  Field Crops Research, 234, 55–65 2019 ↗ Link

Feedbacks of Renewable Energy on Climate

• A global assessment of the effects of solar farms on albedo, vegetation, and land surface temperature using remote sensing
  Xu, Z., Li, Y., Qin, Y., Bach, E.
  Solar Energy, 268, 112198 2024 ↗ Link
• Impacts of wind farms on surface temperature and vegetation in the United States
  Qin, Y., Li, Y.*, Xu, R., Hou, C., Armstrong, A., Bach, E., … Fu, B.
  Environmental Research Letters, 17(2), 024026 2022 ↗ Link
• Climate model shows large-scale wind and solar farms in the Sahara increase rain and vegetation
  Li, Y.*, Kalnay, E.*, Motesharrei, S.*, Rivas, J., Kucharski, F., Kirk-Davidoff, D., Bach, E., Zeng, N.
  Science, 361, 1019–1022 2018 ↗ Link

Feedbacks of Urbanization on Climate

• Urbanization impact on temperature change in China with emphasis on land cover change and human activity
  Li, Y.*, Zhu, L., Zhao, X., Li, S., Yan, Y.
  Journal of Climate, 26(22), 8765–8780 2013 ↗ Link
• An empirical study of the impact of human activity on long-term temperature change in China: a perspective from energy consumption
  Li, Y.*, Zhao, X.
  Journal of Geophysical Research, 117, 1–12 2012 ↗ Link

Coupled Human and Natural Systems

• The modeling framework of the coupled human and natural systems in the Yellow River Basin
  Sang, S., Li, Y.*, Zong, S., Yu, L., Wang, S., Liu, Y., et al.
  Geography and Sustainability, 100294 2025 ↗ Link
• The interprovincial green water flow in China and its teleconnected effects on the social economy
  Sang, S., Li, Y.*, Hou, C., Zi, S., & Lin, H.
  Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 29(1), 67–84 2025 ↗ Link
• High-resolution mapping of monthly industrial water withdrawal in China from 1965 to 2020
  Hou, C., Li, Y.*, Sang, S., Zhao, X., Liu, Y., Liu, Y., & Zhao, F.
  Earth System Science Data, 16(5), 2449–2464 2024 ↗ Link
• Challenges and opportunities for modeling coupled human and natural systems
  Li, Y.*, Sang, S., Mote, S., Rivas, J., & Kalnay, E.
  National Science Review, nwad054 2023 ↗ Link
• Bidirectional coupling between the earth and human systems is essential for modeling sustainability
  Fu, B.* and Li, Y.
  National Science Review, 3(4), 397–398 2016 ↗ Link

Team

Yan Li (李琰)

Principal Investigator · Professor

Links