余开亮员工，2009年毕业于海南老员工物技术专业，同年在兰州大学攻读生态学硕士学位，2012年在美国弗吉尼亚大学攻读环境科学博士学位，均按期获得学位。

2014年，2015年和2016年分别获得弗吉尼亚大学Graduate Hydrology奖，Graduate Publication奖，Joseph K.Roberts奖。2015年和2016年获得弗吉尼亚大学奖学金。

博士期间从事生态水文学研究和生态水文模型开发，于2016和2017年获得弗吉尼亚大学三项独立研究基金开展景天科代谢植物的研究，成果作为封面文章发表在Ecosystems和Oecologia. 博士和博后期间从事全球碳水循环和气候变化的研究，成果于2015和2019发表在国际著名期刊Nature geoscience和PNAS上，获Nature geoscience和Eurekalert报道。研究成果对全球碳库、气候变化应对策略有指示意义。

代表性论著：

1. Kulmatiski A, Yu K, Mackay S, Staver C, Parolari A, Liu YL, Majumder S, Trugman A. Forecasting semi-arid biome shifts in the Anthropocene. New Phytologist (Review and Perspective paper). *** https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16381

2. Yu K*, Smith WK, Trugman A, Condit R, Hubbell SP, Sardans J, Peng CH, Peñuelas J, Cailleret M, Levanic T, Gessler A, Schaub M, Ferretti M, and Anderegg WRL. Pervasive decreases in living vegetation carbon turnover time across forest climate zones. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. *** https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821387116

3. Yu K*, Goldsmith GR, Wang YJ, Anderegg WRL (2019). Phylogenetic and biogeographic controls of plant nighttime stomatal conductance. New Phytologist. 222:1778–1788. ***

4. Manoli G, Fatichi S, Schlapfer M, Yu K, Crowther TW, Meili N, Burlando P, Carmeliet J, Bou-Zeid E, Katul GG (2019). Magnitude of urban heat islands largely explained. by climate and population. Nature 573: 55–60.

5. Wang Z, Yu K#, Lv S, Niklas KJ, Mipam TD, Crowther, TW, Umaña MN, Zhao Q, Huang H, Reich PB. (2019). The scaling of fine root nitrogen versus phosphorus in terrestrial plants: A global synthesis. Functional Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13434. (#: authors contributed equally to this work)

6. Hammond W, Yu K, Wilson LA, Will R, Anderegg WRL, and Adams HD (2019). Dead or dying? Point of no return from hydraulic failure in drought-induced tree mortality. New Phytologist 223: 1834-1843.

7. Lyu, L, Büntgen U, Treydte K, Yu K, Liang H, Reinig F, et al. (2019). Tree rings reveal hydroclimatic fingerprints of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation on the Tibetan Plateau. Climate Dynamics. 53:1023–1037.

8. Mo F, Zhang Y, Li T, Wang Z, Yu K, Wen X, Xiong Y, Jia Z, Liao Y. (2019). Fate of photosynthesized carbon as regulated by long–term tillage management in a dryland wheat cropping system. Soil Biology & Biochemistry. DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.107581.

9. Peng S, Yu K, Li Z, Wen Z & Zhang C. (2019). Integrating potential natural vegetation and habitat suitability into revegetation programs for sustainable ecosystems under future climate change. Agricultural & Forest Meteorology. 270: 270-284.

10. Huang H, Yu K, Fan Y, D’Odorico (2019). The competitive advantage of C4 grasses over CAM plants under increased rainfall variability. Plant and Soil. 442, 483–495.

11. Chen N, Ratajczak Z, Yu K. (2019). A dryland re‐vegetation in northern China: Success or failure? Quick transitions or long lags? Ecosphere.10, e02678.

12. Anderegg WRL, Konings A, Trugman A, Yu K, Bowling DR, Gabbitas R, Karp DS, Pacala SW, Sperry JS, Sulman BN, & Zenes N (2018). Hydraulic diversity of forests regulates ecosystem resilience during drought. Nature, 561: 538-541.

13. Yu K, and Wang GH (2018). Long-term impacts of shrub plantations in a desert-oasis ecotone: accumulation of soil nutrients, salinity, and development of herbaceous layer. Land Degradation and Development, 29: 2681–2693.

14. Yu K*, Carr D, Tully K, Heng H, and D’Odorico P (2018). Response of a facultative CAM plant and its competitive relationship with a grass to changes in rainfall regime. Plant and Soil, 427:321–333.

15. Chen N, Jayaprakash C, Yu K, and Guttal V (2018). Rising variability, not slowing down, as a leading indicator of a stochastically driven abrupt transition in a dryland ecosystem. American Naturalist, 191: E1–E14. (Reviewed in Faculty of 1000)

16. Yu K*, D’Odorico P, Li W, and He YL (2017). Effects of competition on induction of crassulacean acid metabolism in a facultative CAM plant. Oecologia. 184: 351–361(Featured in Cover Image). ***

17. Yu K*, Saha M, and D’Odorico P (2017). The effects of interannual rainfall variability on tree-grass composition along Kalahari rainfall gradient. Ecosystems. 20: 975–988.

18. Yu K*, and D’Odorico P (2017). From facilitative to competitive interactions between woody plants and plants with Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM): the role of hydraulic descent. Ecohydrology, 10:e1799.

19. He YL, Huang JP, Shugart HH, Guan XD, Shuman J, Wang B, and Yu K (2017). Unexpected evergreen expansion in the Siberian forest under warming hiatus. Journal of Climate, 30: 5021–5039.

20. Yan H, Wang SQ, Yu K, Wang B, Yu Q, Bohrer G, Meyers T, Matamala R, Phillips RP, Rahmanj F, Billesbach D, Oechel W, and Shugart HH (2017). A novel diffuse fraction-based two-leaf light use efficiency model: An application quantifying photosynthetic seasonality across 20 AmeriFlux flux tower sites. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 9: 2317–2332. (Highlighted in AGU EOS)

21. Ratajczak Z, D’Odorico P, and Yu K (2017). The enemy of my enemy hypothesis: why coexisting with grasses may be an adaptive strategy for savanna trees. Ecosystems, 20: 1278–1295.

22. Yu K*, and Foster A (2016). Modeled hydraulic redistribution in tree-grass, CAM grass, and tree-CAM associations: the implications of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM). Oecologia. 180: 1113–1125.

23. Yu K*, D’Odorico P, Bhattachan A, Okin GS, and Evan A (2015). Dust-precipitation feedbacks in the West-African Sahel. Geophysical Research Letters. 42: 7563–7571.

24. Davis KF#, Yu K#, Rulli MC, Pichdara L, and D’Odorico P (2015). Accelerated deforestation on the large scale land acquisitions in Cambodia. Nature Geoscience. 8: 772–775. (#: authors contributed equally to this work) ***

25. Yu K*, and D’Odorico P (2015). Hydraulic lift as a determinant of tree-grass coexistence on savannas. New Phytologist. 207: 1038–1051. ***

26.  Yu K*, and D’Odorico P (2015). Direct and indirect facilitation of plants with Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM). Ecosystems. 18: 985–999. (Featured in Cover Image) ***

27.  Yu K*, and D’Odorico P (2014). Climate, vegetation, and soil controls on hydraulic redistribution in shallow tree roots. Advance in Water Resources. 66: 70–80.

28.  Yu K*, and D’Odorico P (2014). An ecohydrological framework for grass displacement by woody plants in savannas. Journal of Geophysical Research–biogeosciences. 119(3): 192–206.

29.  Yu K, Pypker TG, Keim RF, Chen N, Yang YB, Guo SQ, Li WJ, and Wang G (2012). Canopy rainfall storage capacity as affected by sub-alpine grassland degradation in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Hydrological Processes. 26: 3114–3123.