Tsun Fung Au
Global Change Ecologist
Media Highlight
Below are some media highlight on my works, click the title to read more!
Anthropocene
“Old-growth trees can endure the battering of a drought better than their younger counterparts, scientists have learned. In the face of increasingly frequent and more intense droughts fueled by climate change, the new research underscores the importance of ancient trees to sustain forests.
"Given their high resistance to drought and their exceptional carbon storage capacity, conservation of older trees in the upper canopy should be the top priority from a climate mitigation perspective,” said forest ecologist Tsun Fung Au, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan who helped lead the work."
Au et al., Nature Climate Change, 2022
COSMOS
“The number of old-growth forests on the planet is declining, while drought is predicted to be more frequent and more intense,” says Dr Tsun Fung Au, a forest ecologist at the University of Michigan, US, and lead author of the study, which is published in Nature Climate Change.
Au et al., Nature Climate Change, 2022
The Detroit News
"Old trees are more resilient to extreme weather than their younger counterparts, according to a study by Tsun Fung Au, a postdoctoral fellow at the UM Institute for Global Change Biology published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
"We should stop cutting down forests anymore, because, as our paper has shown, even though we don't have much older forest, if we allow time to let them get older they will develop the resistance to climate extremes," Au said. "
Au et al., Nature Climate Change, 2022
Pour la Science
"Si les vieux arbres résistent mieux à une année sèche, les années suivantes, les jeunes arbres adultes reprennent plus vite leur croissance. Maintenir une diversité des classes d’âge chez les arbres de chaque espèce est donc important pour préserver le rôle de puits de carbone des forêts."
Au et al., Nature Climate Change, 2022
東方日報
氣候暖化問題愈來愈嚴重，聯合國政府間氣候變化專門委員會報告指，重新造林可緩解氣候暖化。香港大學參與的研究發現，森林中的冠層老樹有出色的抗旱和碳儲存能力，應給予優先保護。而多樣化的森林結構和物種組成，長遠可以提高森林抵禦未來乾旱及氣候變化的能力。
港大和印第安納大學的地理和生物學學者共同分析了全球5大州共 21,964棵冠層樹木的年輪數據，發現在乾旱時年輕闊葉樹生長減少 28%，較成熟的闊葉樹生長只減少21%，相差達7個百分點。在極端乾旱時，這生長差異更增加到17個百分點。相比闊葉樹，針葉樹對乾旱反應的年齡差異較少，這可能是因為針葉樹在長期進化後，已經更能適應乾旱的環境。
Au et al., Nature Climate Change, 2022
文匯報
印第安納大學博士、密歇根大學全球變化生物學研究所博士後研究員歐峻峰聯同李金豹，率領由氣候學家和生態學家組成的國際研究團隊，分析了來自五大洲119樹種共21,964棵冠層樹木的年輪數據，發現在乾旱時，年輕闊葉樹生長減少28%，較成熟的闊葉樹生長只減少21%，相差達7個百分點。在極端乾旱時，這生長差異更增加到17個百分點。
歐峻峰指，這項研究的獨特之處在於它專注於冠層樹木，從而排除樹木的高度和大小的干擾。此外，與森林底層樹木相比，冠層樹木在碳吸收和微氣候等生態系統功能方面具有更重要的作用。
Au et al., Nature Climate Change, 2022
明報
香港大學和印第安納大學的地理和生物學者研究發現，森林冠層老樹較幼樹更能抵禦乾旱，更有助緩衝極端氣候的影響，應獲優先保護。而森林結構和物種組成多樣化，長遠可提高森林抵禦未來乾旱及氣候變化的能力。
Au et al., Nature Climate Change, 2022
HKU Bulletin
"Reforestation has been identified as an important tool to mitigate climate change, but a new study suggests that priority should be given, not only to planting new trees but also to conserving the older trees in the upper forest canopy for their exceptional drought tolerance and carbon storage capacity."
Au et al., Nature Climate Change, 2022
Croucher Ecology
"One species that may have arrived in Hong Kong in response to warming temperatures is the black-and-white Courtesan Butterfly (Euripus nyctelius), which was first recorded in Hong Kong in 2007, and is now widespread. This butterfly is found across much of Southeast Asia, while a similar relative found in Hong Kong, the Red Ring Skirt (Hestina assimilis), has a more northerly distribution."
Au et al., Journal of Insect Science, 2019
Indiana University IT News
Teinopalpus aureus is an IUCN data-deficient butterfly species that faces multiple threats (climate change, habitat degradation, & illegal poaching) inferred by the species distribution models we developed. We emphasized cross-border conservation when ecological information of threatened species is lacking.
Xing et al., Biological Conservation, 2019
Teinopalpus aureus
South China Morning Post
Climate change has caused species to change their distribution, which was studied in the temperate regions. A tropical species, Euripus nyctelius, also changed its distribution and arrived in Hong Kong in 2007. This is an alarming signal that tropical species are also facing serious threats from climate change.
Au et al., Journal of Insect Science, 2019
