SONGLIN FEI
Assistant Professor in Forest Biometrics and Spatial Analysis
Contact me:
214 T.P. Cooper Building (office 204)
Lexington, KY 40546-0073
Tel: 859-257-9760
Fax: 859-323-1031
E-mail: songlin.fei@uky.edu
Web Page: http://www.uky.edu/~sfei2/
Education:
Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University (2004)
M.A., The Pennsylvania State University (2004)
M.S., Peking University (1999)
B.S., Nankai University (1996)
Academic Interests:
Ecosystem development and modeling, biometrics, spatial analysis, invasive species modeling and surveillance, biodiversity, and ecological database design and analysis.
Professional Affiliation:
Member, The Ecological Society of America
Member, Society of American Foresters
Member, Sino-Ecologists Association
Member, The American Chestnut Foundation
Students and staff working in my lab:
Post-doctoral researcher: Nicole Kong
MS Students: Josh Clark, Peilin Yang, and Andrew Whittle
Current projects:
Assessing Invasive Exotic Plants in Urban Forest
(funded by USDA National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council)
In this project, we study the association between the occurrence of invasive exotic plants and the characteristics of urban forest remnants and their surrounding landscapes (size, structure, usage, and management). The resulting model will assist urban foresters and park managers to prevent and/or mitigate biological invasion for existing and future parks and remnants via better design and management. This research will help to raise public awareness by disseminating research findings through brochures, workshops, and on-line publications. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Drs. Tom Barnes, Brain Lee, Jeff Stringer and Mr. Billy Thomas.
Monitoring the Invasion of Hemlock Wooly Adelgid in Kentucky
(funded by CSREES, Precision Agriculture)
The hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA, Adelges tsugae) is an exotic invasive insect that is rapidly establishing itself in the eastern US, and is the single greatest threat to eastern hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis). If no action is taken, the invasion will inevitably encompass Kentucky, and the resulting ecological and economic losses will be catastrophic. The specific objectives of this project are 1) to determine the spatial distribution of hemlock forests in Kentucky, and 2) to detect incipient HWA infestations, and 3) predict HWA spread based upon the distribution of the hemlock forest type in Kentucky. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Drs. Lynne Rieske-Kinney and John Obrycki.
Spatial Animation Software for Analyzing Wildlife Telemetry Data
(funded by CSREES, Precision Agriculture)
The project will develop an animation software package that has great promise as an aid to interpreting and communicating the complex behavioral and spatial interactions that are exhibited by most wildlife species. This software will provide a user parameter controlled, data driven, probability-based analysis program that calculates the frequency and likelihood that two or more individual study animals have interacted and the duration of the interaction. It will also be capable of tallying the frequency of encounters with specified components of landscapes such as highways and urban areas. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Dave Maehr.
Disturbance and Landform Mediated Exotic Plant Invasion
(funded by CSREES, Precision Agriculture)
In this project, we study the invasion pattern of exotic plants associated with timber harvest using GPS and GIS technologies. The objectives of this project are 1) to quantify spatial distribution and abundance of invasive plants relative to distance of invasive source, harvest disturbance, landform, and success of post-harvest rehabilitation, and 2) to develop recommendations for inhibiting invasive plant recruitment. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Stringer and Dr. Kong.
Demonstrating Techniques for Establishing Woody Biomass Plantations on Surface Mined Lands
(funded by Kentucky Research & Development Seed Grants Program)
The overall goal for this project is to evaluate techniques for enhancing the productivity potential of biomass plantations on surface mines and to assess the environmental and economic considerations that will lead to the development/deployment of these systems. The study will assess how altering nutrient and water regimes, species, and plantation design affects feedstock production. This work is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Barton et al.
Selected publications (2005-2007):
Fei, S. and K.C. Steiner. Relationships between Advance Regeneration and Biotic and Abiotic Factor. Tree Physiology (In Press).
Fei, S., J. Schibig, and M. Vance. 2007. Spatial Habitat Modeling of American Chestnut at Mammoth Cave National Park. Forest Ecology and Management 252: 201-207.
Fei, S. and K.C. Steiner, Evidence for the increasing red maple abundance in the Eastern United States. Forest Science 252: 201-207.
Fei, S. 2007. The Geography of American Place Names and Trees. Journal of Forestry 105: 84-90.
Brooks, R.P., G.P. Patil, S. Fei, A. I. Gitelman, W.L. Myers, and E.D. Reavie. 2007. The next generation of ecological indicators of wetland condition. EcoHealth 4: 176-178.
Gould, P.J., S. Fei, and K.C. Steiner. 2007. Modeling Sprout-Origin Oak Regeneration in the Central Appalachians. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37: 170-177.
Rathbun, S. and S. Fei. 2006. A spatial zero-inflated Poisson model for oak regeneration. Environmental and Ecological Statistics. 13: 406-426.
Fei, S., P.J. Gould, K.C. Steiner, and J.C. Finley. 2006. Aggregate height -- a composite variable to predict early-stage mixed-oak stand development. Forest Ecology and Management. 223: 336–341.
Fei, S., P.J. Gould, K.C. Steiner, and J.C. Finley. 2005. Forest regeneration composition and development in upland, mixed-oak forests. Tree Physiology. 25: 1495–1500.