School of Forest Resources

Xinyuan Wei

Dr. Xinyuan Wei joined the School of Forest Resources in July 2023 as an Assistant Research Professor. Previously, he worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His research interests include:
– Forest Biometrics, Forest Ecosystem Carbon Cycle
– Forest Ecosystem Simulation Model
– Remote Sensing, Geographic Information System

Courses:

SFR 402/503 | Advanced Forest Measurements and Models
To manage forest resources sustainably, practitioners must know the quality and quantity of resources and how they change over time. Forest measurement provides information that supports forest management decisions at the stand and forest levels. Although the general topic of the course focuses on quantitative analysis of forest vegetation, we will spend some time and effort on measuring other forest resources (e.g., wildlife habitat resources and riparian zones).  Moreover, the theory and methodology discussed in this course can be applied to other renewable resources.

SFR 601 | Forest Mensuration Problems
This course is designed to provide graduate students with both a conceptual and practical understanding of how statistics are applied in forestry, with a particular focus on forest ecosystems, natural resources management, and ecosystem services. The course encompasses introductory statistical concepts and techniques, tailored to the specific needs of forest data analysis. It combines lectures, programming demonstrations in R, exercises, group discussions, and project development, offering a comprehensive approach to teaching applied statistics. Students will gain hands-on experience in data analysis, interpretation, and visualization. The course will cover various statistical methodologies, enabling students to select and apply the most appropriate techniques for different types of forest data and research questions. Eventually, students will be equipped with the necessary skills to effectively handle statistical challenges in forestry.

Publications:

2026
Zhang, Y., Wei, X., Tasnim, R., Alaba, O., and Zhao, J. (2026). Carbon storage and allocation in semi-natural perennial wild blueberry ecosystems under traditional management. Agronomy Journal.

Wei, X., Hayes, D., McHale, G., Weiskittel, A., Zhao, J. & Daigneault, A. (2026). PyFIA: A Python-based solution for analyzing and visualizing forest attributes with the US Forest Inventory database. Carbon Balance and Management. 21, 18. doi.org/10.1186/s13021-025-00364-7

2025
Wei, X., Hayes, D., Schwalm, C., Fisher, J., Huntzinger, D., Ma, L., Vargas, R., & Brunsell, N. (2025). Climate constrains the enhancement of CO₂ fertilization on forest gross primary productivity. Environmental Research Letters. 20(6), 064013. doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/add177
Zhao, J., Daigneault, A., Wei, X., Salcido, E., & Weiskittel, A. (2025). Forest type, landowner practices, and climate shape tree species diversity in Maine, USA. Forest Ecology and Management. 593, 122919. doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122919
 Poulter, B., Murray-Tortarolo, G., Hayes, D., Ciais, P., Andrew, R., Byrne, B., … Wei, X., …& Zhang Z. (2025). The North American Greenhouse Gas Budget: emissions, removals, and integration for CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O (2010-2019): Results from the Second REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes Study (RECCAP2). Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 39 (4), e2024GB008310. doi.org/10.1029/2024GB008310
Wei, X., Hayes, D., Weiskittel, A., & Zhao, J. (2025). Warming-driven shifts in dominant tree species potentially reduce aboveground biomass in northeastern United States forests. Forest Ecology and Management. 580, 122536. doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122536

2024
Wei, X., Hayes, D., Butman, D., Qi, J., Ricciuto, D., & Yang, X. (2024). Modeling exports of dissolved organic carbon from landscapes: A review of challenges and opportunities. Environmental Research Letters. doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad3cf8
Roy, S., Wei, X., Weiskittel, A., Hayes, D., Nelson, P., & Contosta, A. (2024). Influence of climate zone shifts on forest ecosystems in northeastern United States and maritime Canada. Ecological Indicators. 160, 111921. doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.111921
Knox, R., Koven, C., Riley, W., Walker, A., Wright, J., Holm, J., Wei, X., Fisher, R., Zhu, Q., Tang, J., Kueppers, L., Ricciuto, D., Shuman, J., Yang, X., & Chambers, J. (2024). Nutrient Dynamics in a Coupled Terrestrial Biosphere and Land Model (ELM-FATES-CNP). Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems. 6 (13), e2023MS003689. doi.org/10.1029/2023MS003689
Wei, X., Hayes, D., Li, D., Butman, D., & Brewin, R. (2024). The fates of terrigenous dissolved organic carbon in the Gulf of Maine. Environmental Science & Technology. 58(7), 3258-3266.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c08218

2023
Zhao, J., Daigneault, A., Weiskittel, A., & Wei, X. (2023). Climate and socioeconomic impacts on Maine’s forests under alternative future pathways. Ecological Economics. 214, 107979. doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107979
Zhao, J., Wei, X., Diao, J., Chen, H., Lin, S., Zhu, Z., Jiang, X., & Zhu, H. (2023). Exploring plausible contributions of end-use harvested wood products to store atmospheric carbon in China. Biomass and Bioenergy. 177, 106934. doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2023.106934
Brewin, R., Sathyendranath, S., Kulk, G., Rio, M., Concha, A., Bell, T., … Wei, X., & Woolf, D. (2023). Ocean carbon from space: current status and priorities for the next decade. Earth-Science Reviews. 240, 104386. doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104386
Wei, X., Hayes, D., Ku, P., Yang, X., & Ricciuto, D. (2023). Diminishing marginal effect in estimating dissolved organic carbon export from the watershed. Environmental Research Communications. 5, 031003.doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/acbf11
Casas-Ruiz, P., Bodmer, P., Bona, A., Couturier, M., Emilson, E., Finlay, K., Genet, H., Hayes, D., Karlsson, J., Kurz, W., Paré, D., Prairie, Y., Peng, C., Striegl, R., Wei, X., Ziegler, S., & del Giorgio. P. (2023). Integrating terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to constrain estimates of land-atmosphere carbon exchange. Nature Communications. 14, 1571. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37232-2
Wei, X., Zhao, J., Hayes, D., Daigneault, A. & Zhu, H. (2023). A life cycle and product type based estimator for quantifying the carbon stored in wood products. Carbon Balance and Management. 18, 1. doi.org/10.1186/s13021-022-00220-y

2022
Zhao, J., Wei, X., & Li, L. (2022). The potential ability for storing carbon by harvested wood products. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. 5, 1055410. doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.1055410
Li, L., Wei, X., Zhao, J., Hayes, D., Daigneault, A., Weiskittel, A., Kizha, A., & O’Neill, S. (2022). Technological advancement expands carbon storage in harvested wood products in Maine, USA. Biomass and Bioenergy. 161, 106457. doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2022.106457
Diao, J., Liu, J., Zhu, Z., Wei, X., & Li, M. (2022). Active forest management accelerates plantation forests carbon sink and storage in Lishui, China. Forest Ecosystems. 9, 1004. doi.org/10.1016/j.fecs.2022.100004
Sun, J., Wei, X., Zhou Y., Chan, C., & Diao, J. (2022). Hurricanes substantially reduce the nutrients in tropical forested watersheds in Puerto Rico. Forests. 13(1), 71.doi.org/10.3390/f13010071

2021
Wei, X., Hayes, D., Fernandez, I., Zhao, J., Fraver, S., Chan, C., & Diao, J. (2021). Identifying key environmental factors explaining temporal patterns of DOC export from watersheds in the conterminous United States. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. 126(5), e2020JG005813. doi.org/10.1029/2020JG005813
Wei, X., Hayes, D., Fernandez, I., Fraver, S. Zhao, J., & Weiskittel, A. (2021). Climate and atmospheric deposition drive the inter-annual variability and long-term trend of dissolved organic carbon flux in the conterminous United States. Science of the Total Environment. 771, 145448. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145448
Wei, X., Hayes, D., & Fernandez, I. (2021). Fire reduces riverine DOC concentration draining a watershed and alters post-fire DOC recovery patterns. Environmental Research Letters. 16(2), 024022.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abd7ae

2019
Chen, C., Wei, X., Weiskittel, A., & Hayes, D. (2019). Above-ground carbon stock in merchantable trees not reduced between cycles of spruce budworm outbreaks due to changing species composition in spruce-fir forests of Maine, USA. Forest Ecology and Management. 453, 117590. doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117590
Wei, X., & Larsen, C. (2019). Methods to detect edge effected reductions in fire frequency in simulated forest landscapes. International Journal of Geo-Information. 8(6), 277. doi.org/10.3390/ijgi8060277

2018
Wei, X., Hayes, D., Fraver, S., & Chen, G. (2018). Global pyrogenic carbon production during recent decades has created the potential for a large, long-term sink of atmospheric CO₂. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. 123(12), 3682-3696. doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004490
Wei, X., & Larsen, C. (2018). Assessing the minimum number of time since last fire sample-points required to estimate the fire cycle: influences of fire rotation length and study area scale. Forests. 9(11), 708. doi.org/10.3390/f9110708

Data, Programs, & Software:

– The Python-based program for analyzing and processing Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data (PyFIA) https://github.com/xinyuanwylb19/pyFIA
– The wood products carbon tracker https://github.com/xinyuanwylb19/WPsCS-Estimator
– Aboveground Biomass for Howland Forest, Maine, 2012-2023. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2434
– Forest Aboveground Biomass for Maine, 2023. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2435

Graduate Students

– Shambhu Katel, M.S.
– Grant Daniels, M.S.
– Archibald Owen, Research Assistant

I currently have open M.S. and Ph.D. positions supported by NSF, NASA, and USDA projects focused on forest biomass, LiDAR, and watershed modeling. If you are interested in working with Dr. Xinyuan Wei, please contact him at xinyuan.wei@maine.edu.