Research Area

Plant evolution; Global climate change; Pollen diversity.

Introduction

YAO Yifeng received bachelor's degree from Nanchang University in 2000 and PhD from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IBCAS) in 2007. He has been working at IBCAS since 2006, serving as a Research Assistant, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. He was a visiting scholar at the Senkenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany in 2008, and at the Edinburgh Botanic Garden in the UK from 2013 to 2014. So far, as the first or corresponding author, he has published over 40 papers and 5 monographs, including Earth-Science Reviews, Earth System Science Data, New Phytologist, Geophysical Research Letters, Quaternary Science Reviews, and Palaeogeography Palaeocimatology Palaeoecology. Currently, he serves as vice chairman and secretary general of the Palaeobotanical Branch of the Chinese Society of Botany, member of the Palaeobotanical Branch of the Chinese Society of Palaeontology, and editorial board member of Acta Palaeontologica Sinica.

Publications

1. Yao YF*, #, Zeng H#, Wang ZY, Wortley AH, Wang YF, Blackmore S*. 2025. Temporally separated pollen data track environmental changes in northwestern Yunnan, Southwest China. BMC Plant Biology 25, 1427.
2. Yao YF*, #, Lu KQ#, Qin F#, Wang GA#, Yang QM#, Zhou XY, Ferguson DK, Xie G, Li JF, Sun B, Blackmore S*, Wang YF*. 2025. Latest Pleistocene to mid-Holocene vegetation changes revealed by multi-proxy analyses at Lop Nur in the eastern Central Asia. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 678, 113249.
3. Zeng H, Wang ZY, Chen GX*, Ferguson DK, Wang YF, Yao YF*. 2025. Asian summer monsoon and orographic winds change the pollen flow in the Hengduan Mountains, southwestern China. Geophysical Research Letters, 52: e2024GL113697.

4. Yao YF#, *, Song XY#, Xie G#, Tang YN#, Wortley AH, Qin F, Blackmore S*, Li CS, Wang YF*. 2023. New insights into the origin of buckwheat cultivation in southwestern China from pollen data. New Phytologist, 237: 2467-2477.

5. Lu LL#, Jiao BH#, Qin F#, Xie G#, Lu KQ, Li JF, Sun B, Li M, Ferguson DK, Gao TG*, Yao YF*, Wang YF*. 2022. Artemisia pollen dataset for exploring the potential ecological indicators in deep time. Earth System Science Data, 14: 3961-3995.

6. Wang Q#, Li JF#, Lu KQ#, Xie G#, Qin F, Ferguson DK, Wang GH, Yao YF*, Wang YF*. 2022. Pollen R-values in arid central Asia for quantitative palaeo-vegetation reconstruction. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 596: 110993.

7. Trivedi A, Tang YN, Qin F, Farooqui A, Wortley AH, Wang YF, Blackmore S, Li CS, Yao YF*. 2020. Holocene vegetation dynamics and climatic fluctuations from Shuanghaizi Lake in the Hengduan Mountains, southwestern China. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 560: 110035.

8. Yao YF#,*, Wang X#, Qin F#, Wortley AH, Li SP, Blackmore S, Li CS, Wang YF*. 2020. Evidence for climate instability during the Younger Dryas interval in the Hengduan Mountains, Yunnan, southwestern China. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 554: 109798.

9. Lu KQ#, Qin F#, Li Y#, Xie G#, Li JF, Cui YM, Ferguson DK, Yao YF*, Wang GH*, Wang YF*. 2020. A new approach to interpret vegetation and ecosystem changes through time by establishing a correlation between surface pollen and vegetation types in the eastern central Asian desert. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 551: 109762.

10. Xie G#, Yao YF#, Li JF, Yang J, Bai JD, Ferguson DK, Trivedi A, Li CS*, Wang YF*. 2019. Holocene climate, dynamic landscapes and environmentally driven changes in human living conditions in Beijing. Earth-Science Reviews, 191: 57-65.

11. Wang X, Yao YF*, Wortley AH, Qiao HJ, Blackmore S, Wang YF*, Li CS. 2018. Vegetation responses to the warming at the Younger Dryas-Holocene transition in the Hengduan Mountains, southwestern China. Quaternary Science Reviews, 192: 236-248.

12. Lu KQ#, Xie G#, Li M, Li JF, Trivedi A, Ferguson DK, Yao YF*, Wang YF*. 2018. Pollen spectrum, a cornerstone for tracing the evolution of the eastern central Asian desert. Quaternary Science Reviews, 186: 111-122.