PUBLICATIONS
*corresponding author; †Lu Lab member or advisee lead
2026
Thompson, L., Wang, C., Lu, M. (2026). “Contrasting patterns in urban energy and emission scaling.” Environmental Research Letters.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Hsu, Y.-H., Beery, S., Kempes, C.P., Lu, M., Saavedra, S. (2026). “The impact of strong activity disruption on building energetics.” EPJ Data Science (in press).
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2025
Zheng, A.*†, Yin, Y., Lu, M. (2025). “Carbon bias from grassy tree misclassification: revealing forest structural heterogeneity by integrating GEDI and Sentinel-2.” bioRxiv.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Zheng, A.*† & Lu, M. (2025). “Grassy trees: the neglected hybrids for sustainability.” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 40(12), 1159–1163.
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Press: “Scientists Identify Potential Climate Solutions in ‘Grassy Trees’” — James Devitt @ NYU · Aarjavee Raaj @ CTV News · Aryan Rai @ India Today
Photo: Aiyu ZhengDing, G., Zeng, W., Yan, T., Sun, L., Chen, W., Lu, M., Ma, Z.* (2025). “Root-mycorrhizal foraging strategies shift with forest age more than with nitrogen manipulation.” Ecological Monographs 95(4), e70039.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Yang, Q., Guo, B., Lu, M., Liu, Y., Kardol, P., Reich, P.B., Bardgett, R.D., et al. (2025). “Arbuscular mycorrhizal association regulates global root–seed coordination.” Nature Plants 11, 1759–1768.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Vallicrosa, H., Fleischer, K., Delgado-Baquerizo, M., Fernández-Martínez, M., Cerny, J., Tian, D., Kourmouli, A., Mayoral, C., Grados, D., Lu, M., Terrer, C. (2025). “Nitrogen deposition and climate drive plant nitrogen uptake while soil factors drive nitrogen use efficiency in terrestrial ecosystems.” Earth System Dynamics 16(4), 1183–1196.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Huang, K.* & Lu, M.* (2025). “Nested economies of scale in global city mass.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.03960 (in revision at Nature Cities).
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]
Companion site: city-mass.nested-complexity.netMalhotra, A., Moore, J.A.M., Weintraub-Leff, S., Georgiou, K., Berhe, A.A., Billings, S.A., de Graaff, M.-A., Fraterrigo, J.M., Grandy, A.S., Kyker-Snowman, E., Lu, M., Meier, C., Pierson, D., Tumber-Dávila, S.J., Lajtha, K., Wieder, W.R., Jackson, R.B. (2025). “Fine root and soil carbon stocks are positively related in grasslands but not in forests.” Communications Earth & Environment 6(1), 497.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Lu, M.*, Wang, S., Malhotra, A., Tumber-Dávila, S.J., Weintraub-Leff, S., McCormack, L., Wang, X.T., Jackson, R.B. (2025). “A continental scale analysis reveals widespread root bimodality.” Nature Communications 16, 5281.
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Press: “Plants have a secret, second set of roots deep underground” — Olivia Ferrari @ Live Science · “Scientists Find Unexpected Deep Roots” — James Devitt @ NYU
Photo: 1001Love/Getty ImagesLu, M.*, Marghetis, T.*, Yang, V.C.* (2025). “A first-principles mathematical model integrates the disparate timescales of human learning.” npj Complexity 2(1), 15.
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Press: “From practice to mastery: a unified model of human learning” — Aaron Sidder @ SFI
Photo: Katherine MastWu, H., Yang, Q., Chen, J., Lu, M., Ren, W., Xiong, Y., Pei, Y., Chand, P.B., Valverde-Barrantes, O.J., Cao, J., Kong, D. (2025). “Divergent leaf–root coordination between mangroves and non-mangroves.” Journal of Plant Ecology 18(2), rtaf023.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Ma, S., Lu, M., Yang, G., Zhi, Y., Ouyang, Z., Meng, J., Zheng, H., Huang, N., Yang, Z., Zhou, C. (2025). “Carbon-negative transition by utilizing overlooked carbon in waste landfills.” Innovation Geoscience 3(1), 15–25.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]
2024
Jing, X., Classen, A., Li, D., Lin, L., Lu, M., Sanders, N.J., Wang, Y., Feng, W. (2024). “Unraveling microbial community structure-function relationships in the horizontal and vertical spatial dimensions in extreme environments.” Ecography (6), e07118.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Ma, Z., Duan, M., Sack, L., Ma, C., Li, L., McCormack, M.L., Lu, M., Guo, D. (2024). “Coordination of flux-related leaf and root traits impacts forest community assembly.” bioRxiv (in revision at Nature Communications).
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Lu, M.*, Wang, L.*, Wang, L., Guo, Q., Fei, S. (2024). “Shifts in ecological patterns under global changes.” Landscape Ecology 39(4), 85.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Lu, M.*, Zhou, C., Wang, C., Jackson, R.B., Kempes, C.P.* (2024). “Worldwide scaling of waste generation in urban systems.” Nature Cities (1), 126–135.
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Press: “The City of Tomorrow Will Run on Your Toilet Water” — Matt Simon @ WIRED · “As Cities Grow, How Will Trash Rise?” — James Devitt @ NYU · “The new science of waste” — Aaron Sidder @ SFI · +6 more
Photo: Elisa Heinrich MoraZhang, Y., Cao, J., Lu, M., Kardol, P., Wang, J., Fan, G., Kong, D. (2024). “Origin of bi-dimensionality in plant root traits.” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 39(1), 78–88.
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Cover Art
2023 and prior
Liao, J.†, Lu, M.*, Gu, H., Luo, B., Jing, X., He, J.-S. (2023). “Warming-induced shifts on Tibetan Plateau: the overlooked ants and their ecological impacts.” Landscape Ecology 38(12), 3999–4008.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Vasconcelos, V.V.*, Marquitti, F.M.D.*, Ong, T.*, McManus, L.C.*, Aguiar, M., Campos, A., Dutta, P., Jovanelly, K., Junquera, V., Kong, J., Krüger, E., Liao, W., Lu, M., Mittal, D., Pascual, M., Pinheiro, F., Rocha, J., Santos, F.P., Sloot, P., Levin, S., Terpstra, S., Su, C., Taylor, B., Tilman, A., Tekwa, E.W., Zhan, Q., Yang, L., Yitbarek, S., Watson, J. (2023). “Rate-Induced Transitions in Networked Complex Adaptive Systems: Exploring Dynamics and Management Implications Across Ecological, Social, and Socioecological Systems.” arXiv:2309.07449.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Lu, M.*, Bond, W.J., Sheffer, E., Cramer, M.D., West, A.G., Allsopp, N., February, E.C., Chimphango, S., Ma, Z., Slingsby, J.A., Hedin, L.O. (2022). “Biome boundary maintained by intense belowground resource competition in world’s thinnest-rooted plant community.” PNAS 119(9).
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Press: “Africa’s fynbos plants hold their ground with the world’s thinnest roots” — Jake Buehler @ ScienceNews · “Fynbos puts the squeeze on trees” — Helen Swingler @ UCT · “World’s thinnest roots are ‘underground weapons’” — Liz Fuller-Wright @ Princeton
Photo: Adam WestLu, M.* (2020). “Plant-microbe mutualism: Evolutionary mechanisms and ecological functions.” Biodiversity Science.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]He, P., Gleason, S.M., Wright, I.J., Weng, E., Liu, H., Zhu, S., Lu, M., Luo, Q., Li, R., Wu, G., Yan, E., Song, Y., Mi, X., Hao, G., Reich, P.B., Wang, Y., Ellsworth, D.S., Ye, Q. (2019). “Growing-season temperature and precipitation are independent drivers of global variation in xylem hydraulic conductivity.” Global Change Biology 26(3), 1833–1841.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Lu, M.* & Hedin, L.O. (2019). “Global plant-symbiont organization and emergence of biogeochemical cycles resolved by evolution-based trait modelling.” Nature Ecology & Evolution 3(2): 239–250.
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Press: “Local plant-microbe alliances shape global biomes” — Morgan Kelly @ Princeton · Elizabeth Sulzman Award
Photo: Princeton UniversityLiu, B., Li, L., Rengel, Z., Tian, J., Li, H., Lu, M. (2019). “Roots and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are independent in nutrient foraging across subtropical tree species.” Plant and Soil 442:97–112.
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [PDF]Ma, Z., Guo, D., Xu, X., Lu, M., Bardgett, R.D., Eissenstat, D.M., McCormack, M.L., Hedin, L.O. (2018). “Evolutionary history resolves global organization of root functional traits.” Nature 555: 94–97.
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Press: “Theory suggests root efficiency, independence drove global spread of flora” — Morgan Kelly @ Princeton
Photo: Zeqing MaLu, M., Davidescu, M., Sukri, R.S., Daskin, J.H. (2013). “Termites facilitate root foraging by trees in a Bornean tropical forest.” Journal of Tropical Ecology 29(06): 563–566.
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