Postdoctoral Researcher in Watershed Ecology                

University of British Columbia, Canada (2000-2003)

Postdoctoral Researcher in Stream Ecology               

University of California at Santa Barbara, USA (1999-2000)

Ph.D. in Animal Ecology, Umeå University, Sweden

B.S. in Biology, Nanjing Normal University, China

Principles of Ecology (with Laboratory)

Principles of Limnology (with Laboratory)

Landscape Ecology

Special Topics – One Health in Practice: Solutions for Healthy People in Biosphere

Professor Yixin Zhang is an aquatic ecologist with over 35-year teaching and research experiences in three continents (Asia, Europe, North America). Research projects included Stream Ecology, Riparian Ecology, Urban Ecology, Human-Nature Interactions, One Health and Sustainability. He completed his Ph.D. in Animal Ecology at Umeå University in Sweden in 1998. He conducted postdoc research in stream ecology at the University of California at Santa Barbara in the USA. After that, he was a postdoc research fellow at the University of British Columbia in Canada to do research on large-scale stream experiment in British Columbia. He was a faculty member at the University of Hong Kong to run ecological research projects in Tropical Asian streams. He also conducted research in streams, rivers, and caves at Texas State University, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, and Soochow University. In Wenzhou Kean University, he serves as the director of International One Heath Institute to conduct research and teaching on Ecology and One Health topics. 

Professional Membership

• Ecological Society of America
• Society for Freshwater Science (Previous name: North American Benthological Society)
• Member of Committee of Landscape Architecture, China Society for Urban Studies
• Member of Committee of Watershed Ecology, Ecological Society of China 
• Chair of Expert Committee for Ecological Human Habitat and Health Preservation (Architecture and Culture Society of China)

Stream and River Ecology, Urban Ecology, Eco-Restoration and Conservation, Environmental Protection and Sustainability, Human-Nature Interaction and Mental Health, One Health

1. Qin, J.C., Zhang, Y.X.*, Wang, J.Q. 2025. Synergistic Response of Blue and Green Spaces as Urban Cooling Source to Extreme Heat Waves. Land. 14, 1944. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14101944.   
2. Zhang, Y.X.*, Wu, L., Zhao, W.J., Zheng, L., Zuo, L. 2025. Nature's Shield - Harnessing Green Spaces to Combat Dementia: A Global Meta-Analysis. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 178 (2025) 106360. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0149763425003616?via%3Dihub   
3. Liu, T., Yang, Y., Zhang, Y.X.* 2025. Informal Green Spaces Providing Ecosystem Services to Solve the Green Space Paradox. Urban Ecosystems. 28, 157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-025-01765-9
4. Wang, W.P., Wang, R.X., Li*, Y.Y., Li, Y.X., Zhang, P.C., Gao, M.M., Cao, Y.X., Fohrer, N., Zhang, Y.X., Li, B.L. 2025. Cross-sectional-dependent microbial assembly and network stability: Bacteria sensitivity response was higher than Eukaryotes and Fungi in the Danjiangkou Reservoir. Journal of Environmental Management. 379, 124851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124851
5. Tiegs, S.*, Capps, K.A.*, Costello, D.M.*, Schmidt, J.P.*, Patrick, C.J.*, … Zhang, Y.X., Zwart, J.A. 2024. Human activities shape global patterns of decomposition rates in rivers. Science, 384(6701), 1191-1195. DOI: 10.1126/science.adn12.
6. Qiu, J., Zhang, Y.X.*, Ma, J.W. 2024. Wetland Habitat Supporting Waterbird Diversity: Conservation Perspectives on Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning Relationship. Journal of Environmental Management. 357, 120663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120663
7. Wang, H., Li, Y.X.*, Li, Y.Y.*, Liu, H., Wang, W., Zhang, P.C., Fohrer, N., Li, B.-L., Zhang, Y.X. 2024. Phytoplankton Communities’ Response to Thermal Stratification and Changing Environmental Conditions in a Deep-Water Reservoir: Stochastic and Deterministic Processes. Sustainability. 16, 3058. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16073058
8. Hao, L.T., Zhang, Y.X., Shen, Y.P., Liu, Y.B., Gao, H.J., Guo, P. 2024. Driving mechanism of land use and landscape pattern to phytoplankton and zooplankton community and their trophic interactions in river ecosystems. Journal of Environmental Management. 370, 122691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122691
9. Zhang, Y.X.*, Jing, Z.H., Huang, Q.Y., et al. 2023. On conservation of world heritage Beijing‑Hangzhou Grand Canal for enhancing cultural ecosystem services. Heritage Science. 11, 269. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-023-01101-4    
10. Yang, Y., Zhang, Y.X.*, Shen, S.J. 2023. Residential greenness for mitigating impacts of extreme heat events on depression and supporting mental health. Frontiers in Public Health. 11, 1310410. DOI 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1310410 
11. Zhang, Y.X.*, Wang, Z.H., Lu, Y.L., Zuo, L. 2022. Biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services: Interrelationship with environmental and human health. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 10, 1086408.  
12. Zhang, Y.X.* 2022. Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation of China: Progress in Yangtze River Basin. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 32 (10), 1565-1570.
13. Zhang, Y.X.*, Wu, Z.J. 2022. Environmental Performance and Human Development for Sustainability: Toward a New Environmental Human Index. Science of the Total Environment. 838, 156491. 
14. Zhang, Y.X.*, et al.  2022. Habitat Quality Assessment and Ecological Risks Prediction: An Analysis in Suzhou Section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Water. 14(17), 2602.    
15. Guo, S., Hao, J.L., Tang, X.N., Zhang, Y.X. 2022. Sustainable Attitudes and Future Visions for Energy Transitions: A Comparative Analysis of British and Chinese Undergraduates' Perspectives. Chemical Engineering Transactions, 94, 1285-1290
16. Liu, Y.B., Zhang, B.Y., Zhang, Y.X., Shen, Y.P., Cheng, C., Yuan, W.L., Guo, P.* 2022. Organic Matter Decomposition in River Ecosystems: Microbial Interactions Influenced by Total Nitrogen and Temperature in River Water. Microbial Ecology. 85(4), 1236-1252.
17. Choo, S.W.*, et al. Zhang, Y.X. 2022. A collective statement in support of saving pangolins. Science of the Total Environment. 824, 153666.
18. Costello, D. M.*, Tiegs, S. D, et al. Zhang, Y.X. 2022. Global Patterns and Controls of Nutrient Immobilization on Decomposing Cellulose in Riverine Ecosystems. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 36, e2021GB007163.                
19. Zhang, X.D., Zhang, Y.X. *, Zhai, J. 2021. Home Garden with Eco-healing Functions Benefiting Mental Health and Biodiversity During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review. Frontiers in Public Health. 9: 740187.      
20. Zhai, J., Ren, J., Maio, X., Tang. X.N., Zhang, Y.X.* 2021. Multiscale watershed landscape infrastructure: Integrated system design for sponge city development. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 60(5), 127060.   
21. Zhang, Y.X.*, Zhao, W.H., Chen, X., Jun, C.H., Hao, J.L., Tang, X.N., Zhai, J. 2021. Assessment on the effectiveness of urban stormwater management, Water. 13(1), 4。                               
22. Juvigny-Khenafou, N.P.D., Piggott, J.J., Atkinson, D., Zhang, Y.X.*, Wu, N.C., Matthaei, C.D. 2021. Impacts of multiple anthropogenic stressors on stream macroinvertebrate community composition and functional diversity. Ecology and Evolution, 11: 133-152.          
23. Juvigny-Khenafou, N.P.D., Piggott, J.J., Atkinson, D., Zhang, Y.X.*, Wu, N.C., Matthaei, C.D. 2021. Fine sediment and flow velocity impact bacterial community and functional profile more than nutrient enrichment.  Ecological Applications. 31(1): e02212.    
24. Lin, Q.Y., Zhang, Y.X.*, Marrs, R., Sekar, R., Luo, X., Wu, N.C. 2020. Evaluating ecosystem functioning following river restoration: the role of hydromorphology, bacteria, and macroinvertebrates. Science of the Total Environment, 743: 1405.    
25. Yuan, T M., Zhang, H.H., Feng, Q.L., Zhang, Y.X., McCarthy, A.J., Sekar, R. 2020. Impact of temperature, nutrients and heavy metals on bacterial diversity and ecosystem functioning studied by freshwater microcosms and high throughput DNA sequencing. Current Microbiology, 77, 3512–3525.
26. Yuan, T.M., Zhang, H.H., Feng, Q.L., Wu, X.Y., Zhang, Y.X., McCarthy, A.J., Sekar, R. 2020. Changes in fungal community structure in freshwater canals across a gradient of urbanization. Water, 12(7), 1917.
27. Huang, Q., Lin, Y.Y., Zhong, Q.Y., Ma, F., Zhang, Y.X.* 2020. Impacts of microplastic particles on predator-prey population dynamics: The implication of Lotka-Volterra model. Scientific Reports, 10, 4500. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61414-3                  
28. Juvigny-Khenafou, N.P.D., Zhang, Y.X.*, Piggott, J.J., Atkinson, D., Matthaei, C.D., Van Bael, S.A., Wu, N.C. 2020. Anthropogenic stressors affect fungal more than bacterial communities in decaying leaf litter: a stream mesocosm experiment. Science of the Total Environment, 716(10), 135053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135053