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,

Ecosystem Restoration and Aquatic Conservation,

Human-Nature Interactions and Sustainability,

Environmental Protection and Human Health.

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Ey-Pv1MAAAAJ&hl=en

Underlined authors are my students, * Corresponding author

Wang, H., Li, Y., Li, Y., Liu, H., Wang, W., Zhang, P., ... & 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(7), 3058.

Hao, L., Zhang, Y.X., Shen, Y., Liu, Y., Gao, H., & 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.

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 (2024) 120663.

Tiegs, S.*, Capps, K.A.*, Costello, D.M.*, … Zhang, Y.X., Zwart, J.A. 2024. Human activities shape global patterns of decomposition rates in rivers. Science, 384, 1191-1195.

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(2023).

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.

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.  

Zhang, Y.X.* 2022. Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation of China: Progress in Yangtze River Basin. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 32 (10), 1565-1570.

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.             

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.

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.

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.  

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.   

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;             

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.      

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.

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.

Wu, Z.J. & Zhang, Y.X.* 2019. Water bodies’ cooling effects of on urban land daytime surface temperature: Ecosystem service reducing heat island effect. Sustainability 11(3): 787.      

Tiegs, S., et al., Zhang, Y.X. 2019. Global patterns and drivers of ecosystem functioning in rivers and riparian zones, Science Advances 5(1): eaav0486. 

Wu, Z.J. & Zhang, Y.X.* 2018. Spatial variations of urban thermal environment and its relations to green space patterns: Implication to sustainable landscape planning. Sustainability 10: 2249.

Hartono, D., Lioe, B., Zhang, Y.X.*, Li, B.L., & Yu, J.Z. 2017. Impacts of particulate matter (PM2.5) on the behavior of freshwater snail Parafossarulus striatulus. Scientific Reports 7: 644.  

Iskali, G. & Zhang, Y.X.* 2015. Guano subsidy and the invertebrate community in Bracken Cave: the world’s largest colony of bats. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 77: 28–36.  

Nobles, T. & Zhang, Y.X.* 2015. Survival, growth and condition of freshwater mussels: Effects of municipal wastewater effluent. PLoS ONE 10(6): e0128488.              

LeBoeuf, C.M., Pray, C.L., Zhang, Y.X. & Nowlin, W.H. 2015. Nutrient enrichment scarcely affects ecosystem impacts of a non-native herbivore in a spring-fed river. Freshwater Biology 60: 551-562.    

Becker, J.C., Rodibaugh, K.J., Labay, B.J., Bonner, T.H., Zhang, Y.X. and Nowlin, W.H. 2014. Physiographic gradients determine nutrient concentrations more than land use in a Gulf Slope (USA) river system. Freshwater Science 33: 731–744.

Henn, M., Nichols, H., Zhang, Y.X. & Bonner, T.H. 2014. Effect of artificial light on the drift of aquatic insects in urban central Texas streams. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 29: 307-318.

Sullivan, M.L., Zhang, Y.X. & Bonner, T.H. 2014. Carbon and nitrogen ratios of aquatic and terrestrial prey for freshwater fishes. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 29: 259–266.

Taylor, A.A., Aron, G.M., Beall, G.W., Dharmasiri, N., Zhang, Y.X. & McLean, R.J.C. 2014. Carbon and clay nanoparticles induce minimal stress responses in gram negative bacteria and eukaryotic fish cells. Environmental Toxicology 29: 961–968.

Sullivan, M.L., Zhang, Y.X.*, Bonner, T.H. & Tomasso, J.R. 2013 Temperature modulation of growth and physiology of juvenile Guadalupe bass Micropterus treculii. North American Journal of Aquaculture, 75: 373-376.                                 

Lindsay, M.K., Zhang, Y.X.*, Forstner, M.R.J. & Hahn, D. 2013. Effects of the freshwater turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans, on ecosystem functioning: an approach in experimental ponds.  Amphibia-Reptilia 34: 75-84.

Scott, S.E., Pray, C.L., Nowlin, W.H. & Zhang, Y.X.* 2012. Effects of native and introduced species on stream ecosystem function. Aquatic Sciences 74: 793–808.

Scott, S.E. & Zhang, Y.X.* 2012. Contrasting effects of sand burial and exposure on invertebrate colonization of leaves.  American Midland Naturalist 167: 68–78.

Sullivan, M.L., Zhang, Y.X.*, & Bonner, T. H. 2012. Terrestrial subsidies in the diets of stream fishes of USA: Comparisons among taxa and morphology. Marine and Freshwater Research 63: 409–414.        

Zhang, Y.X., He, C.Z., Dudgeon, D.  Zhang, Z.Y. & Wang, G.M. 2011. Mountain ridge and sea: Geographic barrier effects on genetic diversity and differentiation of the Hong Kong Newt (Paramesotriton hongkongensis) revealed by AFLP.  Annales Zoologici Fennici 48: 119–127.         

Zhang, Y.X. & Richardson, J.S. 2011. Contrasting effects of cross-ecosystem subsidies and predation on benthic invertebrates in two Pacific coastal streams. Aquatic Sciences 73: 53–62.

Richardson, J.S., Zhang, Y.X. & Marczak, L.B. 2010. Resource subsidies across the land-water interface and responses in recipient populations. River Research and Applications 26: 55–66.

Zhang, Y.X., Richardson, J.S. & Pinto, X. 2009. Catchment-scale effects of forestry practices on benthic invertebrate communities in Pacific coastal stream ecosystems. Journal of Applied Ecology 46: 1292–1303.

Zhang, Y.X. & Dudgeon, D. 2009. Impacts of deforestation and hydrological change on river ecosystems in Southeast Asia. - Critical States: Environmental Challenges to Development in Monsoon Southeast Asia (Eds. L. Lebel, et al.) SIRD/Gerakbudaya, pp. 268–280.

Chan, E.K.W., Zhang, Y.X. & Dudgeon, D. 2009. Substrate availability may be more important than aquatic insect abundance in the distribution of riparian orb-web spiders in the tropics. Biotropica 41: 196–201.                                       

Chan, E K.W., Zhang, Y.X. & Dudgeon, D. 2008. Arthropod ‘rain’ into tropical streams: the importance of intact riparian forest and influences on fish diets. Marine and Freshwater Research 59: 653–660. 

Chan, E.K.W., Yu, Y.TBiotropica., Zhang, Y.X. & Dudgeon, D. 2008. Distribution patterns of birds and insect prey in a tropical riparian forest.  40: 623–629.           

Chan, E.K.W., Zhang, Y.X. & Dudgeon, D. 2007. Contribution of adult aquatic insect subsidy to terrestrial prey resources in the riparian zones of tropical forest streams. Marine and Freshwater Research 58: 725–732.                  

Zhang, Y.X. & Richardson, J.S. 2007. Unidirectional prey-predator facilitation: apparent prey enhances predators’ foraging success on cryptic prey. Biology Letters 3: 348–351.     

Zhang, Y.X. 2006. Balancing food availability and hydrodynamic constraint: phenotypic plasticity and growth in an aquatic insect. Oecologia 147: 39–46.    

Zhang, Y.X., Dudgeon, D., Cheng, D.S., Thoe, W., Fok, L., Wang, Z.Y. & Lee, J.H.W. 2010. Impacts of land use and water quality on macroinvertebrate communities in the Pearl River drainage basin, China. Hydrobiologia 652: 71–88.               

Zhang, Y.X., Richardson, J.S. & Negishi, J.N. 2004. Detritus processing, ecosystem engineering, and benthic diversity: a test of predator-omnivore interference. Journal of Animal Ecology 73: 756–766.   

Zhang, Y.X., Negishi, J., Richardson, J.S. & Kolodziejczyk, R.I. 2003. Impacts of marine-derived nutrients on stream ecosystem functioning. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 270: 2117–2123. 

Malmqvist, B., Wotton, R.S. & Zhang, Y.X. 2001. Suspension feeders transform massive amounts of seston in large northern rivers. Oikos 92: 35–43.             

Zhang, Y.X. 2000. Effects of fan morphology and habitat on feeding performance of blackfly larvae. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 149: 365–386.

Malmqvist, B., Zhang, Y.X. & Adler, P.H. 1999. Diversity, distribution, and larval habitats of North Swedish blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae). Freshwater Biology 42: 301–314.   

Adler, P., Malmqvist, B. & Zhang, Y.X. 1998. Black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) of Northern Sweden, with notes on their cytotaxonomy and bionomics. Entomologica Scandinavica 29: 361–382. 

Zhang, Y.X., Malmqvist, B. & Englund, G. 1998. Ecological processes affecting community structure of blackfly larvae in regulated and unregulated rivers: a regional study. Journal of Applied Ecology 35: 673–686.                

Englund, G., Maimqvist, B. & Zhang, Y.X. 1997. Using predictive models to estimate effects of flow regulation on net-spinning caddis larvae in North Swedish rivers. Freshwater Biology 37: 687–697.

Zhang, Y.X. & Malmqvist, B. 1997. Phenotypic plasticity in a suspension-feeding insect, Simulium lundstromi (Diptera: Simuliidae), in response to current velocity. Oikos 78: 503–510.         

Zhang, Y.X. & Malmqvist, B. 1996. Relationships between labral fan morphology, body size and habitat in North Swedish blackfly larvae (Diptera: Simuliidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 59: 261–280.

Book Chapters

Zhang, Y.X.*, Juvigny-Khenafou, N.P.D., Xiang, H.Y., Lin, Q.Y. & Wu, Z.J. 2019. Multiple stressors in China’s freshwater ecoregions, In Multiple stress in river ecosystems. Status, impacts and prospects for the future. Editors:  Sabater, S., Elosegi, A., Ludwig, R. Academic Press (Elsevier), pages: 193-204.

Nobles, T. & Zhang, Y.X.* 2011. Biodiversity Loss in Freshwater Mussels: Importance, Threats, and Solutions. "Biodiversity Loss in a Changing Planet" (ISBN 979-953-307-252-3). Eds. Grillo and Venora. InTech - Open Access Publisher, pp.137-162.

Patents:    

1. Yang, W.C., Zhai, J., Zhang, Y.X. 2021. Combined ecological floating island for safety purification of constructed wetland. China Patent, 2021. CN214571047 U
2. Yang, W.C., Zhai, J., Zhang, Y.X. 2021. Urban rainwater collection, regulation and storage control device. China Patent, 2021. CN 213773741 U
3. Yang, W.C., Zhai, J., Zhang, Y.X. 2021. Stable safe slope protection type ecological embankment. China Patent, 2021. CN214993510 U
4. Lin, Q.Y., Zhang, Y.X., Wang, C., Hu, Z. Q. 2019. A device for in-situ restoration of eutrophic water body. China Patent ZL 2019 CN109626594A
5. Yue, Y., Zhu, X.H., Zhang, J., Zhang, Y.X., Wang, W. 2017. Multi-objective optimal deployment method of water quality monitoring network based on bidirectional flow. China Patent ZL 2017 1 0523755.3