Contributions by role
Contributions by subject area
Yixin Zhang
Summary
My PhD research at Umeå University in Sweden examined effects of environmental changes and larval blackfly disturbances on distribution, functional morphology, and phenotypic plasticity in running waters. My postdoc research works at University of California - Santa Barbara and University of British Columbia linked to predator-prey interactions, trophic flows across habitats, and cumulative watershed effects of forestry practices on stream biodiversity. My work at University of Hong Kong focused on ecological linkages cross aquatic-terrestrial riparian systems and land-use change impacts on aquatic biodiversity. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, I examined the impact of watershed land-use change and water quality on benthic diversity in Dongjiang River. At Texas State University, I studied effects of native-exotic species interactions on stream ecosystem functioning, examined benthic invertebrate diversity response to environmental and land-use gradients, investigated freshwater mussels and their responses to critical habitat loss and habitat quality degradation, and assessing the impact of catchment development/urbanization on stream ecosystem function and biodiversity. At XJTLU, my work covered stream ecology, restoration ecology, aquatic community Ecology, and land-water interaction, to study human disturbance influence on aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity, including impacts of urbanization impact, air pollution (PM2.5) and microplastics on aquatic systems.