Dr. Pei Zhang ,Innovative Research Selected for the Young Researcher Award in Biology

College of Life Science, Sichuan University
Chengdu 610064, China
📞 Phone: +86 15196639112
✉️ Email: ritazhang1991@gmail.com | peizhang1991@scu.edu.cn

Education

• Ph.D. in Ecology, Fudan University (FDU), China, 2018

• B.S. in Ecology, Sichuan University (SCU), China, 2013

Professional Experience

• 2020–Present – Associate Research Fellow (Ecology), College of Life Science, SCU, China

• 2018–2020 – Research Assistant (Ecology), College of Life Science, SCU, China

• 2016–2017 – Joint Ph.D. Student, Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, USA

• 2015 – Visiting Student, JFB Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Göttingen University, Germany

Research Interests

1. Plant–soil biota interactions affected by grazing in alpine grasslands

2. Effects of plant invasion on the soil food web and ecosystem functions

Synergetic Activities and Honors

• Shortlisted for the Southwood Prize, Journal of Applied Ecology, 2021

• Excellent Doctoral Dissertation, Fudan University, 2020

• Project Consultant, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), 2020

• Scholarship Recipient, China Scholarship Council (CSC), 2016

• Manuscript Reviewer for:

  • mSystems

  • Biological Invasions

  • Journal of Plant Ecology

  • Acta Ecologica Sinica

Publications

(*# Equal contribution, * Corresponding author)

🟩 I. Plant–Soil Biota Interactions under Grazing Pressure

1. Zhang, P., Chen, S., Ai, Y., Wang, Y., Xi, D., Tian, L., & Mipam, T.D. (2022).
   Responses of soil nematode community to yak grazing intensity in an alpine meadow.
   Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 339, 108134.

2. Wang, X., He, X., Price, M., He, Q., Zhang, P., Ran, J., & Wu, Y.* (2022).
   Epigeic arthropod community changes in response to livestock-caused alpine grassland degradation on the Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
   Global Ecology and Conservation, 35, e02062.

🟨 II. Effects of Plant Invasion on Soil Food Webs and Ecosystem Functions

3. Zhang, P., Scheu, S., Li, B., Lin, G., Zhao, J., & Wu, J.* (2020).
   Litter C transformations of invasive Spartina alterniflora affected by litter type and soil source.
   Biology and Fertility of Soils, 56, 369–379.

4. Zhang, P., Li, B., Wu, J., & Hu, S. (2019).
   Differential effects of litter and rhizosphere on soil biota converge to facilitate plant invasion: A meta-analysis.
   Ecology Letters, 22, 200–210. (Highly cited paper)

5. Zhang, P., Neher, D., Li, B., & Wu, J.* (2018).
   The impacts of above- and belowground plant input on soil microbiota: Invasive Spartina alterniflora vs. native Phragmites australis.
   Ecosystems, 21, 469–481.

6. Zhang, P., Nie, M., Li, B., & Wu, J.* (2017).
   The transfer and allocation of newly fixed C by invasive Spartina alterniflora and native Phragmites australis to soil microbiota.
   Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 113, 231–239. (F1000 recommended)

7. Chen, H., Zhang, P., Li, B., & Wu, J.* (2015).
   Invasive cordgrass Spartina alterniflora facilitates epifaunal communities in a northwestern Pacific marsh.
   Biological Invasions, 17, 205–217.

🟦 III. Soil Food Web Organisms & Biological Control

8. Zhang, P.*, Zhang, W., & Hu, S. (2022).
   Fungivorous nematode Aphelenchus avenae and collembola Hypogastrura perplexa alleviate damping-off disease caused by Pythium ultimum in tomato.
   Plant and Soil. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05680-2

🟧 IV. Ecosystem Multifunctionality & Grazing in Salt Marshes

9. Zhang, P.#, Yang, Z.#, & Wu, J.* (2021).
   Livestock grazing promotes ecosystem multifunctionality of a coastal salt marsh.
   Journal of Applied Ecology, 58, 2124–2134.

🟥 V. Wildlife–Livestock Interaction (Broader Ecological Relevance)

10. Yang, C.#, Zhang, P.#, Wu, Y., Dai, Q., Luo, G., Zhou, H., Zhao, D., & Ran, J.* (2021).
    Livestock limits snow leopard’s space use by suppressing its prey, blue sheep, at Gongga Mountain, China.
    Global Ecology and Conservation, 29, e01728.