All my research centers around the development and application of hierarchical Bayesian models and aims to provide reliable information for conservation decision-making. I believe that effective conservation practices come from solid ecological theories, and modeling is the tool to bridge them. Therefore, I always develop models to test ecological hypotheses. I evaluate these models with both simulation and real-world studies and use them to understand and predict ecological responses to environmental changes and conservation actions.
Please see below for a list of the projects I work on. A full list of my publications could be found on ResearchGate and Google Scholar. |
the impacts of forest harvesting on boreal bird communities (completed)Forest harvest is one of the most important industries of Canada, contributing over $23 billion to the country's economy in 2010 (Wikipedia). However, forest harvest is also one of the biggest threats to forest biodiversity. Ecosystem-based forest management strives to develop forest harvest strategies that best emulate natural disturbances such as wildfire to conserve biodiversity representative of natural forest ecosystems, yet the current management does not consider the configuration of forest structure at landscape scale, limiting its practical value.
I applied innovative multivariate statistics to examine species richness and community structure of birds at multiple spatial scales in natural and managed boreal forest. My study demonstrates that the disturbance at landscape scale is the main reason that prevents the recovery of avian diversity to its status in natural environment. Based on my results, it is suggested that more regards should be paid to improve the landscape configuration of the managed forests, particularly the retention of large patches of old-growth forests within logged areas. Publications:
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