Fengzhi He
Profile
My research focuses on conservation of freshwater megafauna, biodiversity patterns of riverine species, and anthropogenic impacts on freshwater ecosystems.
2023 – present Professor, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2022 – present Guest researcher, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
2022 – 2023 Postdoc, Aarhus University, Denmark & Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
2019 – 2022 Postdoc, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
2015 – 2019 Ph.D. in River Science, joint doctoral degree of Freie Universität Berlin, Germany & Queen Mary University of London, UK
2012 – 2015 M.Sc. in Hydrobiology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China & University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
2008 – 2012 B.Sc. in Biotechnology, Central China Normal University, China
Publications
Publications
2025
A systematic map of hydropower impacts on megafauna at the land-water interface
2024
Hydropower impacts on riverine biodiversity
Freshwater megafauna shape ecosystems and facilitate restoration
Multiple-stressor effects on leaf litter decomposition in freshwater ecosystems: A meta-analysis
A global systematic map of knowledge of inland commercial navigation effects on freshwater ecosystems
Meta-ecosystem Frameworks Can Enhance Control of the Biotic Transport of Microplastics
Global introductions and environmental impacts of freshwater megafish
The impacts of reduced connectivity on multiple facets of aquatic insect diversity in floodplain wetlands, Northeast China
2023
Trait-based approach of aquatic insects to track recovery of wetland ecosystems in Northeast China
Do alien species affect native freshwater megafauna?
SER: An R package to characterize environmental regimes
The global EPTO database: worldwide occurrences of aquatic insects
Multispecies assemblages and multiple stressors: synthesizing the state of experimental research in freshwaters
2022
Elevational patterns of trait composition and functional diversity of stream macroinvertebrates in the Hengduan Mountains region, Southwest China
A global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research
2021
More exposure opportunities for promoting freshwater conservation
Species dispersal along rivers and streams may have variable importance to metapopulation structure
Direct and remote impact - a global perspective: [Chapter 4.4]
Spatial and local environmental factors outweigh geo-climatic gradients in structuring taxonomically and trait-based β-diversity of benthic algae
Impacts of loss of free-flowing rivers on global freshwater megafauna
Combined effects of life‐history traits and human impact on extinction risk of freshwater megafauna
Revisiting global trends in freshwater insect biodiversity
2020
Elevation shapes biodiversity patterns through metacommunity-structuring processes
Metacommunity Structures of Macroinvertebrates and Diatoms in High Mountain Streams, Yunnan, China
Rethinking megafauna
2019
Future large hydropower dams impact global freshwater megafauna
Put freshwater megafauna on the table before they are eaten to extinction
The global decline of freshwater megafauna
2018
Benthic macroinvertebrates as indicators for river health in Changjiang Basin
Freshwater megafauna diversity: patterns, status and threats
2017
Disappearing giants: a review of threats to freshwater megafauna
Freshwater megafauna: flagships for freshwater biodiversity under threat
COMPLETE PUBLICATION LIST
Chen, X., Evans, T. G., Jeschke, J. M., Jähnig, S. C., & He, F. (2024). Global introductions and environmental impacts of freshwater megafish. Global Change Biology, 30(4), e17289.
He, F., Svenning, J. C., Chen, X., Tockner, K., Kuemmerle, T., le Roux, E., ... & Jähnig, S. C. (2024). Freshwater megafauna shape ecosystems and facilitate restoration. Biological Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13062
Madariaga, G.M., Ferreira, V., Arora, R. Mansour, I., David, G.M., Jähnig, S.C., & He, F. (2024). Multiple-stressor effects on leaf litter decomposition in freshwater ecosystems: A meta-analysis. Functional Ecology, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14571
Lu, K., Wu, H., Jähnig, S. C., & He, F. (2024). The impacts of reduced connectivity on multiple facets of aquatic insect diversity in floodplain wetlands, Northeast China. Science of The Total Environment, 912, 169207.
Stoffers, T., Sayer, C. A., Baratech, A., & He, F. (2024). ‘Global swimways’ on free-flowing rivers will protect key migratory fish species. Nature, 627(8004), 489-489.
Torres-Romero, E. J., Fisher, J. T., Nijman, V., He, F., & Eppley, T. M. (2024). Accelerated human-induced extinction crisis in the world's freshwater mammals. Global Environmental Change Advances, 2, 100006.
He, F., Arora, R. & Mansour, I. (2023) Multispecies assemblages and multiple stressors: synthesizing the state of research in freshwaters. WIREs: Water, 10(3), e1641.
Chen, X., Jähnig, S. C., Jeschke, J. M., Evans, T. G., & He, F. (2023). Do alien species affect native freshwater megafauna?. Freshwater Biology, 68(6), 903-914.
Lu, K., Jähnig, S. C., Wu, H., Xie, Z., Chen, X., & He, F. (2023). Trait-based approach of aquatic insects to track recovery of wetland ecosystems in Northeast China. Ecological Indicators, 155, 111012.
Liu, G., Lin, Z., Qi, X., Wang, Y., Wang, Y., Jiang, W., He, F., & Wu, N. (2023). Environmental filtering, spatial processes and biotic interactions jointly shape different traits communities of stream macroinvertebrates. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11, 1196296.
Grigoropoulou, A., Hamid, S. A., Acosta, R., Akindele, E. O., Al‐Shami, S. A., Altermatt, F., ...He, F., ... & Domisch, S. (2023). The global EPTO database: Worldwide occurrences of aquatic insects. Global ecology and biogeography, 32(5), 642-655.
Wu, N., Guo, K., Zou, Y., He, F., & Riis, T. (2023). SER: An R package to characterize environmental regimes. Ecology and Evolution, 13(3), e9882.
Ao, S., Ye, L., Liu, X., Cai, Q., & He, F. (2022). Elevational patterns of trait composition and functional diversity of stream macroinvertebrates in the Hengduan Mountains region, Southwest China. Ecological Indicators, 144, 109558.
Maasri, A., Jähnig, S. C., Adamescu, M. C., Adrian, R., Baigun, C., Baird, D. J., ...He, F.,... & Worischka, S. (2022). A global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research. Ecology Letters, 25(2), 255-263.
He, F., Thieme, M, Zarfl, C., Gril, G., Lehnerd, B., Hogan, Z., Tockner, K. & Jähnig, S.C. (2021). Impacts of loss of free-flowing rivers on global freshwater megafauna. Biological Conservation, 263, 109335.
He, F., Jähnig, S.C., Wetzig, A. & Langhans, S.D. (2021) More exposure opportunities for promoting freshwater conservation. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 31(12), 3626-3635.
He, F., Langhans, S.D., Zarfl, C., Wanke, R., Tockner, K. & Jähnig, S.C., (2021) Combined effects of life‐history traits and human impact on extinction risk of freshwater megafauna. Conservation Biology, 35, 643-653.
Wu, N., Zhou, S., Zhang, M., Peng, W., Guo, K., Qu, X., & He, F. (2021). Spatial and local environmental factors outweigh geo‐climatic gradients in structuring taxonomically and trait‐based β‐diversity of benthic algae. Journal of Biogeography, 48(8), 1842-1857.
Jähnig, S. C., Baranov, V., Altermatt, F., Cranston, P., Friedrichs-Manthey, M., Geist, J., He, F., Heino, J., Hering, D., Hölker, F., Jourdan, J., Kalinkat, G., Kiesel, J., Leese, F., Maasri, A., Monaghan, M.T., Schäfer, R.B., Tockner, K., Tonkin, J. D., Domisch, S. (2021) Revisiting global trends in freshwater insect biodiversity. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 8, e1506.
Chiu, M. C., Ao, S., Resh, V. H., He, F. & Cai, Q. (2021). Species dispersal along rivers and streams may have variable importance to metapopulation structure. Science of The Total Environment, 760, 144045.
Kurthen, A. L., He, F., Dong, X., Maasri, A., Wu, N., Cai, Q. & Jähnig, S. C. (2020). Metacommunity structures of macroinvertebrates and diatoms in high mountain streams, Yunnan, China. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 8, 571887.
Chiu, M.C., Ao, S., He, F., Resh, V.H. & Cai, Q. (2020) Elevation shapes biodiversity patterns through metacommunity-structuring processes. Science of The Total Environment, 743, 140548.
Zhou, S., Wu, N., Zhang, M., Peng, W., He, F., Guo, K., Yan, S., Zou, Y. & Qu, X. (2020) Local environmental, geo-climatic and spatial factors interact to drive community distributions and diversity patterns of stream benthic algae, macroinvertebrates and fishes in a large basin, Northeast China. Ecological Indicators, 117, 106673.
Guo S., He F., Tang T., Tan L. & Cai Q. (2020) Intra-annual fluctuations dominating temporal dynamics of benthic diatom assemblages in a Chinese mountainous river. Annales de Limnologie-International Journal of Limnology, 56, 22.
Moleón M., Sánchez-Zapata J.A., Donázar J.A., Revilla E., Martín-López B., Gutiérrez-Cánovas C., Getz W.M., Morales-Reyes Z., Campos-Arceiz A., Crowder L., Galetti M., González-Suárez M., He F., Jordano P., Lewison R., Naidoo R., Owen-Smith N., Selva N., Svenning J-C., Tella J.L., Zarfl C., Jähnig S.C., Hayward M.W., Faurby S., García N., Barnosky A.D. & Tockner K. (2020) Rethinking megafauna. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 287(1922), 20192643.
He, F., Wu, N., Dong, X., Tang, T., Domisch, S., Cai, Q., & Jähnig, S. C. (2020). Elevation, aspect, and local environment jointly determine diatom and macroinvertebrate diversity in the Cangshan Mountain, Southwest China. Ecological Indicators, 108, 105618.
He F., Zarfl C., Bremerich V., David J.N.W., Hogan Z., Kalinkat G., Tockner K. & Jahnig S.C. (2019) The global decline of freshwater megafauna. Global Change Biology, 25, 3883–3892.
He F. & Jähnig S.C. (2019) Put freshwater megafauna on the table before they are eaten to extinction. Conservation Letters, 12(5), e12662.
Zarfl, C., Berlekamp, J., He, F., Jähnig, S. C., Darwall, W., & Tockner, K. (2019). Future large hydropower dams impact global freshwater megafauna. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1-10.
He F., Sun X., Dong X., Cai Q. & Jähnig S.C. (2019) Benthic Macroinvertebrates as Indicators for River Health in Changjiang Basin. In: Yue T. et al. (eds) Chinese Water Systems. Springer, Cham
He, F., Bremerich, V., Zarfl, C., Geldmann, J., Langhans, S.D., David, J.N., Darwall, W., Tockner, K. & Jähnig, S.C. (2018) Freshwater megafauna diversity: Patterns, status and threats. Diversity and Distributions, 24(10), 1395-1404.
He, F., Zarfl, C., Bremerich, V., Henshaw, A., Darwall, W., Tockner, K. & Jähnig, S. C. (2017) Disappearing giants: a review of threats to freshwater megafauna. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 4(3), e1208.
Carrizo, S.F., Jähnig, S.C., Bremerich, V., Freyhof, J., Harrison, I., He, F., Langhans, S.D., Tockner, K., Zarfl, C. & Darwall, W. (2017) Freshwater Megafauna: Flagships for Freshwater Biodiversity under Threat. BioScience, 67(10), 919–927
Jiang, W., He, F., & Cai, Q. (2017) Spatial distribution patterns of trait composition and functional diversity of aquatic insects in the Xiangxi River system. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 37(6), 1861-1870
Dong, X., Li, B., He, F., Gu, Y., Sun, M., Zhang, H., Tan, L., Xiao, W., Liu, S. & Cai, Q. (2016) Flow directionality, mountain barriers and functional traits deterministic mine diatom metacommunity structuring of high mountain streams. Scientific Reports, 6, 24711
He, F., Dong, X., Sun, M., & Cai, Q. (2015) Altitudinal pattern of stream periphyton biomass in tributaries of the Lancang–Mekong River: An indicator of anthropogenic impact?. Quaternary International, 380, 282-287.
He, F., Jiang, W., Tang, T., & Cai, Q. (2015) Assessing impact of acid mine drainage on benthic macroinvertebrates: can functional diversity metrics be used as indicators?. Journal of Freshwater Ecology, 30(4), 513-524.
He, F., Ren, Z., Dong, X., Yang, K., Wang, M., Li, D., & Cai, Q. (2014). River ecosystem health assessment of the Shennongjia Forest Region. Chinese Journal of Applied and Environmental Biology, 20(1), 35-39.