RESEARCH AREAS: Freshwater Ecology; Biogeography; Conservation Science; Global Change

My research seeks to understand patterns and drivers of freshwater biodiversity at different spatial scales. I was trained as a freshwater ecologist, investigating diversity patterns and community assembly processes of stream macroinvertebrates in the Hengduan Mountains, Southwest China. Later, I moved to Europe and began focusing on freshwater megafauna (i.e., freshwater animals with a maximum reported body mass ≥ 30 kg, including river dolphins, beavers, hippos, sturgeons, salmonids, catfishes, crocodylians, turtles, and giant salamanders). I am particularly interested in the ecological impacts of these large animals and their responses to environmental change. My research also includes strong foci on interactions and cultural links between people and freshwater biodiversity, as well as the potential of megafauna for improving freshwater conservation and ecosystem restoration. 

My research is interdisciplinary and combines biogeography, community ecology, invasion biology, and conservation science. I enjoy collaborating with researchers from diverse scientific and cultural backgrounds. I am always on the lookout for exciting collaborations where I can contribute my knowledge and learn new skills.

2015 – 2019         Ph.D. in River Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany & Queen Mary University of London, UK

2012 – 2015         M.Sc. in Hydrobiology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

2008 – 2012         B.Sc. in Biotechnology, Central China Normal University, China

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, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany & Aarhus University, Denmark

2019 – 2022         Postdoc, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany

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. WIREs: 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. WIREs: 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.