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Macro-Eco-Evolution of biodiversity changes
How have niche evolutionary history and environmental variability shaped global bird diversity?
Presidential Postdoctoral Research
Mentors: Dr. Elise Zipkin and Dr. Fredrick Janzen
How have niche filling dynamics shape functional vulnerability of tropical and subtropical forest mammals?
Collaborators: Wei-Hao Lee, Dr. Daniel Gorczynski, and Dr. Lydia Beaudrot
Historical legacies shape continental variations in mammal food webs.
Our findings reveal striking continental differences in both vertical and horizontal food web properties: Neotropical food webs bear strong imprints of megafauna extinction, while Afrotropical webs retain predators with greater dietary breadth due to megafaunal persistence. By integrating ecological, evolutionary, and paleogeographic perspectives, this study uncovers how historical legacies and contemporary environmental variability shape macroecological patterns of contemporary mammal food webs across continents.
Hsieh et al. (2026) PNAS [link]
Divergent evolution histories shape phylogenetic and functional structures between tropical mammals and birds.
Harnessing pan-tropical camera trap data, this study reveals that tropical mammal and bird communities are assembled through distinct eco-evolutionary processes, reflecting different histories and responses to environmental change. Even within the same ecosystems, mammals and birds don't follow the same "rules" of community formation, highlighting that biodiversity patterns depend on lineage-specific histories and sensitive rather than a signal universal processes.
Hsieh et al. (2024) Global Ecology and Evolution [link]
Anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity distribution
Urban area as a strong abiotic filter on shaping functional structure of birds
How does urbanization reorganize multiple aspects of avian diversity through ecological and reproductive traits? By integrating global eBird data with urban landscape maps, we found that urban areas act as strong filters, shaping both avian species richness and functional structure.
Collaborators: Dr. Mao-Ning Tuanmu and Yu Tsai-Chen
Beta-diversity of breeding birds along environmental gradients in Taiwan
Unraveling the spatial patterns of turnover and nestedness in breeding bird communities along environmental gradients of climate, elevation, and anthropogenic disturbance using long-term Breeding Bird Survey data in Taiwan.
Collaborator: Dr. Mao-Ning Tuanmu
Homogenized plant–soil linkages constrain carbon cycling in urban green spaces
Urban parks and green spaces are widely known for their environmental benefits in mitigating climate change, yet how we manage them may be quietly undermining their potential. This study reveals a surprising finding: trees in city parks do not necessarily store more carbon in the soil than grass. In fact, the opposite was observed. By regularly clearing fallen leaves, the natural connection between plants, soil organisms, and microbes that keep soils healthy and carbon-rich can be intruptted. These findings highlight that rethinking routine maintenance practices is key to unlocking the full environmental potential of urban green spaces.
Hsieh et al. (2026) Urban Ecosystems [link]
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