What drives species distributions, movement, biodiversity patterns, and disease dynamics across space and time in a changing world? I explore ecological patterns and processes using quantitative and geospatial approaches, including mathematic modelling, spatial analysis and statistics, Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), and biologging. My goal is to understand how ecological systems respond to global environmental change and develop evidence-based strategies for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
Keywords
Birds, spatial ecology, landscape ecology, movement ecology, climate change, geospatial analysis, biologging
Researchinterest
- Migratory birds in a changing world
- Biodiversity conservation in heterogeneous landscapes
- Spatial ecology of disease dynamics
How do climate and land-cover changes shape habitat use, phenology, and population dynamics of migratory birds?
How do environmental heterogeneity and human activities shape species distributions, movement ecology, and biodiversity patterns?
What drives the spatiotemporal dynamics of disease occurrence and transmission?
Keypublications
- Gent, J., van Bodegom, P. M., & Si, Y. (2026). A conceptual framework for the temporal dynamics of spatial environmental heterogeneity–biodiversity relationships. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Volume 14 - 2026. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2026.1731666
- van der Velden, G., Kranstauber, B., Haarsma, A.-J., Janssen, R., van Horssen, M., Halfwerk, W., van Meurs, A., Bom, C., Schrama, M., & Si, Y. (2026). To rest or to roam: Functional habitat use of an insectivorous bat species during active and resting behavior. Biological Conservation, 111823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.111823
- Hu, J., Veldhuis, M., de Snoo, G. R., & Si, Y. (2026). Nonlinear patterns dominate vegetation heterogeneity changes across spatial scales. Journal of Plant Ecology, rtag154. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtag154
- Xu, F., Wu, W., Wei, J., Xin, Q., Wielstra, B., Sorte, F. A. L., Ma, Z., Lei, G., Lei, J., Wu, W., Yang, Y., Gong, P., Xu, B., & Si, Y. (2024). Migratory herbivorous waterfowl track multiple resource waves during spring migration. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 20241448. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.1448
- Wei, J., Xu, F., Cole, E. F., Sheldon, B. C., de Boer, W. F., Wielstra, B., Fu, H., Gong, P., & Si, Y. (2024). Spatially heterogeneous shifts in vegetation phenology induced by climate change threaten the integrity of the avian migration network. Global Change Biology, 30(1), e17148. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17148
- Gao, B., Gong, P., Zhang, W., Yang, J., & Si, Y. (2021). Multiscale effects of habitat and surrounding matrices on waterbird diversity in the Yangtze River Floodplain. Landscape Ecology, 36, 179–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01131-4
In themedia
Read the article on The Conversation Migratory birds are on the move and nature‑friendly farms can help them on their way
