Li Feng

• PhD
• Professor at Chinese Academy of Sciences

Irrational land use has triggered many serious ecological problems worldwide, especially in regions where human–land conflicts are prominent. However, the driving mechanisms at different spatiotemporal scales vary and have not been addressed in detail. This study explored the variations of land use and landscape patterns from 1990 to 2020 in the Do...

Background and aims The intensification of climate change and increases in dam construction have altered the inherent hydrological rhythms of river-connected lakes and led to the formation of a new feature of lake sediment known as sediment hardening. However, changes in sediment characteristics caused by sediment hardening and their potential effe...

Dongting Lake and the lakes surrounding it are spatially relatively independent, yet they form an inseparable integrated system for waterbirds. Understanding the changes in waterbird distribution pattern in Dongting Lake and surrounding lakes is important for waterbird conservation and management. Based on six surveys during the winter period of wa...

Introduction Freshwater ecosystems are susceptible to invasion by alien macrophytes due to their connectivity and various plant dispersal vectors. These ecosystems often experience anthropogenic nutrient enrichment, favouring invasive species that efficiently exploit these resources. Propagule pressure (reflecting the quantity of introduced individ...

With considerable carbon sequestration potential, lakes are active channels of terrestrial carbon cycle. As the second largest freshwater lake in China, Dongting Lake has huge annual water level fluctuations (12–14 m), and the unique hydrological situation is a major challenge and of significance to the study of the carbon and water cycle processes...

The operation of the Three Gorges Project (TGP) has influenced the wetland ecosystems downstream, thereby affecting the distribution of habitats suitable for waterbirds. However, dynamic studies on habitat distribution under different water regimes are lacking. Here, using data from three successive wintering periods representing three typical wate...

To explore the effects of different water levels on competition of submerged plants, we selected the canopy submerged plant Potamogeton malaianus Miq. and the erect submerged plant Hydrilla verticillata (L. f.) Royle as study materials. Four water level gradients (25, 50, 75, 100 cm) were chosen to simulate the hydrological environment of shallow d...

Aim Multiple mineral elements in leaf are the foundation of plant life and regulate many ecosystem functions. However, whether a common mechanism governs the variations of all leaf mineral elements is still unknown. Location Global. Time period 1970–2020. 10. Major taxa studied: Plants. Methods Here, we demonstrate the global‐scale biogeographic...

Hunan Province launched the second "Three-year Action Plan" for protection and treatment of Xiangjiang River from 2016 to 2018. However, restoration effect on water quality of Xiangjiang River and key factors were not entirely clear. In this study, daily water quality monitoring data from 26 water quality monitoring stations in the main stream and...

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Both seed and bud banks play important roles in the recruitment and maintenance of macrophyte communities; however, few studies have investigated them simultaneously. We investigated the abundance, species composition, and seasonal patterns of seed and bud banks in two dominant macrophyte communities, Carex and Miscanthus, in the Dongting Lake wetl...

Many ecosystems are now co‐invaded by alien plant and herbivore species. The evolutionary naivety of native plants to alien herbivores can make the plants more susceptible to the detrimental effects of herbivory than co‐occurring invasive plants, in accordance with the apparent competition hypothesis. Moreover, the invasional meltdown hypothesis pr...

Context Submerged macrophytes develop great phenotypic plasticity responding to light stress. However, the light effects on carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry of submerged macrophytes are unknown. Aims To determine the stoichiometric response of Myriophyllum spicatum and Vallisneria natans to a light gradient. Methods We de...

Hydrological regimes can combine with climatic factors to affect plant phenology; however, few studies have attempted to quantify their complex influences on plant phenology in floodplain wetlands. We obtained phenological information on Carex vegetation through MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data during 2001-2020, and monthly...

Dongting Lake, an important wintering habitat for migratory waterbirds in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, has suffered serious degradation in recent decades. To restore habitats for biodiversity conservation and flood control, 459 dykes were demolished and 14 were preserved in 2017. However, the direct impact of dyke demolition on wintering wat...

The negative effects, caused by high light, on algae, terrestrial and marine aquatic plants are well documented, those negative effects on freshwater submerged plants are, however, not well known. We determined the negative effects of two common submerged species, Myriophyllum spicatum and Vallisneria natans, on their growth and reproduction in a s...

Changes in flood regimes, floodwater quality, and macrophyte types may affect sediment characteristics post-flooding. However, few studies have attempted to unravel their complex influences in floodplain wetlands. From 2011 to 2020, the physical and chemical properties of surface layer sediment pre- and post-flooding was investigated through field...

Litter carbon is the main source of the surface soil organic carbon pool (S-SOCP). However, the impact of changes in the hydrological environment of natural wetlands on litter input to S-SOCP remains unclear. In the present study, the effects of hydrological changes (soil water content [SWC] and days of flooding [DF]) on the litter decomposition pr...

Background The effects of biodiversity on community function and services are frequently studied in the history of ecology, while the response of individual species to biodiversity remains great elusive. In this study, we determined the biodiversity effects on community productivity as well as species level plant mass and carbon (C) and nitrogen (N...

Waterbird responses to habitat changes are of great concern in ecology. Dongting Lake is the second-largest freshwater lake in China, and its vast wetland area provides an important wintering habitat for migratory waterbirds of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. However, lake reclamation and illegal human-made dykes have degraded the Dongting Lake...

Catchments support the survival and development of humans in a region and investigating the mechanism of land-use changes and ecological responses in catchments is of great significance for improving watershed ecological service functions. Taking the Dongting Lake catchment as the study area, this study used spatial analysis, an ecosystem service v...

The hydrological conditions of river-connected lakes are complex primarily owing to their considerable water-level fluctuations (WLFs). Water quality in such lakes varies with hydrodynamic variations; however, their relationship is not clear. To identify the unique relationship between water level and water quality in river-connected lakes, we used...

Water quality is essential for lake systems, which are not only influenced by climate change and human activities but are also controlled by high-frequency hydrological rhythms. However, the differences in water quality during different hydrological periods have not been addressed in detail. Here, a 15-year water quality dataset (2004–2018) was sel...

Human-mediated introduction of plant and animal species into biogeographic ranges where they did not occur before has been so pervasive globally that many ecosystems are now co-invaded by multiple alien plant and animal species. Although empirical evidence of invaders modifying recipient ecosystems to the benefit of other aliens is accumulating, th...

Phenological mismatches between migratory birds and food availability driven by global warming have been found to influence the fitness and population dynamics of several herbivorous goose species in Arctic breeding sites. However, the effect of phenological mismatches at wintering sites have been inadequately studied. We used long-term data to exp...

Spatial and quantitative assessments of water yield services in watershed ecosystems are necessary for water resource management and improved water ecological protection. In this study, we used the InVEST model to estimate regional water yield in the Dongjiang Lake Basin in China. Moreover, we designed six scenarios to explore the impacts of climat...

In lacustrine wetlands connected to rivers, the changes in flood regimes caused by hydrological projects lead to changes in the community traits of dominant macrophytes and, consequently, influence the structure and function of wetland vegetation. However, community trait responses of macrophytes to the timing and duration of flood disturbance have...

The surface shortwave radiation budget (Rsn) is one of the main drivers of Earth's ecosystems and varies with atmospheric and surface conditions. Land use and cover change (LUCC) alters radiation through biogeophysical effects. However, due to the complex interactions between atmospheric and surface factors, it is very challenging to quantify the s...

Maintaining optimal ecological security in Dongting Lake Basin is of great significance to national projects of Yangtze River Economic Belt Construction and Yangtze River Protection. Ecological quality and the potential associated affecting factors are important contents of ecological security in Dongting Lake Basin. In this research, remote sensin...

Wetland restoration is an effective way to recover degraded wetlands worldwide. The Dongting Lake wetland, an important wintering habitat for waterbirds, has suffered considerable degradation due to climate change and human disturbance during the last two decades; however, wetland restoration projects have now been implemented to improve waterbird...

Litter decomposition plays a vital role in wetland carbon cycling. However, the contribution of aboveground litter decomposition to the wetland soil organic carbon (SOC) pool has not yet been quantified. Here, we conducted a Carex brevicuspis leaf litter input experiment to clarify the intrinsic factors controlling litter decomposition and quantify...

Lake water pollution has caused many serious ecological issues globally. An emerging public concern over water quality deterioration in lakes has heightened the need to evaluate the water quality of lakes at long-term scales, particularly for those with high hydrological alterations. This study combines the Mann–Kendall (M–K) test and self-organisi...

Identifying the spatiotemporal characteristics of water quality and related driving factors is essential for lake water quality management. To further understand the unique relationship between hydrological conditions and water quality in river-connected lakes, we analysed the spatiotemporal variations of water quality and hydrological factors in D...

Methane (CH4) emission and environmental controls of CH4-cycling microorganisms are unclear in inland floodplains. Here, we examined soil CH4 emissions and the community composition of CH4-cycling microorganisms under three vegetation types—mudflat (MF, no vegetation cover), Carex meadow (CM, mainly Carex brevicuspis), and reed land (RL, mainly Mis...

Litter decomposition plays a vital role in wetland carbon cycling. However, the contribution of aboveground litter decomposition to the wetland soil organic carbon (SOC) pool has not yet been quantified. Here, we conducted a Carex brevicuspis leaf litter input experiment to clarify the intrinsic factors controlling litter decomposition and quantify...

The growth rate hypothesis (GRH) states that a negative correlation exists between the growth rate and N:P and C:P ratios, because fast-growing organisms need relatively more phosphorus-rich RNA to support their high rates of protein synthesis. However, it is still uncertain whether the GRH is applicable in freshwater wetlands. Several studies have...

The bud bank plays an important role in the regeneration of clonal plants after disturbance. However, specific effects of clipping disturbance on the bud bank and population characteristics of clonal plants remain unclear. Here, no-clipping (CK), low-intensity continuous clipping (LCC), and high-intensity single clipping (HSC) were tested on Triarr...

East Dongting Lake is a Ramsar site and a particularly important wintering ground for herbivorous geese along the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway. The operation of the Three Gorges Dam has changed the water regime and has a significant impact on wetland ecosystems downstream. We studied the responses of two sympatric herbivorous goose species, the L...

Aims Plant community assembly in wetlands usually change with elevation gradients, which may be due to the direct effect of flooding and indirect effects such as changes in soil properties and competition. However, the respective importance of each factor remains to be investigated. Methods We investigated patterns of plant diversity, community bio...

Despite extensive studies on how environmental factors influence plant nutrient distribution and stoichiometry, it remains unclear how elevation affects soil distribution and stoichiometry. Here, patterns of the spatial distribution and stoichiometry of soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) were studied (with 123 soil samples) along a sm...

In species that occur over a wide range of flooding conditions, plant populations may have evolved divergent strategies as a consequence of long-term adaptation to local flooding conditions. In the present study, we investigated the effects of a flooding gradient on the growth and carbohydrate reserves of Polygonum hydropiper plants originating fro...

Phosphorus (P) enrichment as a result of anthropogenic activities can potentially alter plant C:N:P stoichiometry. However, the influence of different P enrichment frequencies on plant C:N:P stoichiometry in P-limited ecosystems is still unclear. In this study, we conducted a P-addition experiment to elucidate the effect of various P enrichment fre...

Dongting Lake is the second largest freshwater lake in China and is one of the globally important wintering sites for migratory waterbirds in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. Crucial sites and environmental variables for wintering migratory waterbirds are of great concern in the Dongting Lake wetlands. In this research, based on annual (2003/200...

Wetlands play a critical role in mitigating carbon emission. However, little is known about soil carbon emission and their environmental controls from inland floodplain wetlands. This study aimed to determine the effects of hydrologic and edaphic controllers (water table depth [WTD], soil temperature [Ts], and soil water content [SWC]) on soil C em...

Loss of submerged vegetation has become one of the most serious ecological issues in shallow lakes worldwide. However, there is limited understanding of the effect of vegetation loss on sediment nitrogen (N) cycling processes and microbial communities, which are closely linked to the N removal function of aquatic ecosystems. Here we investigated th...

Water regime is regarded as the primary factor influencing the vegetation distribution in natural wetland ecosystems. However, the effect of water regime change induced by large-scale hydraulic engineering on vegetation distribution is still unclear. In this study, multi-temporal TM/ETM+/OLI images and hydrological data from 1995 to 2015 were used...

In aquatic ecosystems, sedimentation is an important factor that affects plant growth, mainly due to sediment depth. Clonal morphological plasticity is an effective strategy in clonal plants for acclimatization to sediment burial. To date, few studies have examined growth responses to sedimentation on the clonal plants at the ramet population level...

According to the stress gradient hypothesis, competition intensity decreases or changes to facilitation with increasing environmental stress. However, the role of water level and nutrient heterogeneity in influencing plant-plant competition is far from clear. Relative yield total, relative yield, total N (TN) and total P (TP) contents, and N∶P rati...

Plant nutrient stoichiometry is affected by both environmental factors and plant physiological processes. However, we know little about how elevation gradients and seasonality combine with soil physicochemical properties to influence nutrient stoichiometry. In this study, we examined these factors in the wetland plant Carex brevicuspis in Dongting...

Sediment nitrification plays a vital role in nitrogen (N) biogeochemical cycling and ecological function of an aquatic ecosystem. The relative importance of environmental factors and nitrifying microbial communities in regulating sediment nitrification process has received less attention, especially in aquatic habitats where high N loads are freque...

Both litter composition and site environment are important factors influencing litter decomposition, but their relative roles in driving spatial variation in litter decomposition among wetlands remain unclear. The responses of mass loss and nutrient dynamics to site environment and litter source were investigated in Carex brevicuspis leaves from th...

Clonal plants producing both clumping and spreading ramets can adjust their growth forms in response to resource heterogeneity or environmental stress. They might produce clumping ramets to retain favorable patches, or produce spreading ramets to escape from stress-affected patches. This study aimed to investigate the rarely reported concurrent eff...

We examined foliar nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry of 3 wetland plants (Phalaris arundinacea, Miscanthus sacchariflorus, and Carex brevicuspis) distributed along an elevation gradient in the Dongting Lake, China, and how this stoichiometry is related to soil physico-chemical characteristics, elevation, and flooding days. Plant and soi...

The concentrations and ratios of plant carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) are powerful indicators of various ecological processes. The effect of elevation on the ecological stoichiometric characteristics of plants is presently unclear. Here, we examined the C:N:P ratios of the wetland sedge, Carex brevicuspis, along a small-scale elevatio...

Soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry greatly affects plant community succession and structure. However, few studies have examined the soil stoichiometric changes in different vegetation communities of freshwater wetland ecosystems along an elevation gradient distribution. In the present study, soil nutrient concentrations...

Sediment accretion (burial) and nutrient enrichment occur concurrently in lacustrine wetlands, but the role of these two aspects of sedimentation on macrophyte performance has rarely been examined. Here, we investigated the concurrent effects of sediment accretion and nutrient enrichment on the growth and propagation of Phalaris arundinacea L. usin...

p>Clonal plants are prevalent in wetlands and play important roles in maintaining the functions of the ecosystem. In the present study, we determined the effect of clone sizes (R1, R2, and R3 comprising 1, 3, and 5clumping ramets) on the tolerance of Carex brevicuspis growing under 30-cm-deep water to three different periods (one, two, and three mo...

In wetlands, many invasive plants, especially submerged macrophytes, are propagated by vegetative fragments. Fragment colonization and growth, the first step of plant invasion, strongly depend on the species and environment. In this study, the influences of water depth and sediment type on fragment growth performance of Myriophyllum spicatum were e...

Water level, sediment heterogeneity, and plant density are important factors that determine plant growth, distribution, and community structure. In the present study, we investigated the effects of these factors on the growth and root characteristics of Carex brevicuspis. We conducted an outdoor experiment to monitor biomass accumulation and alloca...

Fragment colonization plays an important role in regulating the growth, reproduction, and expansion of submerged macrophytes. However, the influence of the interaction of fragment length and sediment heterogeneity on fragment colonization and growth is far from clear. Here, we investigated the effect of fragment length and sediment heterogeneity on...

In this study, the population distribution patterns and growing status of Triarrhena lutarioriparia along a gentle elevation gradient were analyzed based on an investigation of the fixed quadrat plot and a method of variance to mean ratio in a typical beach of Lake Dongting wetlands. The results indicated that (1) soil moisture content was signific...

Despite the predominant role of bud banks in the regeneration of clonal macrophyte populations, few studies have examined the way in which clonal macrophytes adjust the demographic features of bud banks to regulate population dynamics in response to defoliation in wetlands. We investigated the density and composition of bud banks under repeated def...

Water regime can be described by the depth, duration, frequency, and timing and predictability of flooded and dry phases. Despite growing recognition of the importance of water regimes in the regulation of plant growth and distribution, which components of water regimes that determine plant growth are not well known. To identify the causative compo...

Non-additive (synergistic or antagonistic) effect, a common phenomenon for the decomposition of mixed litter in nature, is usually regulated by litter quality and environmental factors. In this study, we investigated decomposition rates and nutrient (C, N, and P) dynamics in response to water availability in six litter treatments using plant materi...

Aquatic macrophytes play an important role in promoting sediment deposition. However, compared to submerged macrophytes, the influence of emergent macrophytes on sedimentation dynamics have been studied less often. In this study, a field experiment was conducted to compare the influence of three typical emergent macrophytes (Miscanthus sacchariflor...

The trade-off between allocation to sexual and clonal reproduction in clonal plants is influenced by a variety of environmental factors; however, it has rarely been examined under field conditions. In this study, we investigated the trade-off between two modes of reproduction in Carex brevicuspis C. B. Clarke across a small-scale elevational gradie...

Both water depth and litter quality are important factors influencing litter decomposition in wetlands, but the interactive role of these factors in regulating mass loss and nutrient dynamics is far from clear. The responses of mass loss and nutrient dynamics to simulated water depths and litter quality are investigated in leaves of Carex brevicusp...

Hydrological regime and edaphic factors may operate synergistically to influence plant distribution in wetlands. However, this phenomenon has rarely been examined in freshwater lacustrine wetlands in China. Here, we investigated plant species compositions, hydrological gradients, and soil variables in four dominant plant communities and examined th...

In this paper, the effect of plant density, sediment type, and macrophyte fragment size on the fragment colonization ability of Myriophyllum spicatum was evaluated in an outdoor experiment. The relative growth rate (RGR) was higher in the mud and low-density treatments than in the sand and high-density treatments. The relative elongation rate (RER)...

Both competition and burial are important factors that influence plant growth and structuring plant communities. Competition intensity may decline with increased burial stress. However, experimental evidence is scarce. The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of burial stress in influencing plant competition by investigating biomass accumula...

The demography of the bud bank and its sprouting capacity are important for understanding the population dynamics of clonal plants and their potential responses to disturbances. To this end, we investigated the size and composition of the bud bank of Miscanthus sacchariflorus (Maxim.) Hack. immediately after flooding (November), in winter (January)...

Seedlings and vegetative ramets may contribute differentially to the recruitment of clonal populations in different growth phases, but this has rarely been investigated. In this study, we quantified the number and survivorship of seedlings and vegetative ramets monthly in juvenile and mature populations of Carex brevicuspis. During the first growin...