Prof. Dr. Arshad Ali

Research Overview

My research investigates how complex interactions between above- (e.g., plants and animals) and below-ground (e.g., microbes and decomposers) biodiversity affect ecosystem functioning (e.g., productivity) across environmental conditions, and how they respond to global change. I am much interested in natural forest ecosystems but not limited to specific biome, thus happy to study agroforestry, plantations, grasslands, and mangroves (including aquatic ecosystems). I currently work in the less-explored and underrepresented regions (such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, and Iran) as well as well-explored regions of Asia (e.g., China) through regional and global collaborations to better understand the consequences of biodiversity loss on ecosystem functioning in less-explored regions. I am highly interested in to synthesize the global literature through metacommunity concepts, meta-analyses, and reviews. I am also interested in applied science (e.g., restoration ecology) by linking science, policy and practice to better formulate the consequences of global change on people and nature and their feedback.
Major Subjects: Ecology; Forestry; Biogeography; Interdisciplinary Environmental Sciences linking Climate Change with People and Nature

研究概述

主要领域：生态学、林业、生物地理学（将气候变化、人与自然联系起来的跨学科环境科学）
研究在不同环境条件下，生物多样性（包括地上和地下生物群落，如植物/动物/微生物群落）通过个体或群体以及不同性状之间复杂的相互作用，对生态系统功能所产生的影响，以及他们对全球气候变化的响应与反馈。本人对研究自然生态系统非常感兴趣，不拘泥于特定的生物群落，乐于研究农林混合生态系统、草原生态系统和红树林生态系统（也包括水生生态系统）等。本人目前在探索研究较少和代表性不足的地区（如斯里兰卡、巴基斯坦、尼泊尔和伊朗）以及亚洲区域有丰富研究经验的国家（如中国），通过全球学术协作，更好也更全面地了解生物多样性丧失对地区和国家（特别是以往研究匮乏的区域）生态系统功能的影响。本人对通过元群落（metacommunity）、元分析（meta-analyses）和述评来综合分析全球范围内的相关学术文献非常感兴趣。此外，本人还对应用科学（如生态修复工程）感兴趣，通过连接科学、政策和实践，更好地研究全球气候变化对人类和自然的影响，以及我们应该如何应对这种变化。