Research Experience:

2011.6 - present: Associate professor, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China

2010.4 - 2011.4: Posdoctoral researcher, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Ume？, Sweden.Collaborator: Professor David A. Wardle

2007.7 - 2011.6: Assistant professor, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China;

Education:

2004.9 - 2007.7: PhD in Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;

2001.9 - 2004.7: Master's degree in Crop Cultivation and Farming System, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China;

1997.9 - 2001.7: BSc in Agronomy Science, Hebei Agricultral University, Baoding, China.

Zhanfeng Liu works as an associate professor of soil microbial ecology and restoration ecology. His research explores the biotic links between aboveground and belowground communities and their consequences for ecosystem functioning, with a particular focus on plant-microbe interaction. Much of his research is field based, and includes work in Swedish subarctic tundra, subtropical orchards and forests, and temperate steppes in China. Current projects focus on the response and adaption of soil microbial communities to global warming, plant-microbe interaction across vegetation restoration or successional chronosequence, the effects of different management practices on ecosystem carbon cycling and the ecological role of understory vegetation in forests.

• Membership of Youth Innovation Promotion Association, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2013-2016); 
• Top 10 outstanding papers of Ecosystem research network of Chinese Academy of Sciences (2011); 
• One hundred excellent papers in 30 years of Journal “Acta Ecologica Sinica”.

1. Wan SZ, Zhang CL, Chen YQ, Zhao J, Zhu XL, Wu JP, Zhou LX, Lin YB, Liu ZF*, Fu SL*. Interactive effects of understory removal and fertilization on soil respiration in subtropical Eucalyptus plantations. Journal of Plant Ecology, 2014, In Press.
2. Sundqvist MK#, Liu ZF#, Giesler R, Wardle DA. Plant and microbial responses to nitrogen and phosphorus addition across an elevational gradient in subarctic tundra. Ecology, 2014,95(7):1819-1835.
3. Chen H, Gurmesa GA, Liu L, Zhang T, Fu SL, Liu ZF, Dong SF, Ma C, Mo JM. Effects of litter manipulation on litter decomposition in a successful gradient of tropical forests in southern China. PLoS ONE, 2014, 9(6): e99018.
4. Wan SZ, Zhang CL, Chen YQ, Zhao J, Wang XL, Wu JP, Zhou LX, Lin YB, Liu ZF, Fu SL*. The understory fern Dicranopteris dichotoma facilitates the overstory Eucalyptus trees in subtropical plantations. Ecosphere, 2014, 5: art51.
5. Wu JP, Liu ZF*. Effects of Abiotic Factors on Forest Net Ecosystem Production.  Plant Science Journal, 2014, 32(1): 97-104. (In Chinese with English abstract)
6. Zhao J, Wan SZ, Zhang CL, Liu ZF, Zhou LX, Fu SL. Contributions of understory and/or overstory vegetations to soil microbial PLFA and nematode diversities in Eucalyptus monocultures. PLoS ONE, 2014, 9(1): e85513.
7. Wang J, Hui DF, Ren H, Liu ZF, Yang L. Effects of understory vegetation and litter on plant nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), N: P ratio and their relationships with growth rate of indigenous seedlings in subtropical plantations. PLoS ONE, 2013, 8(12): e84130.
8. Liu ZF, Lin YB, Lu HF, Ding MM, Tan YW, Xu SJ, Fu SL. Maintenance of a living understory enhances soil carbon sequestration in subtropical orchards. PLoS ONE, 2013, 8(10):e76950.
9. Wu JP^#, Liu ZF^#, Sun YX, Zhou LX, Lin YB, Fu SL. Introduced Eucalyptus urophylla plantations change the composition of the soil microbial community in subtropical China. Land Degradation and Development, 2013, 24: 400-406.
10. Wu JP, Liu ZF^*. Effects of biotic factors on net ecosystem production in forests: A review. Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 2013, 22: 535-540. (In Chinses with English abstract)
11. Zhang W, Zhu XM, Liu L, Fu SL, Chen H, Huang J, Lu XK, Liu ZF, Mo JM. Large difference of inhibitive effect of nitrogen deposition on soil methane oxidation between N-fixing tree species and non-N-fixing tree species. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeoscience, 2012, 116: G00N16. 
12. Shao YH, Zhang WX, Liu ZF, Sun YX, Chen DM, Wu JP, Zhou LX, Xia HP, Neher DA, Fu SL. Responses of soil microbial and nematode communities to aluminum toxicity in vegetated oil-shale-waste lands. Ecotoxicology, 2012, 21:2132-2142.
13. Zhao J, Wan SZ, Li ZA, Shao YH, Xu GL, Liu ZF, Zhou LX, Fu SL. Dicranopteris-dominated understory as major driver of intensive forest ecosystem in humid subtropical and tropical region. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2012, 49: 78-87.
14. Liu ZF, Wu JP, Zhou LX, Lin YB, Fu SL.Tree girdling effect on bacterial substrate utilization pattern depending on stand age and soil microclimate in Eucalyptus plantations. Applied Soil Ecology, 2012, 54: 7-13.
15. Liu ZF, Wu JP, Zhou LX, Lin YB, Fu SL. Effect of understory fern (Dicranopteris dichotoma) removal on substrate utilization pattern of culturable soil bacterial community in subtropical Eucalyptus plantations. Pedobiologia, 2012, 55: 7-13.
16. Wu JP^#, Liu ZF^#, Chen DM, Huang GM, Zhou LX, Fu SL. Understory plants can make substantial contributions to soil respiration: Evidence from two subtropical plantations. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2011, 43: 2355-2357.
17. Wu JP^#,Liu ZF^#, Wang XL, Sun YX, Zhou LX, Lin YB, Fu SL. Effect of understory removal and tree girdling on soil microbial community composition and litter decomposition in two Eucalyptus plantations in South China. Functional Ecology, 2011, 25: 921-931.
18. Liu ZF, Fu BJ, Zheng XX, Liu G. Plant biomass, soil water content and soil N:P ratio regulating soil microbial functional diversity in a temperate steppe: A regional scale study.Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2010, 42: 445-450.
19. Liu ZF, Liu GH, Fu BJ, Wu YQ, Hu HF, Fu SL. Changes of soil microbial community with a pine plantation restoration in dry valley of the upper reaches of Minjiang River, SW China. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2010, 1195: E82-E95.
20. Zheng XX, Liu GH, Fu BJ, Jin TT, Liu ZF. Effects of biodiversity and plant community composition on productivity in semiarid grasslands of Hulunbeir, Inner Mongolia, China. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2010, 1195: E52-E64.
21. Liu ZF, Liu GH, Fu BJ, Zheng XX. Relationship between plant species diversity and soil microbial functional diversity along a longitudinal gradient in temperate grasslands of Hulunbeir, Inner Mongolia, China. Ecological Research, 2008, 23: 511-518.
22. Liu GH, Liu ZF, Hu HF, Wu G, Dai LM. The impact of tourism on agriculture in the Lugu Lake Region. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, 2008,15: 3-9.
23. Liu ZF, Liu GH, Fu BJ, Hu HF, Zheng XX, Wu YQ. Dynamics of soil microbial biomass C, N along restoration chronosequences in pine plantations. Acta Ecologica Sinica,  2007, 27: 1011-1018. (In Chinses with English abstract)
24. Wu YQ, Liu GH, Fu BJ, Liu ZF, Hu HF. Comparing soil CO2 emission in pine plantation and oak shrub: dynamics and correlations. Ecological Research, 2006, 21: 840-848.
25. Liu ZF, Fu BJ, Liu GH, Zhu YG. Soil quality: concept, indicators and its assessment. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 2006, 26: 901-913. (In Chinses with English abstract)
26. Fu BJ, Zhao WW, Chen LD, Liu ZF, Lü YH. Eco-hydrological effects of landscape pattern change. Landscape and Ecological Engineering, 2005, 1: 25-32.