Prof. Shi Zuomin has long been engaged in research on forest ecosystem restoration, plant physiological and ecological response to stress, and sustainable forest management, including forest succession and degraded forest restoration, ecosystem function enhancement, physiological and ecological response and adaptation of plants to climate change. His research has yielded important findings on the physiological and ecological responses and adaptation mechanisms of subalpine plants to climate change in western Sichuan. Moreover, he has elucidated the changing pattern of ecosystem structure and function during the restoration of degraded natural forests and constructed technical models for the restoration and reconstruction of degraded natural forests in the subalpine region of western Sichuan, which provides scientific and technological supports for the restoration of degraded natural forests in the southwestern forest region. He also carried out research on the changes in plant species diversity during forest restoration, the quantitative classification and ordering of plant communities, and the ecological niche characteristics and interspecific connectivity of deciduous broad-leaved forest populations in warm temperate zone. In addition, he has paid attention to tropical montane rainforests and has revealed the effects of functional diversity characteristics, species richness and diameter class of canopy species on the evaluation of community phylogenetic structure, as well as the phylogenetic signals and correlations of some functional traits of canopy trees and their evolutionary patterns in tropical montane rainforests. The relevant studies and findings contribute to the understanding of forest biodiversity maintenance mechanisms and provide scientific guidance for the restoration of tropical montane rainforests and warm-temperate forests. He has presided over or participated in a number of scientific research projects, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Key Research and Development Program of China, and the Fundamental Research Funds of Chinese Academy of Forestry. He has been awarded two second prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, one first and one third prizes of Liang Xi Forestry Science and Technology Progress Award, one second prize of the Science and Technology Progress Award by Sichuan Province, one first and two third prizes of the Science and Technology Progress Award by Sichuan Province, one third prize of the Science and Technology Progress Award by Beijing City, and the first prize of Liang Xi Youth Thesis Award. He has published more than 170 papers in peer review journalsof which over 30 papers are published in SCI journals.
Chen Miao, Shi Zuomin*, Liu Shun, Xu Gexi, Cao Xiangwen, Chen Jian, et al. 2023. Leaf functional traits have more contributions than climate to the variations of leaf stable carbon isotope of different plant functional types on the eastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. Science of the Total Environment, 871: 162036.
Li Feifan, Shi Zuomin*, Liu Shun, Xu Gexi, Zhang Miaomiao, Cao Xiangwen, et al. 2023. Soil properties and plant diversity co-regulate ecosystem multifunctionality of subalpine primary dark coniferous forest on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Plant and Soil, 493: 207-219
Xing Hongshuang, Shi Zuomin*, Liu Shun, Chen Miao, Xu Gexi, Cao Xiangwen, et al. 2023. Leaf traits divergence and correlations of woody plants among the three plant functional types on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Frontiers in Plant Science, 14: 1128227.
Cao Xiangwen, Shi Zuomin*, Chen Jian, Liu Shun, Zhang Miaomiao, Chen Miao, et al. 2023. Carbon and nutrient limitations of soil microbial metabolism in Quercus aquifolioides forest ecosystems along a precipitation gradient on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Plant and Soil, 488: 291-304.
Liu Shun, Xu Gexi, Chen Huanhuan, Zhang Miaomiao, Cao Xiangwen, Shi Zuomin*, et.al. 2023. Contrasting responses of soil microbial biomass and extracellular enzyme activity along an elevation gradient on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Frontiers in Microbiology, 14: 974316.
Cao Xiangwen, Shi Zuomin*, Chen Jian, Liu Shun, Zhang Miaomiao, Chen Miao, et al. 2022. Extracellular enzyme characteristics and microbial metabolic limitation in soil of subalpine forest ecosystems on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Plant and Soil, 479: 337-353.
Xu Gexi, Chen Huanhuan, Shi Zuomin*, Liu Shun, Cao Xiangwen, Zhang Miaomiao, et al. 2021. Mycorrhizal and rhizospheric fungal community assembly differs during subalpine forest restoration on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Plant and Soil, 458: 245-259.
Liu Shun, Luo Da, Cheng Ruimei, Wu Jiamei, Yang Hongguo, Shi Zuomin*. 2021. Temporal variability in soil net nitrogen mineralization among forest regeneration patterns in eastern Tibetan Plateau. Ecological Indicators, 128: 107811.
Wu Jiamei, Shi Zuomin*, Liu Shun, Centritto Mauro, Cao Xiangwen, Zhang Miaomiao, et al. 2020. Photosynthetic capacity of male and female Hippophae rhamnoides plants along an elevation gradient in eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Tree Physiology, 41: 76-88.
Liu Shun, Luo Da, Cheng Ruimei, Yang Hongguo, Wu Jiamei, and Shi Zuomin*. 2020. Soil-atmosphere exchange of greenhouse gases from typical subalpine forests on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Effects of forest regeneration patterns. Land Degradation & Development, 31(15): 2019-2032.
