Yali Si
Assistant Professor
- Name
- Dr. Y. Si
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 2727
- y.si@cml.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0001-7107-9850
Yali Si is an ecologist who tries to 1) understand spatiotemporal ecological patterns and processes, 2) quantify the environmental mechanisms and global change impact on bird distribution, movement and diversity, ecosystem functioning, and disease patterns, and 3) develop sustainable measures to safeguard wildlife and human development.
More information about Yali Si
News
PhD candidates
Professional experience
Yali quantifies spatiotemporal ecological patterns and processes using multidisciplinary methodologies including mathematic modelling, spatial analysis and statistics, Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing, and biologging. She received her BA in Land Resources Management at Henan Agricultural University, China and her MSc in Geo-information for Natural Resources and Environment Management at the International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC, University of Twente), The Netherlands.
She completed her PhD in Global Change and Spatial Ecology in 2011 at Twente and Wageningen University. After that, Yali worked as a lecturer, assistant professor, and associate professor in the Department of Earth System Science at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Since 2021, she works as an assistant professor in the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) at Leiden University.
She investigates the environmental mechanisms of the spatiotemporal bird distribution, migration, and biodiversity patterns, ecosystem functioning and disease patterns, and the impact of human activities including climate and land use change on these patterns and processes.
Research topic
Yali explores three main research lines:
- Global change impacts on bird distribution and movement. Yali develops evidence-based methodological frameworks and combines the use of field observation, modelling, and geospatial technologies including satellite tracking to understand these patterns and processes to best conserve wildlife.
- Biodiversity conservation in human-dominated landscapes. Yali quantifies the environmental drivers and landscape change impacts on spatiotemporal bird diversity and ecosystem stability and determines how to best manage the environment to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
- Spatial epidemiology of infectious and non-communicable diseases. Yali investigates the environmental risk of spatiotemporal disease occurrence, maps the disease risk, and develops measures to maintain a healthy environment and support sustainable development.
Teaching
Yali teaches courses for Biology students: Ecosystem Ecology (bachelor) and Orientation on Biodiversity and Sustainability (master). She also teaches a bachelor course for Urban Studies: Sustainable City: Biodiversity in the city. At Tsinghua University, she taught a master course for Ecology students: Geospatial Analysis and Ecological Applications.
For an overview of the publications of Yali's work before CML, please follow this link.
Assistant Professor
- Science
- Centrum voor Milieuwetenschappen Leiden
- CML/Environmental Biology
- Wei J., Xu F., Cole E.F., Sheldon B.C., Boer W.F. de, Wielstra B.M., 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.
- Zhang L., Wan X., Shi R., Gong P. & Si Y. (2022), Comparing spatial patterns of 11 common cancers in Mainland China, BMC Public Health 22: 1551.
- Hou S., Yang R., Cao Y., Zhao Z., Peng Q., Wang H. & Si Y. (2022), A framework for identifying bird conservation priority areas in croplands at national level, Journal of Environmental Management 324: 116330.
- Zhang T., Tian B., Sengupta D., Zhang L. & Si Y. (2021), Global offshore wind turbine dataset, Scientific Data 8(1): 191.
- 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.
- Xu Y., Kieboom M., Lammeren R.J. van, Si Y. & Boer W.F. de (2021), Indicators of site loss from a migration network: anthropogenic factors influence waterfowl movement patterns at stopover sites, Global Ecology and Conservation 25: e01435.
- Yin S., Xu Y., Batbayar N., Takekawa Y.J., Si Y., Prosser J.D., Newman H.S., Prins H.T.H. & Boer F.W. de (2021), Do contrasting patterns of migration movements and disease outbreaks between congeneric waterfowl species reflect differing immunity?, Geospatial Health 16(1): 909.
- Si. Y., Xu F., Wei J., Zhang L., Murray N., Yang R., Ma K. & Gong P. (2021), A systematic network-based migratory bird monitoring and protection system is needed in China, Science Bulletin 66(10): 955-957.
- Si Y., Wei J., Wu W., Zhang W., Hou L., Yu L. & Wielstra B.M. (2020), Reducing human pressure on farmland could rescue China’s declining wintering geese, Movement Ecology 8: 35.
- Yin S., Knegt H.J. de, Jong M.C.M. de, Si Y., Prins H.H.T., Huang Z.Y.X. & Boer W.F. de (2020), Effects of migration network configuration and migration synchrony on infection prevalence in geese, Journal of Theoretical Biology 502: 110315.
- Huang Z.Y.X., Xu C., Langevelde F. van, Ma Y.Y., Langendoen T., Mundkur T., Si Y., Tian H.Y., Kraus R.H.S., Gilbert M., Han G.Z., Ji X., Prins H.H.T. & Boer W.F. de (2019), Contrasting effects of host species and phylogenetic diversity on the occurrence of HPAI H5N1 in European wild birds, Journal of Animal Ecology 88(7): 1044-1053.
- Lv Z., Yang J., Wielstra B., Wei J., Xu F. & Si Y. (2019), Prioritizing Green Spaces for Biodiversity Conservation in Beijing Based on Habitat Network Connectivity, Sustainability 11(7): 2042.
- Wielstra B., Canestrelli D., Cvijanovic M., Denoel M., Fijarczyk A., Jablonski D., Liana M., Naumov B., Olgun K., Pabijan M., Pezzarossa A., Popgeorgiev G., Salvi D., Si Y., Sillero N., Sotiropoulos K., Zielinski P. & Babik W. (2018), The distributions of the six species constituting the smooth newt species complex (Lissotriton vulgaris sensu lato and L. montandoni) – an addition to the New Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles of Europe, Amphibia-Reptilia 39(2): 252-259.
- Si Y., Xu Y.J., Xu F., Li X.Y., Zhang W.Y., Wielstra B.M., Wei J., Liu G.H., Luo H., Takekawa J., Balachandran S., Zhang T., De Boer W.F., Prins H.H.T. & Gong P. (2018), Spring migration patterns, habitat use, and stopover site protection status for two declining waterfowl species wintering in China as revealed by satellite tracking, Ecology and Evolution 8(12): 6280-6289.
- Xu Y.J., Gong P., Wielstra B.M. & Si Y. (2016), Southward autumn migration of waterfowl facilitates cross-continental transmission of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus, Scientific Reports 6: 30262.