ZHANG Xiong

Associate Professor / Master's supervisor

Direction:Sustainability and restoration

Research Area:Sustainability and Restoration. Conservation science of globally and regionally critical species (e.g., sharks, seahorses, pangolins, leopard cats, etc.), including specific aspects such as geographic distribution and migration corridor prediction, ecological niches and their divergence, phenotypic plasticity and adaptive evolution, threat patterns, and conservation gaps.

Email: zhangx758@mail.sysu.edu.cn

Address: Room 1203B, Building 2, Medical Park, Shenzhen Campus, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 66 Guangming District, Shenzhen

Links: https://xiongzhang0130.wixsite.com/oceanmatters

Personal Profile  

Name: Zhang Xiong  

Gender: Male  

Email: zhangx758@mail.sysu.edu.cn  

Title: "Hundred Talents Program" Associate Professor  

Supervisor Type: Master’s Supervisor  

Education: Ph.D.  

Website: <https://xiongzhang0130.wixsite.com/oceanmatters>  

Research Direction  

Conservation science of globally and regionally critical species (e.g., sharks, seahorses, pangolins, leopard cats, etc.), including specific aspects such as geographic distribution and migration corridor prediction, ecological niches and their divergence, phenotypic plasticity and adaptive evolution, threat patterns, and conservation gaps.  

Education  

-2006/09–2010/07: Chongqing University, College of Resources and Environmental Science, Bachelor of Environmental Science  

-2010/09–2013/07: Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Master of Bioengineering  

-2013/09–2019/02: University of British Columbia, Canada, Project Seahorse Lab, Ph.D. in Zoology  

Work Experience  

-2021/05–Present: Sun Yat-sen University, School of Ecology, "Hundred Talents Program" Associate Professor, Master’s Supervisor  

-2021/02–2021/05: University of British Columbia, Canada, Project Seahorse Lab, Postdoctoral Researcher  

-2020/10–2021/01: University of British Columbia, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, Researcher for CITES Seahorse Trade Project  

-2019/02–2020/10: University of British Columbia, Department of Geography, Postdoctoral Researcher  

Academic Appointments

- IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) – Syngnathidae Expert Group – East Asia Regional Liaison Officer, 2020–Present  

- IUCN SSC – Syngnathidae Expert Group, 2017–Present  

- Review Expert for Marine Conservation Projects, Zhi Lan Foundation, 2017–Present  

- Peer Reviewer for SCI Journals including 《Conservation Biology》, 《Marine Life Science & Technology》, 《Diversity and Distributions》, 《Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries》  

Honors and Awards

-2021: Shenzhen High-Level Overseas Talent  

-2021: Invited Speaker, 4th World Syngnathidae Symposium  

-2018–2020: University of British Columbia Ocean Leaders Fellowship  

Funded Projects (PI unless noted) 

1. National Natural Science Foundation of China (Youth Program): Spatiotemporal Variation and Causes of Intraspecific Climate Niches in Global Large Sharks, No. 32303006, ¥300,000, 2024/01–2026/12, PI, Ongoing  

2. Field Behavior Analysis and Reintroduction of Chinese Pangolins in Dapeng Peninsula Nature Reserve, HT-99982024-0312, ¥800,000, 2024/06–2025/06, PI, Ongoing  

3. Supplementary Survey of Vertebrates in Nanling National Park, HT-99982023-0895, ¥200,000, 2023/10–2024/12, PI, Completed  

4. Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (General Program): Geographic Distribution and Abundance Modeling of Rare and Endangered Fish in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, No. 2022A1515010640, ¥100,000, 2022/01–2024/12, PI, Completed  

5. Population Survey and Conservation Measures Research for First-Class Protected Pangolins in Shenzhen, ¥500,000, 2024/06–2025/06, Co-PI, Ongoing  

6. Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Program: Key Resource Survey of Estuarine and Coastal Wetland Animals in the Greater Bay Area, ¥1,000,000, 2021/12–2024/12, Co-PI, Completed  

7. Shenzhen Wildlife Conservation Plan (2021–2035), ¥2,350,000, 2021/09–2024/09, Key Member, Ongoing  

8. Disney Conservation Fund: Social Survey and NGO Training for Seahorse Conservation in China, $24,900, 2017/01–2018/05, Key Member, Completed  

9. Disney Conservation Fund: Conservation Planning for Seahorse Populations in Southern China, $24,000, 2016/01–2016/12, Key Member, Completed  

10. Disney Conservation Fund: Survey and Distribution Patterns of Seahorse Populations along China’s Coast, $25,000, 2015/01–2015/12, Key Member, Completed  

Publications

See: [Xiong Zhang (ResearchGate)](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Xiong-Zhang-29)  

Representative Papers (corresponding author, †co-first author)  

  1. Chen Y, Guo Y, Li M, Zhang, X. *2025. Decadal population depletion, size class reduction, and range contraction of the giant yellow croaker in China: Implications for conservation and management[J]. Ocean & Coastal Management265: 107659.
  2. Huang, C.*, Rice, J., Richter, A.., Zhou, K., Wang, Y., Wei, C., Nunez, E., Malek, P., Zhang, X.*, Lee, T.*, Liu, Y.* 2024. Effects of technical bycatch-mitigation measures on marine vulnerable fauna and target catch. Nature Sustainability. DOI:10.1038/s41893-024-01422-7
  3. Li, M., Lee, T., Zhang, X. *2024. A framework to examine potential social influence of scientists and NGOs in marine conservation. Integrative Conservation. DOI:10.1002/inc3.59
  4. Zhang, X.*, YX. Hong, RZ. Yang, C. Li, XJ. Hu, L. Zhang.*,  YY. Wang. *2024. The Critically Endangered Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) surviving in the cracks under urbanization in Shenzhen. Global Ecology and Conservation. DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2024.e03046.
  5. Zhang, Y., Lian, P. and Zhang, X.*2024. Seasonal distribution patterns and conservation gaps of blue sharks in the Indo‐Western Pacific Ocean. Diversity and Distributions30(5), p.e13828.
  6. Zhang, X.*2022. Predicting global seasonal distributions and population exchange routes of a Critically Endangered shark. Biological Conservation275:109771.
  7. Zhang, X. *& A.C.J. Vincent. 2020. China’s policies on bottom trawl fisheries over seven decades (1949 – 2018). Marine Policy.
  8. Zhang, X.*& A.C.J. Vincent. 2019. Using cumulative-human-impact models to reveal threat patterns for seahorses (Hippocampus spp.). Conservation Biology33:1380-1391.
  9. Zhang, X.*& A.C.J. Vincent. 2019. Setting conservation and management priorities for seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) at large spatial scales. Biological Conservation235:79-88.
  10. Zhang, X.*& A.C.J. Vincent. 2018. Predicting distribution, habitat preferences and associated conservation implications for a genus of rare fishes, seahorses (Hippocampus spp.). Diversity and Distributions24:1005-1017.
  11. Zhang, X.*& A.C.J. Vincent. 2017. Integrating multiple datasets with species distribution models to inform conservation of the poorly-recorded Chinese seahorses. Biological Conservation 211:161-171. 

Other published papers

  • 董云伟, 鲍梦幻, 程娇, 陈义永, 杜建国, 高养春, 胡利莎, 李心诚, 刘春龙, 秦耿, 孙进, 王信, 杨光, 张崇良, 张雄, 张宇洋, 张志新, 战爱斌, 贺强, 孙军, 陈彬, 沙忠利, 林强. 2024. 中国海洋生物地理学研究进展和热点: 物种分布模型及其应用. 生物多样性32 (5): 23453. DOI: 10.17520/biods.2023453
  • 刘彩莲，张雄，樊恩源，王松林，姜艳，林柏岸，房璐，李玉强，刘乐彬，刘敏. 2023. 中国海域海马的物种多样性、生态特征及保护建议. 生物多样性32(1):1-15 
  • He, J., & Zhang, X. 2022. China Revamping Decades-Old Fisheries Law to Combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing: Stimulating the Intersection of Law, Technology, and Markets. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. DOI:10.3389/fevo.2022.777497.
  • Vaidyanathan, T., Zhang, X., Balakrishnan, R., & A.C.J. Vincent. 2021. Catch and trade bans for threatened species can be negated by non-selective fisheries. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3419.
  • Zhang, X., X. Gao, JW. Wang, WX. Cao. 2015. Extinction risk and conservation priority analyses for 64 endemic fishes in the Upper Yangtze River Basin, China. Environmental Biology of Fishes98:261-272.
  • 张雄, 刘飞, 林鹏程, 王剑伟 & 曹文宣. 2014. 金沙江下游鱼类栖息地评估和保护优先级研究. 长江流域资源与环境496–503.

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