Hengxing Zou
@hengxingzou.bsky.social
88 followers 100 following 14 posts
IGCB Postdoc Fellow at UMich SEAS. PhD Rice University. UChicago alum. Made in Beijing, China. hengxingzou.github.io
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hengxingzou.bsky.social
First postdoc paper just dropped! Using 50 years of Breeding Bird Survey data, we found that the unexpected functional shifts of bird communities in North America do not track species-level expectations, and these unexpected shifts can be explained by just 5% of “hyper-dominant” species.
biorxiv-ecology.bsky.social
Hyper-dominant species drive unexpected functional shifts in North American birds https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.23.666479v1
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
alemtzb.bsky.social
I'm looking for 1-2 PhD/Master's students to start in my lab in the fall of 2026.

Are you interested in studying plant interactions, species coexistence or community recovery after disturbance in arid environments? Details below!

Email me with questions and please share widely!!
🌱🌾🌵🏜️
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
changyuchang.bsky.social
Excited to share that I’ll be starting my research group in Nov 2025 at the Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica in Taipei🎉

We study how eco & evo rules govern complex systems layered by hosts🌱& symbionts🦠 & mobile genes🧬

Recruiting soon at all levels!
🔗 chang-yu-chang.github.io/changlab/
Laboratory of Microbial Symbiosis, Ecology, and Evolution
chang-yu-chang.github.io
hengxingzou.bsky.social
Their calls never stop to confuse me into looking for a bird
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
danielbolnick.bsky.social
NSF unexpectedly changed (at the last minute) who is eligible to apply for the Grad Research Fellowship, dropping 2nd year students. We started a petition to reverse this unfair change, Sign here:
laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
and please spread the word!!!!
Petition to NSF to Restore Eligibility for the 2026 Graduate Research Fellowship Program Competition
laurenkuehne.github.io
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
cintylee.bsky.social
One of the most important and magical shorebird stopover sites in the country is the Bolivar Flats Bird Sanctuary in Texas. It is currently under threat from development and we are in a race to save it. houstonaudubon.org/conservation...
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
scottpegan.bsky.social
The Dept. of BioSciences at #RiceUniversity, in Houston, Texas, invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in Evolutionary Biology, with a preferred focus on organismal responses to environmental change. Please RT!

Apply: apply.interfolio.com/173889
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
volkerrudolf.bsky.social
Awesome faculty position alert! Tenure-track assistant professor position in Evolutionary Biology, with a focus on organismal responses to environmental change.

Please help spread the word!
apply.interfolio.com/173889
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
volkerrudolf.bsky.social
How variable are temperature effects on species interactions within a local community? Find out in our new paper led by @zoeyneale.bsky.social
"Thermal responses of feeding rates differ across co‐occurring predator species" esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
pamherd.bsky.social
Nearly all PhDs take 5 years--with finishing in 4 a rare outcome. This is deliberately designed to eliminate the international powerhouse that is US postgraduate training.
crampell.bsky.social
Trump admin planning to change student visas from lasting for duration of academic program to fixed 4-yr term, and then much harder to renew
Could destroy US ability to attract global talent, particularly those seeking advanced degrees in STEM. The median time to complete a PhD is 5.7 yrs per NSF.
Trump Deals A New Immigration Blow To International Students
Trump officials have proposed a new rule limiting international students to fixed periods of entry, making a U.S. education more precarious.
www.forbes.com
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
jacoblevine.bsky.social
Thrilled to announce that next year I will be joining @DukeBiology as an assistant professor!

I am excited to recruit postdocs and PhD students to start as early as Fall 2026. If you are interested in plant community dynamics, global change, and/or wildfire, please see details below.
hengxingzou.bsky.social
Meanwhile the quarter system: hold my beer
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
cfarrior.bsky.social
At #ESA2025? Check out my student Xinyi Yan's new theoretical work on plant-soil feedbacks and species coexistence!

"Microbial competition for plant resources leads to multi-stability in plant coexistence outcomes"
Wednesday at 2:45 in BCC 342 (CO2 112)
hengxingzou.bsky.social
And I’ll present this work at @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social #ESA2025 on Tuesday, 4:30pm! Come to COS 065. Spoiler alert: it’s all about the geese!
hengxingzou.bsky.social
First postdoc paper just dropped! Using 50 years of Breeding Bird Survey data, we found that the unexpected functional shifts of bird communities in North America do not track species-level expectations, and these unexpected shifts can be explained by just 5% of “hyper-dominant” species.
biorxiv-ecology.bsky.social
Hyper-dominant species drive unexpected functional shifts in North American birds https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.23.666479v1
hengxingzou.bsky.social
First postdoc paper just dropped! Using 50 years of Breeding Bird Survey data, we found that the unexpected functional shifts of bird communities in North America do not track species-level expectations, and these unexpected shifts can be explained by just 5% of “hyper-dominant” species.
biorxiv-ecology.bsky.social
Hyper-dominant species drive unexpected functional shifts in North American birds https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.23.666479v1
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
efricke.bsky.social
Our new study shows how animal biodiversity loss is a climate problem: tropical forests recover far less carbon where seed dispersers have declined.

We’re not just losing forests – we’re losing their ability to regrow.

Reversing that trend could align biodiversity recovery with climate solutions.🧵
Seed dispersal disruption limits tropical forest regrowth | PNAS
Identifying linkages between biodiversity loss and climate change is required for understanding the scope of these interconnected challenges and de...
www.pnas.org
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
theogibbs.bsky.social
Happy to share a new preprint! W/ @zachgold.bsky.social, Haylee Oyler, Jonathan Levine and @nathanjbkraft.bsky.social. We use a spatially explicit experimental design to ask:

do higher-order interactions structure the dynamics of annual plant communities?

Link: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🧵
(A) A conceptual diagram of interspecific and intraspecific higher-order interactions among annual plants. (B) Conceptual diagrams (along with pictures of actual annual plants) of two different spatial arrangements of competitors to manipulate the relative frequecy of inter to intraspecific higher-order interactions.
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
asanchezlab.bsky.social
How may theoretical ecology & evolutionary theory push microbiology forward?
At Environmental Microbiology, I am commissioning a series of Perspectives exploring that question. Excited to share them in the 🧵 below
The series is open, so do get in touch if you'd like to propose a new contribution!
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
theogibbs.bsky.social
New paper w/ Jonathan Levine and @exp-evoeco.bsky.social! We induced plastic responses in annual plants through early-life competition. These responses tended to make subsequent species interactions stronger and coexistence less likely.
Link: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
(A) Conceptual diagram of how early-season competition induces plastic responses in focal plants. (B) Species interactions are measured across a density gradient of resident competitors with no induction, with induction from individuals of the focal species or from the resident species.
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
yyachung.bsky.social
I am where I am now because of OPT. That was my status all throughout my postdoc. It is basically the only way international students are able to transition to employment and contribute their US-trained skills in the United States.
mclem.org
They're terminating OPT.

Today the nominee to head USCIS stated directly: he will end Optional Practical Training, the single largest channel for high-skill immigrants to work in the US.

6 weeks ago I warned about this & summarized the research on impacts of this drastic action—> @piie.com
Skilled immigration on the chopping block? Effects of eliminating "Optional Practical Training" in the US
The White House has taken numerous steps to sharply reduce the number of immigrant workers, with or without legal status, in the US economy. These policies, so far, typically target immigrants with le...
www.piie.com
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
jmoutouama.bsky.social
Excited to share our paper in @pnas.org with Aldo Compagnoni and Tom Miller !
Climate change may push dioecious plants toward female-biased sex ratios which will impair seed production. Ignoring this feedback underestimates range shifts. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Forecasting range shifts of dioecious plants under climate change | PNAS
Global climate change has triggered an urgent need for predicting the reorganization of Earth’s biodiversity. For dioecious species (those with sep...
www.pnas.org
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
afredston.bsky.social
what is it REALLY like to be a #speciesonthemove? @mwtingley.bsky.social, @mhcneateclegg.bsky.social, Luke Evans, Brett Scheffers, an incredible team of co-authors, and I took a deep dive into this question.

we argue that thermal gradients are all around us—in space and time...
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
volkerrudolf.bsky.social
Job opportunity! Excited to share that we have an opening for a research technician position to help with our research on phenological shifts & species interactions in amphibian communities. (please help spread the word!)
More details here:
emdz.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
Research Technician II
Dr. Volker Rudolf’s research groups in the Department of BioSciences are looking to hire a Research Technician II in the field of biology/ecology. The ideal candidate will be comfortable working outdo...
emdz.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com
Reposted by Hengxing Zou
volkerrudolf.bsky.social
We're super excited to introduce a new article category for @asn-amnat.bsky.social: Inspiring perspectives. In a nutshell, we want these articles to spark lively scientific debates that will inspire future research directions in biology. More info here: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
Introducing a New Article Type for The American Naturalist | The American Naturalist
www.journals.uchicago.edu