About

Xiao Feng is an Assistant Professor at the UNC Department of Biology. He is a quantitative ecologist and biogeographer, with research interests focused on macroecological patterns such as biogeography and biodiversity, as well as emerging environmental issues under global change. His research primarily utilizes statistical models and computational informatics to address ecological and biogeographic questions across broad spatial scales. The goal of his work is to provide a scientific basis for biodiversity conservation and land management in the context of global change.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Ecology
• Biology
• Environmental science
• Data science
• World Wide Web
• Geography
• Environmental resource management
• Agroforestry
• Database

Selected publications

• Ceratocranus Fujinuma & Hayashi 2025

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-05-18

  articleOpen access

  Ceratocranus Fujinuma & Hayashi, 2025 Ceratocranus Fujinuma & Hayashi, 2025: 330. Type species. Stenocranus agamopsyche Kirkaldy, 1906 Diagnosis. Vertex distinctly projected beyond eyes, about 1.7 × as long as wide; anterior margin angulate; lateral margins subparallel; carinae distinctly ridged except median carina obsolete; submedian carinae meeting on fastigium. Rostrum distinctly exceeding mesocoxae. Antennae terete; segment I slightly longer than wide; segment II about 4.3–4.5 × as long as wide. Metatibiae with two lateral spines. Hind legs with spinulation: tibial apex with 5 (2 + 3) spinules, basitarsus with 7 (2 + 5) spinules, second tarsomere with 5 spinules. Post-tibial spur cultrate, tectiform, shorter than basitarsus, with about 14–20 teeth on posterior margin. Male genitalia: Pygofer rectangular in lateral view, higher than wide of ventral margin, strongly produced caudad in dorsal half of caudal margin; oval in caudal view, higher than wide; diaphragm broad, without armature. Suspensorium rectangular in anterior view, with small protrusion on left dorsal part. Genital styles sinuate in lateral view, forceps-shaped in ventrocaudal view, very broad; basal angles relatively long. Aedeagus very slender, sinuate. Phallobase broad in lateral view, terminating into two downcurved processes; opening for aedeagus on right side. Anal tube rectangular in lateral view; ventral margin bearing one pair of processes. Female genitalia: Pygofer nearly as long as gonoplacs in ventral view, distinctly broader than gonoplacs. Gonocoxae VIII narrow in ventral view, mostly subparallel. Gonapophyses VIII slender in ventral view, nearly smooth on lateroapical parts. Gonapophyses IX relatively broad in dorsal view; dorsal margin with trapezoidal teeth in apical 1 / 3, small concavity before the teeth. Gonoplacs slender in ventral view, mostly subparallel (Fujinuma and Hayashi 2025). Distribution. Australian, Oriental and Palearctic regions.

  PublisherDOI

• Data and code from: The multifaceted effects of anthropogenic and climatic factors on ecological networks

  DRYAD · 2026-05-03

  datasetOpen access

  Aim: Biotic interactions, such as pollination, seed dispersal, and parasitism, are key for biodiversity and ecosystem function. Ecological networks quantify the structure of biotic interactions providing a framework to evaluate their spatial dynamics under global change. While climate and human influence are important predictors of network structure, we hypothesize that the effects rely on the interaction type and the organisms involved. It remains unknown whether different types of ecological networks such as mutualistic (plant-pollinator, seed-dispersal) and antagonistic (host-parasite) respond similarly to anthropogenic pressures and climate. Addressing this gap is critical to understand how ecological communities are reshaped under global change. We aim to test whether mutualistic and antagonistic networks exhibit consistent or divergent structural responses to human impact and environmental variation. Location: Global. Time period: 1967-2020 Major taxa studied: Animalia, Plantae. Methods: We compiled 383 mutualistic and antagonistic ecological networks worldwide and characterized their structure with connectance, nestedness, modularity, and specialization metrics. We compiled temporally matched anthropogenic and climatic factors, and used linear mixed effects models to assess the influence of these factors on network structure. Results: Climate was the primary driver of ecological network structures for plant-pollinator and host-parasite networks, but exerted a negligible influence on seed-dispersal networks. Conversely, the association with anthropogenic factors varied significantly depending on the interaction type and the taxa involved. Bird-mediated networks were highly sensitive to human impacts, exhibiting increased nestedness in seed-dispersal networks and decreased modularity and specialization in plant-pollinator networks. Insect-driven pollination networks also responded to human pressures, showing a significant increase in connectance. In contrast, mammal-dispersed and host-parasite networks showed limited structural responses to anthropogenic factors. Main conclusions: The overarching structure of ecological networks is mainly determined by climate, excepting seed-dispersal. Meanwhile, the influence of human impact on network structures depends on the taxa involved, with bird- and insect-driven networks having stronger associations with anthropogenic factors than mammal-related networks.

  PublisherDOI

• Strong Enhancement of g-Factor in PbTe–Pb Hybrid Nanowires

  Nano Letters · 2026-04-01

  article

  We report large Landé g-factors observed in PbTe-Pb hybrid nanowires. The g-factor can reach 83, significantly larger than those in bare PbTe nanowires (typically below 20). We attribute this enhancement to orbital effects in the superconducting film, particularly when the magnetic field is nearly perpendicular to the Pb film. This enhancement is beneficial for the search for topological superconductivity by reducing the critical magnetic field required for the phase transition.

  PublisherDOI

• Keys to the global treeline formation: Thermal limit for its position and moisture for the taxon-specific variation.

  UNC Libraries · 2026-05-07

  articleOpen access

  Alpine treeline is a prominent biogeographic feature worldwide, determined by the physiological limit of tree life form. There are considerable variations in the various dimensions of physiological limit among tree taxa; thus, varied environmental drivers and spatial patterns are expected for different tree taxa at treelines. However, such taxonomic variability of treeline is often overlooked in large-scale studies. Here, we assembled, to our knowledge, the most comprehensive dataset of tree species at alpine treelines, drawing from research conducted over the past half-century, encompassing over 2,000 records across 38 mountain regions and 43 countries. Using this extensive global dataset, we examined the spatial patterns and environmental drivers shaping different tree taxa at treelines worldwide. The highest tree richness at treelines was found in mid-latitude mountains of the Northern Hemisphere, reflecting floristic differentiation caused by continental isolation. Moisture and climatic variability, particularly seasonal fluctuations, determine the turnover of tree taxa at treelines. Heat limitations appear to restrict the establishment of all genera, effectively defining treeline positions. Heat conditions at treeline positions tend to be about 35% below the genus- and species- level thermal optima. This thermal threshold can effectively explain the global pattern of uppermost tree elevation. Our findings highlight the synergic effects between heat and moisture in determining the taxonomic variation in treeline formation, offering insights for alpine treeline studies under climate change.

  PublisherDOI

• Code sharing in ecology and evolution increases citation rates but remains uncommon.

  UNC Libraries · 2026-04-08

  articleOpen access

  Biologists increasingly rely on computer code to collect and analyze their data, reinforcing the importance of published code for transparency, reproducibility, training, and a basis for further work. Here, we conduct a literature review estimating temporal trends in code sharing in ecology and evolution publications since 2010, and test for an influence of code sharing on citation rate. We find that code is rarely published (only 6% of papers), with little improvement over time. We also found there may be incentives to publish code: Publications that share code have tended to be low-impact initially, but accumulate citations faster, compensating for this deficit. Studies that additionally meet other Open Science criteria, open-access publication, or data sharing, have still higher citation rates, with publications meeting all three criteria (code sharing, data sharing, and open access publication) tending to have the most citations and highest rate of citation accumulation.

  PublisherDOI

• Ceratocranus Fujinuma & Hayashi 2025

  Open MIND · 2026-05-18

  articleOpen access

  Ceratocranus Fujinuma & Hayashi, 2025 Ceratocranus Fujinuma & Hayashi, 2025: 330. Type species. Stenocranus agamopsyche Kirkaldy, 1906 Diagnosis. Vertex distinctly projected beyond eyes, about 1.7 × as long as wide; anterior margin angulate; lateral margins subparallel; carinae distinctly ridged except median carina obsolete; submedian carinae meeting on fastigium. Rostrum distinctly exceeding mesocoxae. Antennae terete; segment I slightly longer than wide; segment II about 4.3–4.5 × as long as wide. Metatibiae with two lateral spines. Hind legs with spinulation: tibial apex with 5 (2 + 3) spinules, basitarsus with 7 (2 + 5) spinules, second tarsomere with 5 spinules. Post-tibial spur cultrate, tectiform, shorter than basitarsus, with about 14–20 teeth on posterior margin. Male genitalia: Pygofer rectangular in lateral view, higher than wide of ventral margin, strongly produced caudad in dorsal half of caudal margin; oval in caudal view, higher than wide; diaphragm broad, without armature. Suspensorium rectangular in anterior view, with small protrusion on left dorsal part. Genital styles sinuate in lateral view, forceps-shaped in ventrocaudal view, very broad; basal angles relatively long. Aedeagus very slender, sinuate. Phallobase broad in lateral view, terminating into two downcurved processes; opening for aedeagus on right side. Anal tube rectangular in lateral view; ventral margin bearing one pair of processes. Female genitalia: Pygofer nearly as long as gonoplacs in ventral view, distinctly broader than gonoplacs. Gonocoxae VIII narrow in ventral view, mostly subparallel. Gonapophyses VIII slender in ventral view, nearly smooth on lateroapical parts. Gonapophyses IX relatively broad in dorsal view; dorsal margin with trapezoidal teeth in apical 1 / 3, small concavity before the teeth. Gonoplacs slender in ventral view, mostly subparallel (Fujinuma and Hayashi 2025). Distribution. Australian, Oriental and Palearctic regions.

  PublisherDOI

• Comment on egusphere-2026-747

  2026-04-11

  peer-reviewOpen access

  <strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> In the last decade, the conceptual framework that characterizes soil organic carbon (SOC) into particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) fractions has gained traction in studies of C dynamics. This SOC characterization is useful for developing empirical studies and for parsimonious model parameterizations. However, rigorous testing of model structures incorporating the POC-MAOC framework is still lacking, in particular tests involving simultaneous measurements of C pool changes and respiration fluxes. We conducted an incubation experiment using control and litter-addition treatments, measuring changes in SOC fraction contents and respiration fluxes throughout the incubation. Then, we applied an inverse modelling approach to compare the performance of 2-pool (POC-MAOC) and 3-pool models (which also included a faster-cycling litter C pool) to reproduce the observed data. We then calculated the C ages and transit times to explore the predicted C persistence. Finally, we performed simulations to evaluate the effects of different model structures and parameterizations on SOC persistence. For both treatments, we observed that 2-pool models were unable to simultaneously reproduce the changes in C pool contents and respiration, while the 3-pool models adequately predicted both variables and yielded lower C ages and transit times. The fact that 3-pool models outperformed 2-pool models even for control soils, indicates that POC represents a heterogeneous pool that should be modelled as distinct compartments. We discuss that 2-pool models collapse POC dynamics operating at different timescales into a single one, failing to capture the different respiration phases and the gradual C pool changes. In contrast, 3-pool models distributed C processes operating at different timescales among compartments: the litter C pool captured faster-cycling dynamics, allowing POC and MAOC to better represent intermediate- and long-term dynamics, respectively. We also found that both model structure and changes in key parameters affected C persistence estimations. Models that included shorter pathways to MAOC, or allowed faster transfers into more persistent pools, predicted higher C age and transit time. This study highlights the limitations of representing SOC dynamics exclusively through POC and MAOC and shows how model structure shapes SOC contents and persistence estimates. Rather than advocating a specific model configuration, our results suggest that SOC models should explicitly represent processes operating across multiple timescales, which, depending on the ecosystem context, may require incorporating additional C compartments beyond the POC-MAOC framework. Furthermore, as transfer rates play a key role in determining SOC persistence, it is important to better understand and quantify how C is transferred toward MAOC and how these processes can be represented in models.

  PublisherDOI

• The Multifaceted Effects of Anthropogenic and Climatic Factors on Ecological Networks

  Global Ecology and Biogeography · 2026-05-01

  articleSenior author

  ABSTRACT Aim Biotic interactions, such as pollination, seed dispersal, and parasitism, are key for biodiversity and ecosystem function. Ecological networks quantify the structure of biotic interactions, providing a framework to evaluate their spatial dynamics under global change. While climate and human influence are important predictors of network structure, we hypothesize that such effects depend on the interaction type and the organisms involved. It remains unknown whether different types of ecological networks such as mutualistic (plant‐pollinator, seed‐dispersal) and antagonistic (host–parasite) respond similarly to anthropogenic pressures and climate. Addressing this gap is critical to understand how ecological communities are reshaped under global change. We aim to test whether mutualistic and antagonistic networks exhibit consistent or divergent structural responses to human impact and climatic conditions. Location Global. Time Period 1967–2020. Major Taxa Studied Animalia, Plantae. Methods We compiled 383 mutualistic and antagonistic ecological networks worldwide and characterized their structure with connectance, nestedness, modularity and specialization metrics. We compiled temporally matched anthropogenic and climatic factors and used linear mixed effects models to assess the influence of these factors on network structure. Results Climate was the primary driver of ecological network structures for plant‐pollinator and host–parasite networks, but exerted a negligible influence on seed‐dispersal networks. Conversely, the relationships with anthropogenic factors varied significantly depending on the interaction type and the taxa involved. Bird‐mediated networks were highly sensitive to human impacts, exhibiting increased nestedness in seed‐dispersal networks and decreased modularity and specialization in plant‐pollinator networks. Insect‐driven pollination networks also responded to human impacts, showing a significant increase in connectance. In contrast, mammal‐dispersed and host–parasite networks showed limited structural responses to anthropogenic factors. Main Conclusions The overarching structure of ecological networks is mainly determined by climate, excepting seed‐dispersal. Meanwhile, the influence of human impact on network structures depends on the taxa involved, with bird‐ and insect‐driven networks having stronger associations with anthropogenic factors than mammal‐dispersed and host‐parasite networks.

  PublisherDOI

• Using large language models to address the bottleneck of georeferencing natural history collections

  Nature Plants · 2025-12-05 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Seasonal dynamics of hiking activities in mountainous areas: a topography-aware sequential network modeling approach using crowdsourced trajectories

  International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation · 2025-07-15

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  • Dynamic changes in hiking activity patterns in the China’s central mountain. • Sequential hiking network keeps topological consistency on crowdsourced trajectory. • Topography-aware stay point detection based on Tobler’s Hiking Function. • Key hubs/paths and community evolution revealed through complex network analysis. • Insights for sustainable tourism and ecological management in mountainous regions. The growing popularity of hiking has intensified the interaction between urban areas and wilderness landscapes, highlighting the need for spatially-explicit models to quantify trail usage dynamics and alleviate ecological pressures in mountainous regions. This study investigates spatiotemporal hiking patterns in China’s Qinling Mountains (2020–2023) using crowdsourced GPS trajectories collected from outdoor sports Apps. The paper proposes a topography-aware sequential network model that accounts for terrain resistance and incorporates behaviorally significant feature points, enabling detailed analysis of seasonal dynamics in hiker movement patterns on informal trails in mountainous areas. Based on the network, the complex network analyses, we identify hiking hotspots, core hubs and critical paths, reveal the popular routes within network communities, and reconstruct the evolution of these communities over time. Key findings include: (1) three elevation-specific activity zones (at 1000 m, 2000 m, and 3500 m), (2) a significant increase in short-distance hiking activities. (3) 62 % of trails being used exclusively in a single season, and (4) summer networks showing superior connectivity. The discussion highlights strategies to balance ecological conservation with hiking tourism development, including key path management, regulation of seasonal visitor flows, and evidence-based planning for transportation infrastructure. These findings offer actionable insights for sustainable tourism, contributing to GIS-driven frameworks that promote human-nature coexistence in mountain ecosystems.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Monica Papeş

  National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis

  63 shared

• Huijie Qiao

  59 shared

• A. Townsend Peterson

  University of Kansas

  54 shared

• Gengping Zhu

  50 shared

• Luis E. Escobar

  Virginia Tech

  50 shared

• Jorge Soberón

  University of Kansas

  49 shared

• Brian J. Enquist

  Santa Fe Institute

  42 shared

• Daniel Park

  Purdue University West Lafayette

  31 shared

Labs

• Xiao Feng LabPI

  Not provided