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Dr Tianhua He

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Dr Tianhua He
Position:
Research Assistant Professor, School of Plant Biology,
Univeristy of Western Austrlaia
Phone:
(+61 8) 9480 3642
Fax:
(+61 8) 9480 3641
Email:
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Research themes:

  • Dynamics and maintenance of biodiversity
  • Molecular and evolutionary ecology
  • Conservation and restoration genetics
  • Gene movement in plant populations
  • Origin and evolution of plant traits
  • Plant-animal interactionsm particularly between plant and seed dispersers

Academic background:

After graduating from Central China Agricultural University with a Bachelor Degree in Agriculture, I started my PhD study in 1995 in Peking University (Beijing, China), on the “Conservation Biology of Endangered Ophiopogon xylorrhizus (Liliaceae)". During this project, I investigated the ecological and genetic characteristics of this species, restricted to a few small populations, and suggested management options. I was awarded a PhD in 1999. From 1999 to 2001, I worked on a project funded by the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The research focused on the conservation genetics of rare dipterocarps in China.

In early 2002, I came to Australia to work with Prof. Byron Lamont (Curtin University), Professor Neal Enright (Melbourne University) and Dr. Siegy Krauss (Kings Park and Botanic Garden) on an ARC Discovery funded project. This project combines the traditional approaches of population demography with DNA fingerprinting (AFLP) for precise genotyping of individual plants and their seeds to quantify the realized inter-population dispersal of seeds, and how paternity of offspring changes over the lifespan of plants that retain their seeds for many years. The successful outcomes of this project led to a five-year ARC Discovery grant from 2005, which aims to quantify long-distance seed dispersal (LDD) and its role in the population dynamic behavior of woody plants with contrasting life history attributes including dispersal type, fire response and fecundity. A combination of polymorphic molecular markers (e.g. microsatellite DNA), plant demography and computer simulation modeling techniques were used to establish the role of LDD in plant species resilience to change in fire regime, climate and habitat availability.

Current project: While restoration has largely focused on the role of habitat, the evolutionary ecology of restored populations is a significant new issue of growing concern. The emerging recognition of “contemporary evolution” – observable evolutionary changes that occur within decades and even years - has seen an increase in the awareness of the need to consider evolutionary concepts into restoration. Moreover, under changing global weather patterns, it is particularly important to consider the effect of evolutionary processes on ‘building resilience’, which in itself is a key restoration aim. This ARC-funded linkage project, with supports from industrial partners, aims to investigate how evolutionary processes in a restored plant community impact on the success and resilience of restoration to future climatic and environmental changes. The project will develop a detailed understanding of key aspects of evolutionary ecology such as the role of genetic diversity, local adaptation and gene flow in restoring ecological function and self-maintaining communities. Through managing genetic diversity, local selection and gene flow in restored plant communities, this project will establish suitable regime(s) to manage contemporary evolutionary processes in large-scale restoration.

Refereed publications:

44. Merwin L. He T, Lamont BB. (2011) Phylogenetic structure in Banksia communities of southwestern Australia. Journal of Biogeography. (accept pending minor revision)

43. Gao J, He T, Li Q. (2011). Traditional homegardens for conservation – a case study of Acacia pennata in Xishuangbanna, SW China. Conservation Genetics. (accept pending revision)

42. He T. Lamont BB, Downs KS. (2011) Banksias born to burnt. New Phytologist. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03663.x

41. Zhao J. He T, Li Q. (2010) Contrasting genetic structure in coarse and fine scales among isolated relic populations of Kmeria septentrionalis. Genetica 138: 939–944.

40. He T, Lamont BB, Krauss SL Enright NJ. (2010) Landscape genetics of Banksia hookeriana in a metapopulation system. Annals of Botany 106: 457-466.

39. Merwin L, He T. Krauss. SL. (2010) Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite DNA markers for Banksia candolleana (Proteaceae). Conservation Genetics Resources 2: 345-347.

38. He T, Lamont BB. (2010) High microsatellite genetic diversity failed to predict greater population resistance capacity in response to extreme climate change. Conservation Genetics 11: 1445-1451.

37. He T, Lamont BB. (2010) Species versus genotypic diversity of a nitrogen-fixing plant functional group in a metacommunity. Population Ecology 52: 337-345.

36. He T, Lamont BB, Krauss SL, Enright NJ, Miller BP, Gove AD. (2009) Ants cannot account for inter-population dispersal of the arillate pea Daviesia triflora. New Phytologist 181: 725-733.

35. Krauss SL, He T, Barrett LG, Lamont BB, Miller BP, Enright NJ, Henley, ME. (2009) Contrasting impacts of pollen and seed dispersal on spatial genetic structure in a Banksia hookeriana population. Heredity 102: 274-285.

34. He T, Lamont BB, Krauss SL Enright NJ, Miller BP. (2009) Long-distance seed dispersal between populations of Banksia attenuata a fire-surviving species in Southwestern Australia. Ecography 32: 571-580.

33. Heliyanto B, He T, Lambers H, Veneklaas EJ, Krauss SL. (2009). Population size affects on progeny performance in Banksia ilicifolia R.Br (Proteaceae). Hayati Journal of Bioscience 16: 43-48.

32. He T, Lamont BB, Krauss SL, Enright NJ, Miller BP. (2008) Covariation between intraspecific genetic diversity and species diversity within a plant functional group. Journal of Ecology 96: 956–961.

31. Calviño-Cancela M, He T, Lamont BB (2008) Plant species distribution over the landscape and potential long-distance seed dispersal by emus and kangaroos. Diversity and Distribution 14: 11-17.

30. He T, Krauss SL, Lamont BB. (2008) Polymorphic microsatellite DNA marker for Banksia hookeriana. Molecular Ecology Resources 8: 1515-1517.

29. He T, Krauss SL, Lamont BB. (2008). Polymorphic microsatellite DNA marker for Daviesia triflora. Molecular Ecology Resources 8: 1475-1476.

28. He T, Lamont BB. (2008) Patchy plant distribution promotes invasion by exotics in south-western Australia. Ecological Management and Restoration 9: 77-79.

27. He T, Krauss SL, Lamont BB. (2007) Polymorphic microsatellite DNA marker for Banksia attenuata (Proteaceae). Molecular Ecology Notes 7: 1329-1331

26. Krauss SL, He T (2006) Rapid genetic identification of local provenance seed collection zones for ecological restoration and biodiversity conservation. Journal for Nature Conservation 14: 190-199

25. Jin Y, He T, Lu BR, (2006) Genetic spatial clustering: significant implications for conservation of wild soybean (Glycine soja: Fabaceae). Genetica 128: 41-49

24. Krauss SL, He T, Lamont BB, Miller BP, Enright NJ (2006) Late Quaternary climate change and spatial genetic structure in the shrub Banksia hookeriana. Molecular Ecology 15: 1125-1137

23. Barrett LG, He T, Lamont BB, Krauss SL. (2005) Genetic variation within the aerial seed bank of the shrub Banksia hookeriana (Proteaceae). Molecular Ecology 14: 4169-4179.

22. Qian J, He T, Song ZP, Lu BR. (2005) Genetic evaluation on in situ conservation of wild rice (Oryza rufipogon: Poaeceae) in China. Biochemical Genetics 43: 561-575.

21. Li QM, He T, Xu ZF (2005) Genetic evaluation of the efficiency of in situ and ex situ conservation of Parashorea chinensis (Dipterocarpaceae) in SW China. Biochemical Genetics 43: 387-406.

20. He T, Krauss SL, Lamont BB, Miller BP, Enright NJ (2004) Long distance dispersal in a metapopulation of Banksia hookeriana inferred by population allocation from AFLP data. Molecular Ecology 13: 1099-1109.

19. Li QM, He T, Xu ZF (2004) Identification of systematic position of Parashorea chinensis (Dipterocarpaceae) by ITS sequence. Taxon 53: 461-466.

18. Enright NJ, He T, Krauss SL, Lamont BB, Miller BP (2003) Genetic variation and biogeographic history in the restricted southwestern Australian shrub, Banksia hookeriana. Physical Geography 24: 358-377.

17. Jin Y, He T, Lu BR (2003) Fine scale genetic structure in wild soybean population (Glycine soja Sieb. et Zucc) and the implication for conservation. New Phytologist 159: 513-520.

16. Lamont BB, He T, Enright NJ, Krauss SL, Miller BP (2003) Anthropogenic disturbance promotes hybridization between Banksia species by altering their biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 16: 551-557.

15. He T, Smouse PE (2002) Paternity analysis in Ophiopogon xylorrhizus Wang et Tai (Liliaceae s.l.): selfing assuring reproductive success. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 15: 287-497

14. Li QM, Xu ZF, He T (2002) Ex situ genetic conservation of endangered Vatica guangxiensis from southwest China. Biological Conservation 106, 151-156.

13. Li QM, Xu ZF, He T (2002) The study of conservation genetics on endangered Vitica guangxiensis. Acta Botanica Sinica 44: 246-249

12. Zheng FQ, Zhang XP, Pan AF, He T (2002) Karyotypes and Karyotypical evolution in five Cycas species of China. Scientia Silvae Sinicae 38, 49-52.

11. He T, Rao GY, You RL et al. (2001) Genetic structure, heterozygosity variation between generations of Ophiopogon xylorrhizus (Liliaceae s.l.), an endemic species in Yunnan, SW China. Biochemical Genetics 39: 93-98.

10. Zhang DM, Shen XH, He T (2001) Analysis of paternity in a clonal seed orchard using allozyme. Acta Phytoecologia Sinica 25: 163-171.

9. He T, Ge S (2001) Mating system, paternity analysis and gene flow in plant population. Acta Phytoecologia Sinica 25: 143-153.

8. He T, Rao GY, You RL, Ge S, Zhang DM (2000) Genetic diversity of widespread Ophiopogon intermedius: A comparison with endangered O. xylorrhizus. Biological Conservation 96: 253-257.

7. He T, Rao GY, You RL, Zhang DM, Hong DY (2000) Spatial autocorrelation of genetic variability in three stands Ophiopogon xylorrhizus (Liliaceae s.l.). Annals of Botany 86: 113-121.

6. He T, Rao GY, You RL (2000) Reproductive biology of Ophiopogon xylorrhizus (Liliaceae), an endangered endemic of Yunnan, Southwest China. Australian Journal of Botany 48: 101-107.

5. He T, Rao GY, You RL, Zhang DM (1999) The spatial distribution pattern and seed dispersal mechanism for the population of Ophiopogon xylorrhizus, an endangered plant. Acta Phytoecologia Sinica 23: 181-186.

4. He T, Rao GY, You RL (1999) Study on conservation biology of endangered Ophiopogon xylorrhizus (Liliaceae s.l.) Proceedings of Natural Sciences 9: 874-879.

3. He T, Yang J, Rao GY (1999) Spatial Autocorrelation analysis of plant population genetic Variation. Chinese Bulletin of Botany 16, 636-641.

2. He T, Rao GY, You RL, Zhang DM (1998) Embryological studies on endangered Ophiopogon xylorrhizus. Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica 36: 305-309.

1. He T, Rao GY, You RL, Ge S (1998) Mating system of Ophiopogon xylorrhizus (Liliaceae), an endangered species in Southwest China. International Journal of Plant Sciences 159: 440-445.

Manuscripts submitted or in preparation (2011)

1.      Lamont BB, He T. Fire-prone floras date to the Upper Cretaceous when unconstrained by extinction or age of lineages. (Submitted to Proceeding of National Academy of Science).

2.      Lamont BB, He T, Downs KS. Evolution of functional traits in Protea: new approaches reveal a recent role for grasslands. (Submitted to Ecology Letters).

3.      Lamont BB, Enright NJ, He T. Perspectives on resprouting as a fire response. (Submitted to Plant Ecology).

4.      He T, Rokich D, Krauss SL, Dixon KW, Hobbs RJ. Evolutionary thinking in restoration under global environmental changes.

5.      He T, Genetic and ecological consequences of competition among three co-occurring banksias in mediterranean-type vegetation.

6.      Merwin L, He T, Krauss SL. Lamont BB, Enright NJ. Long distance seed dispersal in clonal Banksia candolleana.

7.      Deng XF, Wallace M, He T, Lamont BB. Somatic mutations and reproductive success in the long-lived shrub Banksia attenuata with implications for evolution of fire-prone floras.

 

Non-reviewed publication

1.     He, T., Lamont, B, Enright, N, Krauss, S., and Merwin, L. (2011) Migration potential as a new predictor of long-distance dispersal rate for plants. Nature Precedings.

 

Book Chapter

He T, Rao GY, You RL. (1999) Genetic structure and mating in endangered Ophiopogon xylorrhizus. In: Zu YG (ed) Theory, Approach and Application in Molecular Ecology. Tertiary Education Press, Beijing. Pp. 176-199.

 

Book translation

He T, Ge S (translators). (2002). Molecular Approaches to Ecology and Evolution. R. DeSalle and B. Schierwater (eds). Birkhäuser Verlag AG, Basel. 1998. pp. 364. ISBN 3 7643 5725 8

Unrefereed publications:

  • He TH & Krauss SL (2005) An assessment of genetic provenance in Acacia rostellifera and A. cochlearis on the Swan Coastal Plain. Report # 33 from the Genetics Laboratory, BGPA Science for BGPA.
  • He TH & Krauss SL (2005) Genetic Provenance Delineation of Banksia prionotes in Bold Park. Report # 27 from the Genetics Laboratory, BGPA Science, for BGPA.