Institute of Fisheries Science, NTU

Research Interests:

1. Ecosystem-based management of fishery resources under global climate change 
2. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in aquatic ecosystems
3. Long-term ecological research and water resource sustainability
4. Nonlinear time series analysis
5. Reconstruction of biological interaction network

Lab Research Introduction:

My research interest is to reconstruct causal relationships and interactions (e.g., competition and facilitation) between system-level building blocks (e.g. species diversity and productivity) from time series data. In natural systems, the system is highly complicated and usually composed of a large number of building block. For example, a food web is composed of numerous biological species; a protein interaction network in a single cell consists of tons of proteins. Various methods for analyzing these complex networks have been developed over the past two decades, but it remains a big challenge to reconstruct complex networks from observational data collected from natural systems. To tackle this issue, we applied nonlinear time series analysis to reconstruct the feedback regulation between algal species diversity and biomass in aquatic ecosystems. Our analyses revealed how this regulation affects the stability of aquatic systems and is affected by global warming. By developing new algorithms, we further reconstruct large, high-dimensional interaction networks consisting of hundreds basic units. We applied this novel algorithm to reconstruct interaction networks among numerous bacterial species in the natural environment. Such algorithms are now also used to analyze the interaction networks among multiple fishery stocks, which helps us to assess the ecological stability and resilience of fishery stock, provide effective risk assessment, and guide sustainable management.

SCI papers (*corresponding author)

1. Chang, C. W., S. Munch, C.  h. Hsieh*. (2022) Comments on identifying causal relationships in nonlinear dynamical systems via empirical mode decomposition. Nature Communications 13, 2860. (IF: 14.919; Rank: 4/72 in Multidisciplinary Science)

2. Chang, C. W., T. Miki, H. Ye, S. Souissi, R. Adrian, O. Anneville, H. Agasild, S. Ban, Y. Be'eri-Shlevin, Y. R. Chiang, H. Feuchtmayr, G. Gal, S. Ichise, M. Kagami, M. Kumagai, X. Liu, S. S. Matsuzaki, M. Manca, P. Nõges, R. Piscia, M. Rogora, F. K. Shiah, S. Thackeray, C. Widdicombe, J. T. Wu, T. Zohary, C. h. Hsieh*. (2022) Causal networks of phytoplankton diversity and biomass are modulated by environmental context. Nature Communications 13, 1140. (IF: 14.919; Rank: 4/72 in Multidisciplinary Science)

3. Chang, C. W., T. Miki, M. Ushio, P. J. Ke, H. P. Lu, F. K. Shiah, C. h. Hsieh*. (2021) Reconstructing large interaction networks from empirical time series data. Ecology Letters 24:2763–2774. (IF: 9.492; Rank: 8/166 in Ecology)

4. Chang, C. W., H. Ye, T. Miki, E. R. Deyle, S. Souissi, O. Anneville, R. Adrian, Y. R. Chiang, S. Ichise, M. Kumagai, S. S. Matsuzaki, F. K. Shiah, J. T. Wu, C. h. Hsieh*, G. Sugihara*. (2020) Long-term warming destabilizes aquatic ecosystems through weakening biodiversity-mediated causal networks. Global Change Biology 26(11): 6413-6423. (IF: 10.863; Rank: 9/274 in Environmental sciences and 1/60 in Biodiversity conservation)

5. Ho, P. C., C. W. Chang, F. K. Shiah, P. L. Wang, C. h. Hsieh, K. H. Andersen. (2020) Body size, light intensity and nutrient supply determine plankton stoichiometry in mixotrophic plankton food webs. American Naturalist 195(4):E100-E111. (IF: 3.926; Rank: 40/166 in Ecology)

6. Ye, L., C. W. Chang, S. S. Matsuzaki, N. Takamura, C. E. Widdicombe, C. h. Hsieh. (2019). Functional diversity promotes phytoplankton resource use efficiency. Journal of Ecology 107:2353-2363. (IF: 6.256; Rank: 15/166 in Ecology and 16/235 in Plant Sciences)

7. Anneville, O., C. W. Chang, G. Dur, S. Souissi, F. Rimet, C. h. Hsieh. (2019) The paradox of the re-oligotrophication: the role of bottom-up versus top-down controls on the phytoplankton community. Oikos 128:1666–1677. (IF: 3.903; Rank: 41/166 in Ecology)

8. Austria, E. S., C. W. Chang, K. W. Wang, J. S. Awingan, K. Y. Li, and F. K. Shiah. (2019). Vertical structure of heterotrophic bacterioplankton communities in the western Pacific Ocean. Philippine Journal of Science 148:155-165. (IF: 0.53)

9. Ushio M., C. h. Hsieh, R. Masuda, E. R. Deyle, H. Ye, C. W. Chang, G. Sugihara, M. Kondoh. (2018) Fluctuating interaction network and time-varying stability of a natural fish community. Nature 554:360-363. (IF: 49.962; Rank: 1/73 in multidisciplinary sciences)

10. Chang C. W.*, M. Ushio*, C. h. Hsieh*. (2017) Empirical dynamic modeling for beginners. Ecological Research 32:785–796. (IF: 1.917; Rank: 112/166 in Ecology; Citation: 120)

11. Itoh M., H. Kojima, P. C. Ho, C. W. Chang, T. Y. Chen, S. S. Y. Hsiao, Y. Kobayashi, M. Fujibayashi, S. J. Kao, C. h. Hsieh, M. Fukui, N. Okuda, T. Miki. F. K. Shiah. (2017) Integrating isotopic, microbial, and modeling approaches to understand methane dynamics in a frequently disturbed deep reservoir in Taiwan. Ecological Research 32:861–871. (IF: 1.917; Rank: 112/166 in Ecology)

12. Iwayama A., H. Ogura, Y. Hirama, C. W. Chang, C. h. Hsieh, M. Kagami. (2017) Phytoplankton species abundance in Lake Inba (Japan) from 1986 to 2016. Ecological Research 32:783. (IF: 1.917; Rank: 112/166 in Ecology)

13. Ho P. C., N. Okuda, T. Miki, M. Itoh, F. K. Shiah, C. W. Chang, S. S. Y. Hsiao, S. J. Kao, M. Fujibayashi, C. h. Hsieh. (2016) Summer profundal hypoxia determines the coupling of methanotrophic production and the pelagic food web in a subtropical reservoir. Freshwater Biology 61:1694-1706. (IF: 3.809; Rank: 9/112 in Marine & Freshwater Biology).

14. Chang C. W., T. Miki, F. K. Shiah, S. J. Kao, J. T. Wu, A. R. Sastri, C. h. Hsieh*. (2014) Linking secondary structure of individual size distributions with nonlinear size-trophic level relationship in food web. Ecology 95:897-909. (IF: 5.499; Rank: 22/166 in Ecology)

15. Chang C. W.*, F. K. Shiah, J. T. Wu, T. Miki, and C. h. Hsieh. (2014) The role of food availability and phytoplankton community dynamics in the seasonal succession of zooplankton community in a subtropical reservoir. Limnologica 46:131-138. (IF: 2.093; Rank: 8/21 in Limnology)

16. Tsai C. H., T. Miki, C. W. Chang, K. Ishikawa, S. Ichise, M. Kumagai, C. h. Hsieh. (2014) Phytoplankton functional group dynamics explain species abundance distribution in a directionally changing environment. Ecology 95:3335-3343. (IF: 5.499; Rank: 22/166 in Ecology)

17. Ho P. C., C. W. Chang, C. h. Hsieh, F. K. Shiah, T. Miki. (2013) Effects of increasing nutrient supply and omnivorous feeding on the size spectrum slope: a size-based nutrient-phytoplankton-zooplankton model. Population Ecology 55: 247-259. (IF: 2.100; Rank: 103/166 in Ecology)

18. Chang F. H., E. C. Marquis, C. W. Chang, G. C. Gong, C. h. Hsieh. (2013) Scaling of growth rate and mortality with size and its consequence on size spectra of natural microphytoplankton assemblages in the East China Sea. Biogeosciences 10:5267-5280. (IF: 4.295; Rank: 41/199 in Geoscience, Multidiscipline).