Yixiao Li

Doctor of Philosophy candidate

Landscape architecture

Biography

Yixiao Li is a PhD candidate at the Melbourne School of Design, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne. Her research interests include area-based biodiversity conservation, payment for ecosystem services (PES), and social-ecological system (SES). She primarily uses geographical information system (GIS), geographic artificial intelligence (GeoAI), and qualitative techniques to support conservation planning and decision-making.

Before commencing PhD, Yixiao completed an MSc in Landscape Architecture at Beijing Forestry University, including a joint Master’s program with the State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She graduated with Honours and received the Beijing Excellent Graduate Award.

Yixiao’s prior research spans urban biodiversity conservation, ecological connectivity, and carbon dynamics under climate change. Her published work focuses on applied conservation science and spatial planning, examining how landscape structure, connectivity, and restoration interventions shape ecosystem resistance and resilience.

Selected publications:
Li, Y., Zhao, Z., Fu, B., et al. (2025). Ecological restorations enhance ecosystem stability by improving ecological resilience in a typical basin of the Yangtze River, China. Geography and Sustainability, 6(6), 100357.
Li, Y., Ou, X., Li, H., et al. (2024). Identifying biodiversity priority conservation areas under climate change risks based on omnidirectional connectivity: A case study of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 44(3), 1152–1163.
Li, Y., Liu, Y., Wang, Z., et al. (2024). Carbon Dynamics in Water-Rich Cities: A Climate Perspective. IFLA 2024 60th World Congress Abstract Book for Oral Presentation, 32–37.
Li, H., Liu, Y., Li, Y., et al. (2024). How to realize synergistic emission reduction in future urban agglomerations: Spatial planning approaches to reducing carbon emissions from land use—A case study of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. Land, 13(4), 554.

Thesis

Co-producing panda conservation: ecological and social impacts of civil protected areas in the Giant Panda National Park

Yixiao’s doctoral research aims to evaluate how civil protected areas are co-produced by governments, NGOs, and local communities, and what ecological and social outcomes they deliver for giant panda conservation in China, using Pingwu County (Sichuan) in the Giant Panda National Park as the empirical setting. It addresses three research questions: (1) what governance models and stakeholder roles characterize different types of civil protected areas; (2) whether these initiatives improve panda habitat suitability and landscape connectivity; and (3) how participation in conservation-related programs relates to rural residents’ livelihood assets and conservation intentions.

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