Lianming Gao
Editors, Plant Diversity
Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, China
Area of expertise: Plant phylogenetics and evolution, plant diversity and conservation, speciation and adaptive evolution
Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, China
Area of expertise: Plant phylogenetics and evolution, plant diversity and conservation, speciation and adaptive evolution
Title: Professor
Email: gaolm@sdau.edu.cn
Selected publications:
Qin HT, Twyford A, Zheng W, Milne RI, Yan LJ, Mo ZQ, Zhu MS, Nützmann HW, Li DZ*, Li HT*, Gao LM*. 2026. The genomic architecture of introgression during Rhododendron speciation. New Phytologist 249: doi: 10.1111/nph.70794.
Luo YH#, Ma LL#, Cadotte WM, Seibold S, Zou JY, Song J, Zheng W, Mo ZQ, Yu B, LY, Qian YH, Tan SL, Ye LJ, Liu J*, Li DZ*, Gao LM*. 2025. Ericoid mycorrhizal fungal metacommunity facilitates closely related Rhododendron species coexistence. New Phytologist 248: 1442–1457
Mo ZQ, Fu CN, Twyford A, Hollingsworth P, Zhang T, Yang JB, Li DZ, Gao LM*. 2025. Evaluating the utility of deep genome skimming for phylogenomic analyses: A case study in the species-rich genus Rhododendron. Plant Diversity 47: 593–603.
Zhu MS, Mo ZQ, Möller M, Zhang T, Fu CN, Cai J, Zheng W, Luo YH, Li DZ, Gao LM*. 2025. Climate change impacts on Rhododendron diversity: regional responses and conservation strategies in China. Plant Diversity 47: 956–968.
Luo YH, Ma LL, Cadotte M, Seibold S, Zou JY, Burgess K, Tan SL, Ye LJ, Zheng W, Chen ZF, Liu DT, Zhu GF, Shi XC, Zhao W, Bi Z, Huang XY, Li JH, Liu J*, Li DZ*, Gao M*. 2024. Testing the ectomycorrhizal-dominance hypothesis for ecosystem multifunctionality in a subtropical mountain forest. New Phytologist 243: 2401–2415.
Zhang GJ, Yang JB, Zhang CF, Jiao BH, Panero LJ, Cai J, Zhang ZR, Gao LM*, Gao TG*, Ma H*. 2024. Nuclear phylogenomics of Asteraceae with increased sampling provide new insights into morphological and molecular evolution. Plant Communications 5: 100851.
Qin HT, Luo YH, Zhu GF, Mӧller M, Milne RI, Li DZ*, Liu J*, Gao LM*. 2023. Multiple paternally inherited chloroplast capture events associated with Taxus speciation in the Hengduan Mountains. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 189:107915.
Fu CN#, Mo ZQ#, Yang JB, Cai J, Ye LJ, Zou JY, Qin HT, Zheng W, Hollingsworth PM*, Li DZ*, Gao LM*. 2022. Testing genome skimming for species discrimination in the large and taxonomically difficult genus Rhododendron. Molecular Ecology Resources 22: 404–414.
Liu J, Milne RI, Zhu GF, Spicer RA, Wambulwa MC, Wu ZY, Boufford DE, Luo YH, Provan J, Wang WT, Yi TS, Cai J, Wang H, Gao LM*, Li DZ*. 2022. Name and scale matters: Clarifying the geography of Tibetan Plateau and adjacent mountain regions. Global and Planetary Change 215: 103893.
Luo YH, Cadotte MW, Liu J, Burgess KS, Tan SL, Ye LJ, Li J, Chen ZZ, Jiang XL, Xu K, Li DZ, Gao LM*. 2022. Multitrophic diversity and biotic associations influence subalpine forest ecosystem multifunctionality. Ecology 103: e3745.
Li HT#, Luo Y#, Gan L#, Ma F#, Gao LM#, Yang JB#, Cai J, Gitzendanner MA., Fritsch PW, Zhang T, Jin JJ, Zeng CX, Yu WB, Wang H, van der Bank M, Olmstead RG. Hollingsworth PM, Chase MW, Soltis DE, Soltis PS, Yi TS*, Li DZ*. 2021. Plastid phylogenomic insights into relationships of all flowering plant families. BMC Biology 19: 232.
Li HT#, Yi TS#, Gao LM#, Ma PF#, Zhang T#, Yang JB#, Matthew AG#, Fritsch WP, Cai J, Luo Y, Wang H, Van der Bank M, Zhang SD, Wang QF, Wang J, Zhang ZR, Fu CN, Yang J, Chase WM, Hollingworth HP, Soltis DE, Soltis PS*, Li DZ*. 2019. Origin of angiosperms and the puzzle of the Jurassic gap. Nature Plants 5: 461–470.
Luo YH, Cadotte MW, Burgess KS, Liu J, Tan SL, Zou JY, Xu K, Li DZ*, Gao LM*. 2019. Greater than the sum of the parts: how the species composition in different forest strata influence ecosystem function. Ecology Letters 22: 1449–1461.
Yan LJ#, Burgess KS#, Zheng W, Tao ZB, Li DZ*, Gao LM*. 2019. Incomplete reproductive isolation between Rhododendron taxa enables hybrid formation and persistence. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology 61(4): 433–448.
Liu J, Milne IR, Cadotte WM, Wu ZY, Provan J, Zhu GF, Gao LM*, Li DZ*. 2018. Protect Third Pole’s fragile ecosystem. Science 362 (6421): 1368.