Zongxin Ren
Editors, Plant Diversity
Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
Area of expertise: Orchid biology, pollination ecology, plant-pollinator interactions, conservation biology
Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
Area of expertise: Orchid biology, pollination ecology, plant-pollinator interactions, conservation biology
Title: Dr.
Email: renzongxin@mail.kib.ac.cn
Selected publications:
Hou, Y.Y., Zhang, H.P., Cardoso, J.C.F., Tao, Z.B., Niu, L.J., Qubi, A., Wang, H., Ren, Z.X. (2026) Left and right sides are needed: Seed development improves when both stigma lobes of Habenaria limprichtii (Orchidaceae) are pollinated. Plant Biology, 28, 169-177.
Lunau, K., Camargo, M.G.G., Ren, Z.X. (2025) Bees, flowers and UV. Plant Biology, 27, 948-961.
Zheng, C.C., Ren, Z.X., Li, S.Q., Zhang, W.F., Rech, A.R., Gao, Y.D., Xu, B., Gao, X.F. (2025) Pollen-like trichomes may reward pollinators of Cypripedium wardii (Orchidaceae). iScience, 28, 113951.
Xu, X., Liang, H., Ren, Z.X., Maruyama, P.K., Rech, A.R., Trunschke, J., Zhao, Y.H., Li, H.D., Wang, H. (2025) Generalised bumblebee-flower interactions demonstrate weak floral niche partitioning despite a high bee diversity. Ecography, 2025, e07956.
Howard, S.R. and Ren, Z.X. (2024) Pollinator management and food security. In Behavioral Responses to a Changing World: Challenges and Applications (B.B.M. Wong & U. Canolin, eds), Oxford University Press, New York, USA: pp 278-293.
Pyke, G.H. and Ren, Z.X. (2023) Floral nectar production: what cost to a plant? Biological Reviews, 98, 2078–2090.
Dong, J.H., Xu, X., Ren, Z.X., Zhao, Y.H., Zhang, Y.R., Chen, L., Wu, Y., Chen, G.T., Cao, R.Q., Wu, Q., Wang, H. (2024) The adaptation of bumblebees to extremely high elevation associated with their gut microbiota. mSystems, 9, e01219-01223.
Millard, J., Outhwaite, C.L., Kinnersley, R., Freeman, R., Gregory, R.D., Adedoja, O., Gavini, S., Kioko, E., Kuhlmann, M., Ollerton, J., Ren, Z.X., Newbold, T. (2021) Global effects of land-use intensity on local pollinator biodiversity. Nature Communications, 12, 2902.
Ollerton, J. and Ren, Z.X. (2022) Did pollination exist before plants? Science, 377, 471-472.
Zhang, H.P., Tao, Z.B., Trunschke, J., Shrestha, D., Scaccabarozzi, D., Wang, H., Ren, Z.X. (2022) Reproductive isolation among three nocturnal moth-pollinated sympatric Habenaria species (Orchidaceae). Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, 908852.
Pyke, G.H., Ren, Z.X., Trunschke, J., Lunau, K., Wang, H. (2020) Changes in floral nectar are unlikely adaptive responses to pollinator flight sound. Ecology Letters, 23, 1421-1422.
Ren, Z.X., Zhao, Y.H., Liang, H., Tao, Z.B., Tang, H., Zhang, H.P., Wang, H. (2018) Pollination ecology in China from 1977 to 2017. Plant Diversity, 40, 172-180.
Tao, Z.B., Ren, Z.X., Wang, W.J., Bernhardt, P., Li, H.D., Wang, H. (2018) Nocturnal hawkmoth and moth pollination of Habenaria limprichtii Schltr. (Orchidaceae) in sub-alpine meadows of the Yulong Snow Mountain (Yunnan, China). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 187, 483-498.
Ren, Z.X., Wang, H., Bernhardt, P., Li, D.Z. (2014) Insect pollination and self-incompatibility in edible and/or medicinal crops in southwestern China, a global hotspot of biodiversity. American Journal of Botany, 101, 1700-1710.
Ren, Z.X., Li, D.Z., Bernhardt, P., Wang, H. (2011) Flowers of Cypripedium fargesii (Orchidaceae) fool flat-footed flies (Platypezidae) by faking fungus-infected foliage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108, 7478-7480.