Qing Cao
Species Coexistence • Human-Dominated Landscapes • Conservation Genomics
I am a conservation biologist working across Asia, North America, and Africa, with a long-term focus on Przewalski's horse, Asiatic wild ass, and other large mammals in dryland systems. My research combines field ecology, behavioral ecology, remote sensing, GIS, and conservation genomics to study habitat use, resource competition, coexistence, and population management. I received my PhD from Princeton University in 2018 and continue to work across research, teaching, and applied conservation.
About
I study how animals persist under ecological pressure in landscapes shaped by water limitation, human infrastructure, seasonal movement, and restoration or reintroduction history.
Rather than treating behavior, habitat, and genetics as separate topics, I try to connect them to explain persistence, coexistence, and conservation outcomes across time scales.
My current work spans species interactions in arid systems, conservation in pastoral and infrastructure-influenced landscapes, and genomic patterns relevant to breeding history, inbreeding, and reintroduction management.
The long-term conservation of Przewalski's horse remains a central anchor for this broader research program.
Research Themes
This research examines how related species share water, forage, and space under ecological stress, and how differences in behavior and risk response can support coexistence rather than exclusion.
This theme addresses how infrastructure, settlements, seasonal pastoral movement, and restoration shape conservation outcomes, and how wildlife and human land use interact in real management settings.
Genomic and pedigree-based analyses help clarify inbreeding, relatedness, breeding history, and the long-term management implications of captive and reintroduced populations.
Field Perspective
Human-nature dynamics
Field research in drylands and steppe systems connects species interactions with terrain, climate stress, seasonal movement, and human land use.
That perspective is especially important for understanding coexistence in real conservation settings, where wildlife responses are often mediated by roads, water points, settlements, and pastoral activity.
Field Gallery
Selected Publications
QL Cao, YJ Zhang, YB Zhang, Y Luo, L Chen, ZS Wang, J Simek, et al. Wildlife Biology, e01634, 2026. Cover article. PDF
QL Cao, Y Zhang, M Songer, P Leimgruber, D Hu, J Li, C Wang, et al. Journal of Applied Ecology 62 (5), 1078-1090, 2025. PDF
Winner of the British Ecological Society's Southwood Prize, recognizing the best paper in Journal of Applied Ecology by an early career author.
QL Cao, BS Pukazhenthi, P Bapodra, S Lowe, YV Bhatnagar. In HHT Prins, IJ Gordon, editors. The Equids: A Suite of Splendid Species, 209-246. Springer International Publishing, 2023. PDF
Z Sen, C Qing, A Keremu, L Shanhui, Z Yongjun, H Defu. Turkish Journal of Zoology 41 (5), 924-930, 2017.
DI Rubenstein, Q Cao, J Chiu. In JI Ransom, P Kaczensky, editors. Wild Equids: Ecology, Management, and Conservation, 58-68. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, 2016.
KA Schoenecker, SRB King, MK Nordquist, D Nandintsetseg, QL Cao. In JI Ransom, P Kaczensky, editors. Wild Equids: Ecology, Management, and Conservation, 41-57. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, 2016.
Y Zhang, QS Cao, DI Rubenstein, S Zang, M Songer, P Leimgruber, et al. PLoS One 10 (7), e0132094, 2015. PDF
G Liu, CQ Xu, Q Cao, W Zimmermann, M Songer, SS Zhao, K Li, DF Hu. Mitochondrial DNA 25 (4), 313-318, 2014.
QL Cao, D-F Hu, J Lu, Z-F Huang, W-Y Fu. Acta Ecologica Sinica 29, 2767-2774, 2009. PDF
Recognition
The British Ecological Society's Southwood Prize recognized the paper “Coexistence between Przewalski's horse and Asiatic wild ass in the desert: The importance of people”.
The award recognizes the best paper in Journal of Applied Ecology by an early career author and highlights both ecological insight and conservation relevance.
Across the publication record, a recurring theme is that conservation science becomes most useful when behavioral ecology, landscape processes, and management-relevant evidence are brought together.
That translational orientation is especially clear in work on coexistence, roads, water access, breeding history, and long-term population persistence.
Featured Project
Live subsite
YEMANET is a studbook management system for Przewalski's horses at the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding Center (WHBC). The platform integrates studbook information with management records, veterinary records, and sampling records for horses maintained on site.
Its core feature is an interactive pedigree visualization system built from studbook records, making parentage and descendant histories easy to review for day-to-day management, research reference, and long-term conservation planning.
Open YEMANET
Links