Ning Du is an associate professor at the School of Life Sciences, Shandong University. He received his bachelor’s degree in ecology from Shandong University in 2005 and his doctorate from the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Shandong University in 2010. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Environment, Shandong University (2010–2013) and the University of Alberta, Canada (2012–2013). He joined the School of Life Sciences, Shandong University as a lecturer in 2013 and became an associate professor in 2019. His research interests include plant physiological ecology and ecosystem ecology. His main idea is to take plants as the research object and explain the scientific issues, such as species adaptation mechanisms, interspecific interactions, alien species invasion, community construction mechanisms, and ecosystem functions, from the perspective of plant functional traits and plant–animal–microorganism relationships. He has presided over many scientific research projects. His research interests in recent years include the adaptation and response strategies of typical plants in warm temperate zones to habitat changes, the carbon absorption process and biotic and abiotic regulation mechanisms of coastal wetlands, and the mechanism of interspecific interactions and their application in ecological restoration.
