Canran’s first degree was in mathematics from Zhengzhou University (China) in 1985. He subsequently entered the field of ecology and obtained a master’s degree in statistical ecology from Northeast Forestry University (China) in 1988. Following this he lecturered at the Henan Agricultural University (China) where he taught ecological modelling to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. After six years Canran moved to Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences to pursue a doctoral degree in vegetation ecology which he completed in 1997. Canran subsequently worked at the Institute as an assistant professor on vegetation ecology and biodiversity-related projects, and was awarded two grants by National Natural Science Foundation of China to investigate the spatial pattern of vegetation diversity in Beijing region.

n 1999 he did postdoctoral work on population spatial pattern analysis when he visited Professor Simon Levin’s lab in Princeton University for six months. In 2001 he worked in University of Toronto as a postdoctoral fellow assessing the impact of climate warming on global biodiversity hotspots. Canran subsequently worked at Oxford University on species distribution modelling during a postdoctoral fellowship. Two years later Canran moved to the University of New England as a postdoctoral fellow to assess wetland condition. After three years at UNE Canran came to ARI in 2007 to work on conservation-related problems.,These include detailed aspects of species distribution modelling related to improving and quantifying their performance, and landscape connectivity analyses.

In March 2013 Canran was awarded the title of Honorary Professor from the Henan Agricultural University where he had previously taught during the early 1990’s.

Publications

Liu, C, Newell, G & White, M. 2015. On the selection of  thresholds for predicting species occurrence with presence-only data. Ecology and Evolution.

Xu, W, Chen, G, Liu, C. & Ma, K. 2015. Latitudinal differences in species abundance distributions, rather than spatial aggregation, explain beta-diversity along latitudinal gradients. Global Ecology and Biogeography 24: 1170-1180.

Yang, X., Yan, D. & Liu, C. 2014. Natural Regeneration of Trees in Three Types of Afforested Stands in the Taihang Mountains, China. PLoS ONE 9(9): e108744.

Liu, C., White, M. & Newell, G. 2013. Selecting thresholds for the prediction of species occurrence with presence-only data. Journal of Biogeography 40: 778-789.

Liu, C., White, M., Newell, G. & Griffioen, P. 2013. Species distribution modelling for conservation planning in Victoria, Australia. Ecological Modelling 249: 68-74.

Huang, J., Chen, B., Liu, C., Lai, J., Zhang, J. & Ma, K. 2012. Identifying hotspots of endemic woody seed plant diversity in China. Diversity and Distributions 18: 673-688.

Liu, C., White, M. & Graeme, N. 2011. Measuring and comparing the accuracy of species distribution models with presence-absence data. Ecography 34: 232-243.

Zimmer, H. C., Mavromihalis, J., Turner, V. B., Moxham, C. & Liu, C. 2010.  Native grasslands in the PlainsTender incentive scheme: conservation value, management and monitoring. The Rangeland Journal 32: 205–214.

Du, X., Liu, C., Yu, X. & Ma, K. 2008. Effects of shading on early growth of  Cyclobalanopsis glauca (Fagaceae) in subtropical abandoned fields: Implications for vegetation restoration. Acta Oecologica 33: 154-161.

Liu, C., Paul, F., Kumar, L. 2007. Comparative assessment of the thematic accuracy measures. Remote Sensing of Environment 106: 606-616.

Liu, C., Whittaker, R., Ma, K. & Malcolm, J.R. 2007. Unifying and distinguishing diversity ordering methods for comparing communities. Population Ecology 49: 89-100.

Malcolm, J. R., Liu, C., Neilson, R. P., Hansen, L., and Hannah, L. 2006. Global warming and extinctions of endemic species from biodiversity hotspots. Conservation Biology 20: 538-548.

Liu, C., Paul, F., Kumar, L., MacGregor, C. & Blake, N. 2006. Catchment-wide wetland assessment using multi-criterion decision making method TOPSIS. Environmental Management 38: 316-326.

Hou, J. H., Mi, X.C., Liu, C. & Ma, K.P. 2006. Tree competition and species coexistence in a Quercus-Betula forest in the Dongling Mountains in northern China. Acta Oecologica 30(2): 117-125.

Liu, C., Berry, P. M., Dawson, T. P. & Pearson, R. G. 2005. Selecting thresholds of occurrence in the prediction of species distributions. Ecography 28 (3), 385-393.

Pearson, R.G., Dawson, T.P. & Liu, C. 2004. Modelling species distributions in Britain: a hierarchical integration of climate and land-cover data. Ecography 27( 3): 285-298.

Hou, J. H., Mi, X.C., Liu, C. & Ma, K.P. 2004. Spatial patterns and associations in a Quercus-Betula forest in northern China. Journal of Vegetation Science 15(3): 407-414.

Liu, C., Ma, K. & Chen, L. 2002. Nestedness: methods, mechanisms and implications for Biological Conservation. Acta Phytoecologica Sinica 26(Supp): 68-72.

Liu, C. & Ma, K. 2002. Diversity ordering: methods and an example. Acta Phytoecologica Sinica 26(Supp): 63-67.

Yu, S., Ma, K., Liu, C. & Chen, L. 2002.  Neighbor diversity and interspecific association of Quercus mongolica. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 13(3): 271-274.

Liu, C. 2001. A comparison of five distance-based methods for spatial pattern analysis. Journal of Vegetation Science 12(3): 411-416.

Liu, C. & Chen, L. 2000. Analysis of the patch shape with shape indices for the vegetation landscape in Beijing Region. Acta Eologica Sinica 20(4): 559-567.

Liu, C. & Chen, L. 2000. Fractal analysis of the vegetation landscape in Beijing Region. Acta Phytoecologica Sinica 24(2): 129-134.

Wang, W., Ma, K. & Liu, C. 2000. Seed Shadow of Quercus liaotungensis in a Broad-leaved Forest in Dongling Mountain, Beijing. Acta Botanica Sinica 42(2): 195-202.

Yu, S., Liu, C. & Ma, K. 2000. A study on the ecotone between Quercus mongolica community and other communities. Chinese Journal of Biodiversity 8(3): 277-283.

Liu, C. & Chen, L. 1999. The characteristics of the patch size distribution in the vegetation landscape in Beijing Region. Acta Botanica Sinica 41(2): 199-205.

Liu, C., Ma, K., Yu, S. & Wang, W. 1999. Plant community diversity in Dongling Mountain, Beijing, China. V.  The fitting and assessment of species-area models. Acta Phytoeologica Sinica 23(6): 490-500.

Wang, W., Ma, K. & Liu, C. 1999. Removal and predation of Quercus liaotungensis acorns by animals. Ecological Research 14: 225-232.

Wang, W., Liu, C., Ma, K. & Yu, S. 1999. Population structure and dynamics of Quercus liaotungensis in two broad-leaved deciduous forests in Dongling Mountain, Beijing, China. Acta Botanica Sinica 41(4): 425-432.

Liu, C., Ma, K., Lü, Y. & Kang, Y.  1998.  Measurement of biotic community diversity Ⅵ: the statistical aspects of diversity measures. Chinese Journal of Biodiversity 6(3): 229-239.

Liu, C., Ma, K., Yu, S. & Wang, W. 1998. Plant community diversity in Dongling Mountain, Beijing, China. VI. The estimation of species numbers in several types of plant communities. Acta Eologica Sinica 18(2): 138-150.

Liu, C., Ma, K., Yu, S. & Wang, W. 1998. Plant community diversity in Dongling Mountain, Beijing, China. VII. The determination of critical sampling areas for several types of plant communities. Acta Eologica Sinica 18(1): 15-23.

Gao, X., Ma, K., Huang, J. & Liu, C. 1998. Plant community diversity in Dongling Mountain, Beijing, China. XI. Βeta diversity in sub alpine meadow. Acta Eologica Sinica 18(2): 24-31.

Liu, C. & Ma, K. 1997. Measurement of biotic community diversity. V.  Methods for estimating the number of species in a community. Acta Eologica Sinica 17(6): 601-610.

Liu, C., Ma, K., Yu, S. & Wang, W. 1997. Plant community diversity in Dongling Mountain, Beijing, China. IV. Effects of sample size on diversity measures. Acta Eologica Sinica 17(6): 584-592.

Ma, K., Liu, C., Yu, S. & Wang, W. 1997. Plant community diversity in Dongling Mountain, Beijing, China. III. Species-abundance relationship for several types of forest communities. Acta Eologica Sinica 17(6): 573-583.

Liu, C., Ma, K., Zhou, W. & Zhang, X. 1997. Measurement of biotic community diversity. IV. The application of jackknife and bootstrap methods in the estimation of diversity measures. Chinese Journal of Biodiversity 5(1): 61-66.

Liu, C., Ma, K. & Zhou, W. 1995. Measurement of biotic community diversity. III. Statistical issue related to species-abundance distribution. Chinese Journal of Biodiversity 3(3): 157-169.

Ma, K., Liu, C. & Liu, Y. 1995. Measurement of biotic community diversity. II Beta diversity. Chinese Journal of Biodiversity 3(1): 38-43.

Liu, C., Ma, K. & Zhou, W. 1995. Methods for estimating the number of species at regional or global scale. Chinese Bulletin of Botany 12(Supp.): 185-189.

Liu, C. 1993. The two special points on the logistic growth curve and their applications in forest science. Journal of Henan Agricultural University 27(Supp.): 110-113.

Liu, C. 1993. An overview of the studies of chaos in ecology. Journal of Northeast Forestry University 21(4): 118-123.

Liu, C. 1993. Study on the method of population spatial pattern analysis. Chinese Journal of Biomathematics 8(1): 90-95.

Li, S., Liu, C. & Gao, B.. 1993. Study on the light within agroforest ecosystems in Huang-Huai-Hai Plains in Henan Province, China. Journal of Henan Agricultural University 27(Supp.): 10-19.

Liu, C. 1991. The mathematical methods in intercropping researches. Journal of Henan Agricultural University 25(2): 199-207.