http://biosci.nju.edu.cn/professor.php?prof_id=19My scientific interests are centered on evolutionary ecology, especially plant functional traits in relation to animal behavior. Within this context, together with my colleagues and students, I have developed several research themes. A plant is an aggregation of many modules and herbivory is hypothesized to be one of the most important selective forces resulting in such construction. From field investigation, I collected data on leaf size, leaf shape, and leaf phenology, as well as insect damage intensity and pattern. By indoor greenhouse experimenting, I studied plant ecophysiological responses to simulated insect defoliation. I believe that such hypothesis testing and data analysis will better our understanding the relationship between plants and animals. Recently, with achievements in theoretical ecology, I am trying to link traditional plant life history strategy theories, allometric growth law, and ecological stoichiometry, aiming to explore a fundamental mechanism underlying plant species diversity.
I am also interested in ecosystem structure and function of tidal salt marshes of estuarine and coastal environments. I am particularly interested in salt marsh vegetation and benthic invertebrate dynamics, and how anthropogenic processes such as eutrophication and pollution influence species diversity and the role that salt marshes play in removing or retarding the flow of nutrients during transport from the mainland to the coastal ocean. The methods used for determinations of process rates involve field investigation and experiment, application of stable nitrogen isotope techniques, GIS spatial analysis, and numerical modeling. In addition, I am interested in the contribution of salt marshes to global methyl halides budget. Different from terrestrial and ocean ecosystem, salt marshes are characterized by both high primary productivity and low dissolved oxygen, allowing strong emission of N2O and CH4Cl that contribute to global change.
论文：
1、Jinxin Wang, Rongjin Li, Yingyan Guo, Pei Qin and Shucun Sun*. The flux of methyl chloride along an elevational gradient of a coastal salt marsh, Eastern China. Atmospheric Environment, 2006, 40: 6592-6605 (Corresponding author)
2、Jinxin Wang, Rongjin Li, Yingyan Guo, Pei Qin and Shucun Sun*. Removal of methyl chloroform in a coastal salt marsh of eastern China. Chemosphere, 2006, 65:1371-1380 (Corresponding author)
3、Sun Shucun Dongmei Jin, and Rongjing Li. Timing of leaf emergence in relation to leaf traits of woody species in eastern Chinese Quercus fabri forests. Acta Oecologica, 2006, 30:212－222.
4、Sun Shucun, Dongmei Jin, and Peili Shi. The leaf size-twig size spectrum of temperate woody species along an altitudinal gradient: an invariant allometric scaling relationship. Annals of Botany 2006, 97: 97–107.
5、Sun Shucun, Gao Xianming, Chen Lingzhi. High acorn predation prevents the regeneration of Quercus liaotungensis in Dongling Mountain, North China. Restoration Ecology, 2004, 12:335-342.
6、Sun Shucun, Cai Yongli, Tian Xingjun. Vegetation change in a salt marsh after a short-term tidal restriction: implication for competitive displacement between Scirpus mariqueter and Scirpus tabernaemontani. Wetlands, 2003, 23: 257-266.
7、Sun Shucun, Cai Yongli, An Shuqing. Differences in morphology and biomass allocation of Scirpus mariquter between creekside and inland communities in the Changjiang estuary. Wetlands, 2002, 22: 786-793.
8、Sun Shucun, Yongli Cai, Xianming Gao. Variations in sexual and asexual reproductions of Scirpus mariqueter along an elevational gradient, Ecological Research, 2001, 16: 263-274.