Li Maotian

Job Title: 
Professor
Research Interests: 
Environmental and ecological changes in estuaries and coasts
Sdiment dynamic in estuaries and coasts
Engineering of port and waterway in estuaries and coasts
Email: 
mtli@sklec.ecnu.edu.cn
Telephone: 
021-54836480
Address: 
No.451 Room, Estuary and Coast Building, No. 500, Dongchuan Road, 200241
Academic Position: 
Deputy Secretary of the Yangtze River Delta Development and Protection Committee.
Editorial Position : 
Guest editor of Anthropocene Coasts
Member of editorial board of the academic journal of East China Geology.
Education Experience: 
Bachelor of Shandong Normal University (September 1992-July 1996)
Master of East China Normal University (September 1999-July 2002)
Ph.D of East China Normal University (September 2002-July 2005)
Work Experience: 
Lecturer, East China Normal University (July 2005-December 2013)
Associate Professor, East China Normal University (January 2014-present)
Professor, East China Normal University (January 2014-present)
Academic Exchange: 
Eco-fellow Researcher, The National Institute of Environment Study, Japan (Jul., 2004-Apr., 2005)
Visiting Scholar, School of Life and Environment, University of Tsukuba, Japan (Oct., 2009-Oct., 2010)
Personal Details : 

Researcher and doctoral supervisor of the State Key Laboratory of Estuary and Coastal Studies, East China Normal University.

In 2005, he graduated from the Department of Geography of East China Normal University with a doctorate. From 2004 to 2005, he worked as an Eco-Fellow in the National Institute of Environment of Japan, and from 2009 to 2010, he was a visiting scholar in the School of Environment of Tsukuba University, Japan. The main majors are physical geography, estuarine and coastal studies.

Over the years, he has presided over a number of general funds and provincial and ministerial projects, and published more than 90 articles in domestic and foreign academic magazines including STOTEN, JH, GPC, MG, ECSS and other mainstream estuarine and coastal journals. SCI has always been cited more than 1800 times. This paper mainly reveals the characteristics and mechanism of estuarine sediment, ecology and water resources transformation driven by reservoir detention in the basin.

As the main finisher, he won the first prize of Shanghai Natural Science (ranked third) and the third prize of Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award (ranked third). Deputy Secretary-General of the Yangtze River Delta Development and Protection Branch of the Yangtze River Institute of Technology and Economics, and editorial board of the academic journal East China Geology.

Since 2008, he has been a teacher of Dynamic Sedimentology, Frontier of Physical Geography and Marine Geology, and has taught more than 300 graduate students and trained 20 doctoral and master students as tutors. In 2024, he won the special prize of Research and Teaching Achievement Award of East China Normal University (ranked fifth).

Projects: 
Managed Projects: 
Granted by National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2017 for the project of migration of Annual Maximum Asymmetrical Tidal Deposition Center in Estuary Evolution.
Granted by National Natural Foundation of China in 2013 for the project of study on Retention Behavior of Dissolved Silicon during Sediment Deposition in Typical Dam Reservoirs in the Yangtze River catchment
Paper: 
  1. Said A. Shetaia, Yanna Wang, Nick Marriner, Maotian Li, Xiaoshuang Zhao, Jing Chen, Alaa Salem, Zhongyuan Chen, Fate of heavy metals in the water-scarce Nile Delta lagoons: a post-Aswan Dam perspective, Environmental Pollution, 2025, 382, 126754, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2025.126754.
  2. Huikun Yao, Maotian Li,* Xiaoqiang Liu, Weihua Li, Yan Song, Jing Chen, Yan Liu, Jianwei Zeng, Pieter C. Roos. Joint effect of aquaculture and land reclamation on sediment dynamics. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 60 (2025) 102561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102561
  3. Huikun Yao, Wenyan Zhang, Maotian Li*, Weihua Li, Yan Song, Dan Peng, Jilong Wang, Jianwei Zeng, Junjie Yu, Xiaohe Lai, Lijun Hou. Estuarine morphodynamics regime shift caused by catchment reservoir: Illustration from the Minjiang River Estuary. Ocean & Coastal Management. 2025, 269, 107814, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2025.107814.
  4. Xiaoyu Zhang, Yan Liu, Jinqi Dai, Li Xiao, Xiaolong Chen, Xueming Li, Jing Chen, Maotian Li, Qianli Sun, Lingyu Tang, Quantifying tidal zonation through pollen-microfacies coupling: A Holocene sea-level proxy from Hangzhou Bay, eastern China, Quaternary Science Reviews, 2025, 364, 109466, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109466.
  5. Li Xiao, Xiaoyu Zhang, Jinqi Dai, Xueming Li, Ning Zhao, Shihao Liu, Jing Chen, Maotian Li, Yuanhao Sun, Haoyan Wang, Kai Li, Yan Liu, Qianli Sun. Population migration with improved productivity caused a heterogeneity pattern of Holocene vegetation succession in typical areas of the lower Yangtze region. Global and Planetary Change. 2025, 246, 104705, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.104705.
  6. Xiaoshuang Zhao, David Kaniewski, Yanna Wang, Nick Marriner, Alaa Salem, Said E. Alassal, Yan Liu, Feng Jiang, Jing Chen, Qianli Sun, Maotian Li, Ian Thomas, Brian Finlayson, Hader Sheisha, Christophe Morhange, Thierry Otto, Frédéric Luce, Zhongyuan Chen, On the long and winding road: unravelling the late emergence of Neolithic agriculture in the Nile Delta. Quaternary Science Reviews.2025, 359, 109368, https://doi.org/10.1016/j. quascirev.2025.109368.
  7. Song Y, Li M*, Liu X, Li W, Yao H, Liu Y and Chen J. Effects of riverine nutrient enrichment and sediment reduction on high primary productivity zone in the Yangtze River estuary: historical reconstruction and future perspective. Fronter Marine Science. 2025, 12:1529744. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1529744
  8. Alaa Salem, Maotian Li, Liu Yan, Xiaoshuang Zhao, Abd El-Mohsen S. El Daba, Aziz M. Abu Shama, Mohamed M. Elhossainy, Chen Zhongyuan. Changes in Sedimentary Biogenic Elements in the Burullus Wetland, Egypt: Impact of human activities over a century. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Biology & Fisheries，2024, 28(5): 457-467.
  9. Huikun Yao, Xiaoqiang Liu, Maotian Li*, Weihua Li*, Yan Song, Zijie Tan, Wenyan Zhang, Dan Peng, Yan Liu, Jing Chen, Said A. Shetaia, Effect of typhoon on suspended sediment concentration, bed erosion and sediment transport in the Yangtze Estuary, Marine Geology, 2024, 475(107357), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2024.107357.
  10. Xiaohe Lai, Jianping Jia, Yuebao Hou, Jun Jiang, Maotian Li, Jing Chen & Wen Wei. Changes in riverbed morphology in the Middle Yangtze River (Yichang -Chenglingji) after the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, Hydrological Sciences Journal, 2023, DOI: 10.1080/02626667.2023.2268069
  11. Yan Song, Meng Tong, Maotian Li*, Xiaoqiang Liu, Huikun Yao, Yixuan Fang, Chun Fan, Jing Chen. The biogenic elements retention in reservoirs of the Yangtze River basin and effect on the nutrient flux into the sea. Global and Planetary Change, 2023, 230, 104280, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104280.
  12. Song, Y., Li, M*., Fang, Y., Liu, X., Yao, H., Fan, C., Tan, Z., Liu, Y., Chen, J. Effect of cage culture on sedimentary heavy metal and water nutrient pollution: Case study in Sansha Bay, China. Science of the Total Environment, 2023, 899, 165635. https://doi.org/10.1016 /j.scitotenv.2023.165635.
  13. Wang, H., Jiang, F., Chen, Y., Liu, S., Hu, W., Zhao, X., Zhang, W., Li, M., Chen, J., Chen, Z., Liu, Y., and Sun, Q., 2023. Unveiling the Mid-Holocene coastal hydrological changes and their impacts on Neolithic cultures along the South Hangzhou Bay of eastern China. Quaternary International, 658: 36-47.
  14. Lai, X., Hou, Y., Jia, J., Chen, C., Su, Y., Jiang, J., Chen, J., Li, M., Liu, Y., 2023. Rapid change of erosion-deposition evolution in the Minjiang estuary, Southeast China. Ocean & Coastal Management. 238, 106574.
  15. Weihua Li, Maotian Li*, Xiaohe Zhang, Jiufa Li, Characteristics of fluid mud in the Yangtze Estuary: Storm, tide, and slope-triggered sediment dynamics and effects, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 2023, 281,108194.
  16. Fan Chun, Jiao Lei, Lu Nan, Li Maotian, Li Zongshan, Keyimu Maierdang, Zhang Liwei, Wang Hao. Disentangling the independent and interacting impacts of biophysical factors on transpiration of a black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia ) plantation in the semiarid Loess Plateau, China. Land degradation & development, 2023, 34(6), 1767– 1777.
  17. Yan Liu, Li Xiao, Zhongjing Cheng, Xiaoqiang Liu, Jinqi Dai, Xiaoshuang Zhao, Jing Chen, Maotian Li, Zhongyuan Chen, Qianli Sun. Anthropogenic impacts on vegetation and biodiversity of the lower Yangtze region during the mid-Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2023 (299), 107881,
  18. Xiaoqiang Liu, Maotian Li*, Jing Chen, Y. Jun Xu, Weiguo Zhang, Zhongyuan Chen, Wei Ai, Lijun Hou a, Zhenhua Pan. Natural and reservoir-induced channel changes in the Yangtze River Tidal Reach. Journal of Hydrology, 2022，605, 127398.
  19. Yanna Wang, Xiaoshuang Zhao, Alaa Salem, Said A. Shetaia, Fan Zhang, Chengpeng Sun, Xinxin Li, Yan Liu, Qianli Sun, Jing Chen, Maotian Li, Brian Finlayson, Zhongyuan Chen. Deciphering hydroclimate fluctuations of Nile watershed from Holocene sediment of Manzala lagoon: Bio-geochemical implications. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2022, 601, 111141。
  20. Yanling Zheng, Lijun Hou⁎, Zongxiao Zhang, Jianzhong Ge, Maotian Li, Guoyu Yin, Ping Han, Hongpo Dong, Xia Liang, Juan Gao, Dengzhou Gao, Min Liu. Overlooked contribution of water column to nitrogen removal in estuarine turbidity maximum zone (TMZ). Science of The Total Environment, 2021, 788, 147736.
  21. Feng Jiang, Yanna Wang, Xiaoshuang Zhao, Yan Liu, Jing Chen, Qianli Sun, Maotian Li, Brian Finlayson, Zhongyuan Chen. Reconstruction of the Holocene sedimentary–ecological complex in the incised valley of the Yangtze Delta, China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2021, 571, 110387.
  22. Yinghui Jiang, Guoyu Yin⁎, Lijun Hou, Min Liua, Yanling Zheng, Ping Han. Dongsheng Zheng, Cheng Chen, Maotian Li*. Marine aquaculture regulates dissimilatory nitrate reduction processes in a typical semi-enclosed bay of southeastern China. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2021, 104:376–386.
  23. Yanna Wang, Hao Xu, Maotian Li*. Long-term changes in phytoplankton communities in China’s Yangtze Estuary driven by altered riverine fluxes and rising sea surface temperature. Geomorphology, 2021,376:107566.
  24. Lai Xiaohe, Chen Haiwei, Hou Yuebao, Finlayson Brian, Li Maotian, Chen Jing. Lowering water level of Dongting lake of the Mid-Yangtze River in response to large-scale dam construction: A 60-year analysis. Geomorphology, 2021, 391: 107894.
  25. Liu Yan, Deng Lanjie, He Jin, Zhao Xiaoshuang, Wang Huimin, Feng Dan, Chen Jing, Li Maotian, Sun Qianli. Holocene geomorphological evolution and the Neolithic occupation in South Hangzhou Bay, China. Geomorphology, 2021, 389: 107827.
  26. Qing Zhan, Maotian Li*, Xiaoqiang Liu, Jing Chen⁎, Zhongyuan Chen. Sedimentary transition of the Yangtze subaqueous delta during the past century: Inspiration for delta response to future decline of sediment supply. Marine Geology 2020, 428,106279.
  27. Yan Liu, Lanjie Deng, Jin He, Ren Jiang, Daidu Fan, Xuezhong Jiang, Feng Jiang, Maotian Li, Jing Chen, Zhongyuan Chen, Qianli Sun, 2020. Early to middle Holocene rice cultivation in response to coastal environmental transitions along the South Hangzhou Bay of eastern China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 555,109872.
  28. Li, M.; Chen, J.; Finlayson, B.; Chen, Z.; Webber, M.; Barnett, J.; Wang, M. Freshwater Supply to Metropolitan Shanghai: Issues of Quality from Source to Consumers. Water, 2019. 11, 2176.
  29. Qianli Sun, Yan Liu, Bernd Wünnemanna, Yajun Penga, Xuezhong Jiang, Lanjie Deng, Jing Chen, Maotian Li, Zhongyuan Chen, 2019. Climate as a factor for Neolithic cultural collapses approximately 4000 years BP in China. Earth-Science Reviews, 197, 102915.
  30. Liu Yan, Ma Chunyan, Fan Daidu, Sun Qianli, Chen Jing, Li Maotian, Chen Zhongyuan, 2018. The Holocene environmental evolution of the inner Hangzhou Bay and its significance. Journal of Ocean University of China, 17 (6): 1301-1308.
  31. Taoyuan Wei, Zhanghua Wang, Jing Chen, Maotian Li. Non-flood season neap tides in the Yangtze estuary offshore: Flow mixing processes and its potential impacts on adjacent wetlands. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 2018,103: 127-139
  32. Maotian Li, Brian Finlayson, Michael Webber, Jon Barnett, Sophie Webber, Sarah Rogers, Zhongyuan Chen, Taoyuan Wei, Jing Chen, Xiaodan Wu, Mark Wang. Estimating urban water demand under conditions of rapid growth: the case of Shanghai. Regional Environment Change. 2017, 17:1153–1161, DOI 10.1007/s10113-016-1100-6 e
  33. X. Lai, D. Yin, B.L. Finlayson, T. Wei, M. Li, W. Yuan, S. Yang, Z. Dai, S. Gao, Z. Chen. Will river erosion below the Three Gorges Dam stop in the middle Yangtze? Journal of Hydrology, 2017, 554:24–31.
  34. Maotian Li, Hong Wang, Yimiao Li, Wei Ai, Lijun Hou, Zhongyuan Chen*. Sedimentary BSi and TOC quantifies the degradation of the Changjiang Estuary, China, from river basin alteration and warming SST. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2016, 183: 392-401.
  35. Jing Chen, Brian L. Finlayson, Taoyuan Wei, Qianli Sun, Michael Webber, Maotian Li, Zhongyuan Chen. Changes in monthly flows in the Yangtze River, China – With special reference to the Three Gorges Dam. Journal of Hydrology, 2016, (536): 293–301.
  36. M. Webber, M. T. Li, J. Chen, B. Finlayson, D. Chen, Z. Y. Chen, M. Wang, and J. Barnett.. Impact of the Three Gorges Dam, the South–North Water Transfer Project and water abstractions on the duration and intensity of salt intrusions in the Yangtze River estuary. Hydrology Earth System Science, 2015, 19: 4411–4425.
  37. Michael Webber, Jon Barnet, Zhongyuan Chen, Brian Finlayson, Mark Wang, Dan Chen, Jing Chen, Maotian Li, Taoyuan Wei, Saran Wu. Hao Xu. Constructing Water Shortages on a Huge River: The Case of Shanghai. Geographical Research, 2015, 53(4):406–418.
  38. Maotian Li, Zhongyuan Chen*, Brian Finlayson, Taoyuan Wei, Jing Chen, Xiaodan Wu, Hao Xu, Michael Webber, Jon Barnett, Mark Wang.  Water diversion and sea-level rise: potential threats to freshwater supplies in the Changjiang River estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2015, 156: 52-60.
  39. Chen Jing, Wu Xiaodan, Finlayson Brian L, Webber Michael, Wei Taoyuan, Li Maotian，Chen Zhongyuan. Variability and trend in the hydrology of the Yangtze River, China: Annual precipitation and runoff. Journal of Hydrology, 2014, 513:403-412.
  40. Maotian Li, Jianzhong Ge, Jens Kappenberg, Dagmar Much, Ohle Nino, Zhongyuan Chen. Morphodynamic processes of the Elbe River estuary, Germany: The Coriolis effect, tidal asymmetry and human dredging. Frontier of Earth Science, 2014, 8(2):181-189.
  41. Xu Hao, Chen Zhongyuan, Finlayson Brian, WebberMichael, Wu Xiaodan, Li, Maotian, Chen Jing, Wei Taoyuan, Barnett Jon, Wang Mark. Assessing dissolved inorganic nitrogen flux in the Yangtze River, China: Sources and scenarios. Global and Planetary Change, 2013, 106: 84-89.
  42.  Brian L. Finlayson, Jon Barnett, Taoyuan Wei, Michael Webber, Maotian Li, Mark Y. Wang, Jing Chen, Hao Xu, Zhongyuan Chen. The drivers of risk to water security in Shanghai. Regional Environmental Change, 2013, 13(2):329-340
  43. Maotian Li, Zhongyuan Chen, Daowei Yin, Jing Chen, Zhanghua Wang, Qianli Sun. Morphodynamic characteristics of the dextral diversion of the Yangtze River mouth, China: tidal and the Coriolis Force controls. Earth Surface Processes and Landform, 2011, 36(5): 569–710
  44. Chen, J., Wang, Z.B., Li, M.T., Wei, T.Y., Chen, Z. Bedform characteristics during fallingflood stage and morph dynamic interpretation of the mid-lower Changjiang (Yangtze) River channel, China. Geomorphology, 2012, 18-26:147-148
  45.  Maotian Li., Kaiqin Xu., Skywura Noliao. The effect of geomorphologic change on distribution of discharge and sediment flux in the Yangtze River mouth. Environment technology, 2010, 8:34~35 (in Japanese).
  46. Wang Z., Li M., Zhang R., Liu Y., Saito Y., Xie J., Li B., Zhao B. Impacts of human activity on the late Holocene development of the subaqueous Yangtze delta, China, as shown by magnetic properties and sediment accumulation rates. The Holocene, 2010.
  47. Wang ZQ., Chen  Z., Li MT., Chen J., Zhao YW., Wang H., Yu FY.  Downstreamgrain-size variation to interpret river-channel process-form in the middle-lower Yangtze River. China. Geomorphology, 2009, 113: 217–229.
  48. Heqin Cheng, Jiufa Li, Daowei Yin, Maotian Li, Baocan Wang. Nearshore bedform instability in the eastern entrance to the Qiongzhou Strait, South China Sea. Frontiers of Earth Science in China, 2008, 2(3): 283-291.
  49.  Maotian Li, Kaiqin Xu, MasatakaWatanabe, Zhongyuan Chen. Long-term variation of dissolved silicate flux from the Yangtze River into the East China Sea and impact of estuarine ecosystem. Estuary, Coastaland Shelf Science, 2007, 71: 3-12.
  50. Wang Zhe, Chen Zhongyuan, Maotian Li, Zhang Qiang, Wei Taoyuan. Geomorphdynamic mechanism of sand wave of main channel in the middle and lower Yangtze River. China Science, 2007, 37(9): 1223-1234.
  51. Qiang Zhang, Yangfeng Shi, Tong Jiang, Maotian Li. Channel Changes of the Makou- Tianjiazhen Reach during the Past 40 Years in the Middle Yangtze River. Acta Geographica Sinaca, 2007, 62(1): 62-71.
Treatise: 
Maotian Li., Lixin Zhang., Qingquan Guo., Wei Gong., 2011. The riverine and oceanic Chongming Island , Shanghai Popular Science Press, Shanghai, 112pp (in Chinese).
Awards: 
won the first prize of Shanghai Natural Science in 2011(NO.20112008-1-R03).
won the third prize of Shanghai Science and Technology Progress in 2003
Most cites of journal of Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science in 2009
University Homepage: 
https://faculty.ecnu.edu.cn/_s20/lmt/main.psp