2026 Melania E. Cristescu: Ecology and Evolution Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Ecology and Evolution	53	3364	3235	231	219	116	7851

Overview

Melania E. Cristescu is affiliated with McGill University in Canada. Their research spans a range of topics primarily centered around environmental science and molecular biology, focusing on ecological and genetic approaches to understanding biodiversity and aquatic ecosystems.

The main fields of study in Melania E. Cristescu's work include:

Environmental Science
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

The subfields of study covered are:

Ecology
Molecular Biology
Genetics
Nature and Landscape Conservation
Environmental Chemistry

The major topics addressed in their research include:

Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies
Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
Identification and Quantification in Food
Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
Fish Ecology and Management Studies
Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
Species Distribution and Climate Change

Frequent publication venues for Melania E. Cristescu's work are:

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Molecular Ecology
Molecular Ecology Resources
Environmental DNA
Trends in Ecology & Evolution

Notable coauthors frequently collaborating in their research include:

Joanne E. Littlefair
Alison M. Derry
Matthew C. Yates
Andrew Gonzalez
Beatrix E. Beisner

Some of their recent scientific papers are:

Environmental RNA: A Revolution in Ecological Resolution?, 2021, Trends in Ecology & Evolution
The relationship between eDNA particle concentration and organism abundance in nature is strengthened by allometric scaling, 2020, Molecular Ecology
Thermal stratification and fish thermal preference explain vertical eDNA distributions in lakes, 2020, Molecular Ecology
Assessment of current taxonomic assignment strategies for metabarcoding eukaryotes, 2021, Molecular Ecology Resources
Integrating physiology and environmental dynamics to operationalize environmental DNA (eDNA) as a means to monitor freshwater macro-organism abundance, 2021, Molecular Ecology

Best Publications

From barcoding single individuals to metabarcoding biological communities: towards an integrative approach to the study of global biodiversity

Melania E. Cristescu

540
Citations
Uses and Misuses of Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Science and Conservation

Melania E. Cristescu;Paul D.N. Hebert

338
Citations
High sensitivity of 454 pyrosequencing for detection of rare species in aquatic communities

Aibin Zhan;Aibin Zhan;Martin Hulák;Francisco Sylvester;Xiaoting Huang

314
Citations
Genetic reconstructions of invasion history

Melania E. Cristescu

264
Citations
An Integrated Multi-Disciplinary Approach for Studying Multiple Stressors in Freshwater Ecosystems: Daphnia as a Model Organism

Ianina Altshuler;Bora Demiri;Sen Xu;Anna Constantin

227
Citations
Can Environmental RNA Revolutionize Biodiversity Science

Melania E. Cristescu

212
Citations
Release and degradation of environmental DNA and RNA in a marine system.

Susanna A. Wood;Laura Biessy;Janie L. Latchford;Anastasija Zaiko

192
Citations
Metabarcoding using multiplexed markers increases species detection in complex zooplankton communities.

Guang K. Zhang;Frédéric J. J. Chain;Cathryn L. Abbott;Melania E. Cristescu

182
Citations
Invasion genetics of the Ciona intestinalis species complex: from regional endemism to global homogeneity

Aibin Zhan;Hugh J. Macisaac;Melania E. Cristescu

177
Citations
An invasion history for Cercopagis pengoi based on mitochondrial gene sequences

Melania E. A. Cristescu;Paul D. N. Hebert;Jonathan D. S. Witt;Hugh J. MacIsaac

175
Citations
Toward accurate molecular identification of species in complex environmental samples: testing the performance of sequence filtering and clustering methods

Jullien M. Flynn;Emily A. Brown;Emily A. Brown;Frédéric J. J. Chain;Hugh J. MacIsaac

170
Citations
Environmental RNA: A Revolution in Ecological Resolution?

Matthew C. Yates;Alison M. Derry;Melania E. Cristescu

165
Citations
Divergence thresholds and divergent biodiversity estimates: can metabarcoding reliably describe zooplankton communities?

Emily A. Brown;Emily A. Brown;Frédéric J. J. Chain;Teresa J. Crease;Hugh J. MacIsaac

144
Citations
Ameiotic recombination in asexual lineages of Daphnia

Angela R. Omilian;Melania E. A. Cristescu;Jeffry L. Dudycha;Michael Lynch

139
Citations
The relationship between eDNA particle concentration and organism abundance in nature is strengthened by allometric scaling.

M. C. Yates;D. M. Glaser;J. R. Post;M. E. Cristescu

138
Citations
The noncosmopolitanism paradigm of freshwater zooplankton: insights from the global phylogeography of the predatory cladoceran Polyphemus pediculus (Linnaeus, 1761) (Crustacea, Onychopoda).

S. Xu;P. D. N. Hebert;A. A. Kotov;M. E. Cristescu

127
Citations
Ancient lakes revisited: from the ecology to the genetics of speciation

Melania E. Cristescu;Sarah J. Adamowicz;James J. Vaillant;Douglas G. Haffner

125
Citations
Use of DNA barcoding to detect invertebrate invasive species from diapausing eggs

Elizabeta Briski;Melania E. Cristescu;Sarah A. Bailey;Sarah A. Bailey;Hugh J. MacIsaac

121
Citations
Early detection of aquatic invaders using metabarcoding reveals a high number of non‐indigenous species in Canadian ports

Emily A. Brown;Emily A. Brown;Frédéric J. J. Chain;Aibin Zhan;Hugh J. MacIsaac

117
Citations
Metabarcoding reveals strong spatial structure and temporal turnover of zooplankton communities among marine and freshwater ports

Frédéric J. J. Chain;Emily A. Brown;Emily A. Brown;Hugh J. MacIsaac;Melania E. Cristescu

115
Citations
Molecular Ecology Resources Primer Development Consortium

D. Aurelle;E. V. Zquez;Doukary Abdoullaye;Cecilia Agostini

78
Citations
15. GENETIC RECONSTRUCTIONS OF INVASION HISTORY

Melania E. Cristescu

5
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Hugh J. MacIsaac University of Windsor

Aibin Zhan Chinese Academy of Sciences

Paul D. N. Hebert University of Guelph

Elizabeta Briski GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel

Andrew Gonzalez McGill University

Michael Lynch Arizona State University

Daniel D. Heath University of Windsor

Gregor F. Fussmann McGill University

Sarah A. Bailey Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Brian E. Lapointe Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute

External Links

Wikipedia of Melania E. Cristescu Personal website of Melania E. Cristescu

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