I feel this is an pertinent thread and I would like to provide some more
information to those who are interested.
I attended a lecture given by Dr. Bing Wang with the Chinese Academy
of Forestry on the CFERN (Chinese Forest Ecosystem Research Network) last
February at the Luquillo LTER site (Puerto Rico). It seems that they are
doing big things. All of the following information is from my personal
notes on his lecture.
The network was established in 1998 with 11 previouis field stations.
China now has 75 field stations, and are projecting 99 stations by 2015,
including at least half of them being 50 Ha forestry plots. Stations are
planned to cover all vegetation types and classes present from tropical
monsoon forests to plateau steppe meadows. They have standardized 13
across-site criterion to govern directed research goals.
China lies at approximately at 30ยบ N latitude, creating a temperature
gradient N to S. The moisture gradient lies E(wetter) to W(drier) and an
elevational gradient exists from the Himilayan mountains to sea level.
This creates variable eco-tones for comprehensive study. Interestingly,
recent soil transport data from a N to S transect shows significant change
in the permafrost boundary to support global climate change theory.
The industrialization of China has allowed for large-scale secondary forest
regeneration, as seen in other parts of the world (e.g Puerto Rico). The
focus of the CFERN research is conservation of ecosystem services to
support a growing nation. Dr. Wang's estimates show 200 billion tons of
carbon sequestered by Chinese forests annually. Furthermore, he states 1/4
of China's GDP is allocated to conservation of ecosystem services; 40% of
this to water conservation, 25% to species conservation and 15% to Carbon
Fixation.
Perhaps, this was President Obama's motivation in passing the NEON bill.
In my opinion, it is a monumental step for the discipline of Ecology in
China that will provide an alternative opportunity for ecological study and
a comparative to American finding . Please share your thoughts and/ or
feelings on this matter.
Thanks for your time.
James Aaron Hogan
University of Puerto Rico- Environmental Sciences
(970) 485-1412
hogiesk...@gmail.com
On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 4:55 PM, Steve Young <steve.yo...@unl.edu> wrote:
> This is enlightening.
> If they wait another decade or two will there be anything left of the
> environment to prioritize protection for?
> Steve
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:
> ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of David Inouye
> Sent: Friday, September 28, 2012 1:51 PM
> To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU
> Subject: [ECOLOG-L] ecology in China
>
> I returned two days ago from a trip to northeast China, where I gave
> lectures at a couple of universities, and thought I'd share a few
> observations about ecological research in China. The Chinese government is
> putting significant resources into trying to enhance the quality of
> research in that country. Sending students and faculty overseas for
> training is one way they're doing this. My faculty host went to the
> Botanical Society meeting here in the US last summer, and a host at the
> other university I visited will spend 3-4 months at Yale this winter, in
> his first trip to the USA. They have access to funding to bring
> international visitors about once a year, and in addition to my visit this
> year, they've had guests from Australia and Germany in the past year or
> two. I gave a couple of seminars about my research, and a talk about how to
> publish in high-profile journals.
> The graduate student who served as my translator says that he won't get
> his Ph.D. until he has an article accepted in such a journal, and there are
> financial incentives for the faculty who do so. Ecology, and Ecology
> Letters, were mentioned as two journals that would be preferred venues for
> papers. I also spent a few hours providing feedback after a presentation
> about ongoing research there, and talked later with both faculty and grad
> students about their work.
>
> My host (Dr. Yan-Wen Zhang, Changchun Normal University) has had several
> papers published in good journals about the interesting work he does with
> plant-pollinator interactions, and the host at Northeast Normal University
> (Dr. Deli Wang, head of the Institute of Grassland Science, and director of
> Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology) also has a good publication record,
> and a large new grant for an experimental study of grazing (mammals and
> grasshoppers, on experimentally warmed plots that include manipulations of
> precipitation) in grasslands of northeast China. Both of these
> ("Normal") universities specialize in training teachers, and have about 10
> -15,000 students. I learned that male Professors in China have a mandatory
> retirement age of 65, and female Professors must retire at 55. This is at
> least in part a way of ensuring job opportunities for the growing number of
> Ph.D. students. I was not told the rationale for difference in retirement
> age. The grad student who translated for me lives in campus housing
> ($100/yr for Ph.D.
> students, $200 for undergraduates) and eats his meals in the dining hall
> (about $5/day). He hopes to visit an international university in a few
> years, possibly for a postdoc.
>
> The amount of construction going on in Changchun, and in Shenyang (largest
> city in northeast China) is staggering, and automobile traffic was about as
> heavy as in the Washington, D.C. area. But there was quite a bit of what
> seemed to be natural forest in some areas outside the cities, and the
> protected Changbai Mountain park on the North Korean border was impressive
> (and apparently has two species of bears, tigers, and other wildlife). The
> ecologists I met with recognize the environmental problems (e.g., air
> pollution) that face their country, but are hopeful that in another decade
> or two, once economic development has improved, that the country will be
> able to afford to prioritize environmental protection.
>
> Although students study English in schools in China, writing papers in
> English is still a challenge for many of the ecologists (and spoken English
> even more so). The Ecological Society of America maintains an <
> http://www.esa.org/authorhelp/>ESA Author Help Directory (
> http://www.esa.org/authorhelp/ ) that lists volunteers who will help
> non-English speakers in preparing papers for submission, if you're
> interested in helping such authors.
>
> I expect that we'll be hearing more in the future about ecological
> research in China. There is already at least one NSF-funded collaborative
> program with China funded by the Dimensions of Biodiversity program.
>
> David Inouye
>
> Dr. David W. Inouye, Professor
> Associate Chair, Director of Graduate Studies Dept. of Biology University
> of Maryland College Park, MD 20742-4415
>
> Rocky Mtn. Biological Laboratory
> PO Box 519
> Crested Butte, CO 81224
>
> ino...@umd.edu
> 301-405-6946
>
