National Academies Press: OpenBook
« Previous: Part III Chinese Institutions for Grassland Studies
Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×

9
Beijing

INSTITUTE OF BOTANY, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Chinese

Zhongguo kexueyuan zhiwu yanjiuso

Address

141 Xizhimenwai Ave., Beijing 100044

Director

Zhang Xinshi (Chang Hsin-shih)

Telephone

893831

Fax

831-2840

Cable

2891

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Botany (IOB), founded in 1950, has a staff of more than 700, under director Zhang Xinshi (David Chang), and a broad agenda of plant studies. The institute publishes Acta botanica sinica [Zhiwu xuebao], Acta phytoecologica et geobotanica sinica [Zhiwu shengtaixue yu dizhiwu xuebao], Acta phytotaxonomia sinica [Zhiwu fenglei xuebao], the Chinese Journal of Botany (in English), and four other botanical journals. It also administers the Inner Mongolia Grassland Ecosystem Research Station in Xilingele, the Beijing Forest Ecosystem Research Station in Beijing, and the "Project on Optimum Ecological Modeling of Grasslands in Northern China," and serves as the biological subcenter for the Chinese Ecological Research Network.

The "Project on Optimum Ecological Modeling" is directed by Professor Zhang Xinshi and supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC). This grant provides 2.5 million yuan over five years (1990–1994) for ecological modeling of grasslands in five regions of northern China. The project has four major goals: (1) to survey and establish data bases and ecological maps for each of five designated research sites; (2) to conduct basic research on the process of grassland degradation, the characteristics of major

Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×

forage plants, water and nutrient cycling, productivity, and carrying capacity; (3) to conduct experiments on preventing grassland degradation, improving degraded grasslands, and creating artificial grasslands; and (4) to develop models for the ecological system and optimal productivity of each grassland area.

A principal investigator is responsible for research at each of the five project sites, which represent particular grassland types, as follows: (1) Changling: Professor Li Jiandong of the Institute of Grassland Science, Northeast Normal University, will study the alkaline steppe of the Songnen Basin in Jilin Province (Map 1-3). As a result of poor irrigation and overgrazing, this tall grass steppe on the border between Jilin and Inner Mongolia is severely degraded. IOB senior research professor Zheng Huiying and scholars from Northeast Normal University are seeking to alleviate the problem by a combination of bioengineering, mulch treatment, and livestock rotation. (2) Xilingele: Professor Chen Zuozhong, director of the Inner Mongolia Grassland Ecosystem Research Station, will oversee research on the degraded steppe of east-central Inner Mongolia. This area is overgrazed and degraded, but shows no sign of salinization or alkalinization. (3) Maowusu: Professor Zhang Xinshi will lead work in the sand grassland of the Ordos Plateau in southwest Inner Mongolia. Although the chief problem in the Ordos has been overgrazing followed by formation of dunes, this area has great potential for increasing pastoral productivity and improving ecological conditions through the development of agroforestry. Scholars from the Desert Research Institute in Lanzhou who work at this site emphasize shrub adaptations to provide forage and control sand. (4) Linze: Professor Ren Jizhou, director of the Gansu Grassland Ecosystem Research Institute, will supervise research on the desert grassland of western Gansu (Map 1-4). The Linze site lies in the Hexi Corridor, a desert area that has been highly salinized by previous irrigation and seepage of groundwater. (5) Hutubi: Professor Xu Peng, president of the August 1st Agricultural College, will study the desert-oasis grassland on the southern edge of the Junggar Basin in Xinjiang (Map 1-5). Hutubi lies in a desert grassland, between the desert and an oasis. The area is too saline for cultivation but could be restored for grazing.

During 1990, the first year of this project, field investigations were conducted at each site to produce land-type maps (including soil, vegetation, climate, and groundwater) at a scale of 1:5000. Some research has begun on the relationship between plants and soils and the process of degradation. Construction of housing and irrigation systems is in progress at two stations, Maowusu and Hutubi, and fenced-in enclosures have been built. An annual meeting of principal investigators is designed to assess current progress and to plan future activities.

A major constraint on the Chinese ability to carry out projects of this type is the lack of training and expertise in several key fields and disciplines. One goal of this project is to develop ecological and productivity optimization models for each location; the first models are now being developed for the Maowusu and Changling sites. The Institute of Botany has adequate com-

Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×

puter and other equipment to perform this work but lacks the necessary expertise. China's few trained modelers are young and untried, whereas senior Chinese scientists have little experience in providing data suitable for simulation models. The shortage of previous work in the social sciences, particularly as they relate to natural resources, also hampers these efforts. Although economics is an essential component of the modeling project, the IOB has no trained economists. Some work in economics has begun at the Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Xinjiang sites, but not in Jilin or the Ordos. There has been no work in other branches of social science at any site.

The Institute of Botany is also involved in two projects that use remote sensing for the study of grasslands. In the first project, the institute has been charged to produce 80 vegetation maps (1:1,000,000) and ecological maps, covering all of China, based on data from Thematic Mapper [TM] and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer [AVHRR], aerial photos, and ground investigations. The project will be completed in 1992 and the maps published in 1993, if sufficient funding can be secured. The second project involves mapping of the loess plateau. Professor Chi Hongkang of IOB has been working for five years on mapping the plateau, based on aerial photos from the 1950s and more recent satellite (TM) photos. Maps produced in this project (1:500,000) will include grasses as well as other types of vegetation.

BUREAU OF RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Chinese

Zhongguo kexueyuan ziran ziyuan yu shengtai kexue zhu

Address

52 Sanlihe Road, Beijing 100864

Director

Sun Shu

Telephone

836-1502

Fax

801-1095

Telex

2274 ASCHI CN

The CAS Bureau of Resources and Environmental Science administers the Chinese Ecological Research Network (CERN), a nationwide network of research stations, including several located in grassland areas. CERN was established in 1987 by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to provide direction and coordination for 52 research stations that had been set up by the academy over the preceding decades. The impetus for this move came from the growing awareness in China, as elsewhere, of the significance of "global change" and the formation of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the Chinese National Committee for IGBP, developments that called for more effective collecting and sharing of ecological data. In this respect, similar developments have occurred in the U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network. The person most responsible for the creation of CERN and the

Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×

current chairman of the CERN Scientific Committee is CAS vice president, Sun Honglie. Professor Sun Shu is director of the Bureau of Resources and Environmental Science. Mme. Zhao Jianping, deputy director of the bureau, serves as chief administrator for CERN. During the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1986–1990), CERN received funds to support a series of pilot research projects. One projection of the CERN budget for the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1991–1995) includes 70 million yuan (U.S.$12.25 million) for capital construction and research activities. Beijing has applied for $30 million from the World Bank to support this undertaking. The loan is now under study (Leach, 1990).

Current plans call for step-by-step development of the CERN network. During the next several years, 10 "first-level" stations will be specially equipped to gather data, carry out analyses, share information, and establish standards and procedures that will eventually be adopted by a wider network of 30 stations. Included in this first level are two grassland stations, the Inner Mongolia Grassland Ecosystem Research Station in Xilingele, Inner Mongolia, and the Haibei Research Station of High-Cold Meadow Ecosystem in Qinghai. Meanwhile, eight subcenters are being set up to receive data from the stations and to coordinate work on each of four elements (water, soil, atmosphere, and biological organisms) and four ecosystems (agriculture, forest, fresh water, and grassland). Each of these subcenters will be lodged in an appropriate CAS institute, as follows: water (Institute of Geography, Beijing), soil (Institute of Pedology, Nanjing), atmosphere (Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Beijing), biological organisms (Institute of Botany, Beijing), agriculture and forest (Institute of Applied Ecology, Shenyang), fresh water (Institute of Hydrobiology, Wuhan), and grassland (Institute of Botany). Each of these subcenters should establish standards for measuring, recording, and exchanging data; develop an information system; build models; and organize research projects. Scholars at the Institute of Botany, which may house two of the subcenters including that for grasslands, note that CERN funds already support research at the Xilingele station, which is administered by IOB, and expect the government to invest about 1 million yuan in each of the first-level stations and subcenters and to provide an additional 100,000–300,000 yuan per year for research at each station over the next five years. They were frank to point out, however, that debate on this plan has been heated, because some of the parties left out of the project have opposed the establishment of CERN subcenters on the grounds that they would dominate research agendas and drain funding from other activities.

INSTITUTE OF ZOOLOGY, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Chinese

Zhongguo kexueyuan dongwu yanjiuso

Address

19 Zhongguancun Road, Haidian, Beijing 100080

Director

Liu Shusen

Telephone

283124

Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×

The Institute of Zoology (IOZ) was established in 1962 by the merger of two older CAS institutes for zoology and entomology. In 1985, IOZ had 386 scientific personnel, including 64 professors and associate professors, organized into 10 research units. The work of this institute, although rooted in basic science, has addressed problems of economic and environmental importance, such as the breeding, health, and development of livestock; the control of insects, rodents, and other pests; and the effect of pesticides and other chemicals on animals and their environment. The institute, now under the direction of Professor Liu Shusen, publishes three of the leading journals in this field: Acta Zoologica Sinica [Dongwu xuebao], Acta Entomologica Sinica [Kunchong xuebao], and Acta Ecologica Sinica [Shengtai xuebao].

Professors Zhou Qingqiang and Zhong Wenqin of the Institute of Zoology have been conducting studies of rodents at the Xilingele research station, including (1) the identification of rodent species and study of the spatial distribution of rodent communities and their relationship to surrounding vegetation; (2) the population dynamics of various types of rodents; and (3) the control of voles by ecological methods. The past practice of using poisons often damaged crops and had only a limited impact on voles, whose population rebounded quickly after a brief decline. Current research suggests that the main cause of rodent infestation is overgrazing and that vole populations decline when grass biomass increases. The problem is to persuade local officials and herders to adopt rodent control practices that require limitations on grazing. Also important for the study of the grasslands has been the extensive research on grasshoppers in Inner Mongolia, carried out by Professor Li Hongchang of the institute's department of insect ecology.

COMMISSION FOR INTEGRATED SURVEY OF NATURAL RESOURCES, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Chinese

Zhongguo kexueyuan ziran ziyuan zonghe kaocha weiyuanhui

Address

917 Datun Road

P.O. Box 767, Beijing 100101, China

Director

Sun Honglie

Telephone

423-1525

Fax

423-1520

Cable

4844 Beijing

The Commission for Integrated Survey of Natural Resources (CISNAR) is under the dual control of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the State Planning Commission and is headed by CAS vice president, Sun Honglie. This places CISNAR over the CAS institutes and enables it to mobilize scientists from inside and outside the academy to carry out important national surveys. CISNAR is organized into 10 divisions, including water, land, forestry, crops, agricultural economy, industrial economy, information, grasslands, and animal husbandry.

Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×

Beginning in the 1950s, the CISNAR Division of Grassland Resources and Animal Husbandry Ecology took an interest in the outlying regions of China. During 1950–1980 the division carried out surveys of Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, and Tibet. This work, which was led by Professor Liao Guofan, is now complete. An atlas (1:1,000,000) and comprehensive report that will include information gathered in northern China is forthcoming.

Recently, CISNAR has shifted its attention to the southern grasslands. A large grant from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Chinese Academy of Sciences supports a survey of the grasslands of western Sichuan, Tibet, and south China. Attention has shifted to the south for both intellectual and practical reasons: to expand the horizons of grassland science and take advantage of areas with high rainfall where investment in grasslands will produce the greatest yields. CISNAR has used CAS funds to establish a research station in western Sichuan, where it is conducting experiments on growing grass and breeding animals in an area that is too cold for agriculture and has not previously been used for animal husbandry. A second station is planned for a site north of Lhasa, Tibet. The division of grassland resources and animal husbandry ecology, under director Huang Wenxiu, has begun work on a national key project to study optimal patterns of animal husbandry in mountain areas, which will be funded under the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1991–95).

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, GRASSLAND DIVISION

Chinese

Zhongguo nongyebu xumuju caoyechu

Address

Beijing 100026

Chief

Li Yutang

Telephone

500-3366, 500-3074

Fax

500-2448

Telex

22233 MGR CN

The Grassland Division of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) under division chief Li Yutang, plays a major role in grassland operations and research. The ministry performs four major functions related to grasslands. First, in the area of administration, MCA has offices at the provincial, prefectural, and county levels that include divisions of grasslands and animal husbandry. These offices are responsible for administration of grassland affairs, including the implementation and enforcement of laws, regulations, and policies; the supervision of development projects; and short-term and long-term planning. Second, the ministry maintains extension stations at each level for the introduction of technical improvements. These stations are staffed by personnel responsible for technical innovation, scientific research, and practical application of new devices. Third, MCA supports research through the Chinese Academy of

Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×

Agricultural Science's Grassland Research Institute in Hohhot, the Institute of Animal Science in Beijing, and the Institute of Animal Science in Lanzhou; through the Gansu Grassland Ecological Research Institute in Lanzhou, which is administered jointly by MOA and Gansu Province; and through institutes under the various provincial academies of agriculture and animal husbandry. Fourth, three universities under the Ministry of Agriculture—Gansu Agricultural University in Lanzhou, Inner Mongolia College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry in Hohhot, and the August 1st Agricultural College in Urumqi—have departments of grassland sciences, while other MOA-sponsored agricultural universities in Beijing, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangxi, and Shaanxi maintain programs for the study of grasslands.

Finally, the Ministry of Agriculture plays a major role in organizing and administering professional associations and scholarly societies related to grasslands. The Chinese Grassland Society (CGS) [Zhongguo caoyuan xuehui] is the largest and most comprehensive of China's grassland organizations. Hong Fuzeng, vice minister of agriculture, is chairman, and Li Yutang is first vice chairman. Under the CGS are eight technical societies [yanjiuhui], including a society for grassland ecology, chaired by Professor Ren Jizhou. The Grassland Systems Engineering Society [Caoye xitong gongcheng xuehui], chaired by Qian Xuesen, chairman of the Chinese Association of Science and Technology, combines the study of natural and social sciences to enhance understanding of grassland resources. The Chinese Grasslands Association [Zhongguo caoye xiehui], made up of various grassland producers, promotes trade, technology transfer, and other commercial activities.

INSTITUTE OF ANIMAL SCIENCE, CHINESE ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES

Chinese

Zhongguo nongye kexueyuan jiaxu kexue yanjiuso

Address

Malianwa, Haidian, Beijing

Director

Chen Youchun

Telephone

258-1177

Cable

3668 Beijing

The Institute of Animal Science has a staff of 270, including 170 scientists, organized into nine research labs for feed crops and forage, animal breeding and germ plasm, animal genetics, animal reproduction, animal nutrition, swine science, poultry science, cattle science, and biotechnology. Professors Huang Wenhui and Su Jiakai gave the delegation from the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China a briefing on the institute's program of grassland research. In the area of animal husbandry, studies are being carried out on trace elements in sheep (in cooperation with an Australian team), dairy cattle breeding, sheep reproduction by artificial insemination

Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×

(conducted jointly with scholars from West Germany), and biotechnology related to cattle. In the area of feed crops and forage, the institute is working on the improvement of hay production in Hubei Province, the breeding of salt-resistant alfalfa, the breeding and use of toxic legumes, and the collection of forage grass germ plasm.

REFERENCE

Leach, Beryl. 1990. Long-term ecological research in China: CAS establishes a network. China Exchange News 18.4:23–27.

Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×
Page 135
Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×
Page 136
Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×
Page 137
Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×
Page 138
Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×
Page 139
Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×
Page 140
Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×
Page 141
Suggested Citation:"9 Beijing." National Research Council. 1992. Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1942.
×
Page 142
Next: 10 The Northeast »
Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $50.00
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

This volume describes one of the most extensive grassland ecosystems and the efforts of Chinese scientists to understand it.

Leading Chinese scientists attribute the decline in China's grasslands to overgrazing and excessive cultivation of marginal areas and discuss measures to limit the damage. The book gives its view on the Chinese approach to the study of grasslands and the relevance of this activity in China to global scientific concerns.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!