On afternoon of 14th November, Florian Maderspancher, Senior editor of Current Biology, visited Soil Ecology Group(SEG). Xiaodong Yang introduced recent works in SEG to Florian. Florian show interesting in spider and rubber plantation. And also impressed by diversity of colleagues in SEG.
Hope SEG have a chance to publish some work in Current Biology!
Xiaodong Yang introduce rently work of SEG
Part of SEG members photo with Florian Maderspacher
From 12th to 29th October, Soil Ecolog Group(SEG) successfully conducted field soil sampling at Liangjiang Forest Dynamic Plot. To systematically analysis soil food webs and above-below ground interactions, we systematically sampled 660 soils and corresponding litter(humus) samples in plot based on geostatistic principle. Then we clearly disposed samples for analysis of soil nutrient, soil animal, soil microbe and soil nametodes. This activity was coorperate with Lijiang Alpine Botanical Garden. Here we sincerely thanks Professor Kun Xu and Hua Huang and other colleagues in Lijiang Alpine Botanical Garden.
Glimpses of study plot
Equipment to grilled worms
Extract NH4N and NO3N in field
Extraction of nematodes
Professor Xin-Hua He visited Soil Ecology Group in 27th-30th July. Xin-Hua He is a professor in The University of Western Australia, and also Professor in College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University. He mainly focus on mycorrhizal network and proposed hypothesis and proven that plant can bi-directional transport nitrogen through mycorrhizal network.
During visiting, Professor Xin-Hua He introduced how to conduct experiments for mycorrhizal network nutrient transformation, Hai-Feng Xiao and Shang-Wen Xia also introduced our works conducted now in Soil Ecology Group. Professor Xiao-Dong Yang and Professor Xin-Hua He discussed the how to cooperate to conduct mycorrhizal study in Xishuangbanna in future.
During 8th-20th July, the 5th CTFS-CBio workshop successfully organized by Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry in Jianfengling, Hainan. Shangwen Xia attended the workshop. And given two oral presentations “Fine-scale spatial structure of nematodes and their relationship to trees in a tropical rainforest” and “Effect of biotic driven soil heterogeneity on seedling niche differentiation”.
Sincerely thanks Straut J Davies and other CTFS colleagues for helps, and also Luxiang Lin and Han Xu for helps.
Group photo
Photo with respectable Stephen P. Hubbell
On 13th June, Soil Ecology Group (SEG) passed the 4-yr academic evaluation.
After Professor Yang leading SEG in 2012, SEG faced the first academic evaluation. On 13th June, Professor Yang given academic commitee a presentation to introduce achivement, weakness and future plan of SEG. During these 4 years, SEG continually focus on soil diversity, and its relationship to nutrient cycling, trophic cascade effect, interaction betwen plant and soil organism, and conservation. Finally, published 19 paper with first and (or) corresponding author including Functional Ecology, Global Change Biology, Soil Biology & Biochemistry, Plant and Soil. And also other 12 papers cooperated with other research groups. In future, SEG will plan to extend research to Southeast Asia and do more contribution to soil diversity research in tropical Asia. As commitee criticised, we should also think about to continually focus deep on specific important scientific questions.
On the 1th June, two master students in soil ecology group, Hongyan Hu and Zhipeng Li passed their graduation thesis defense.
Insect herbivory is important process in ecological system. It’s not only affect plant growing and community composition, but also affect ecosystem productivity and nutrient cycling within ecosystems. As forest fragmentation is intensifying, the effect of fragmentation on ecological system process is becoming a hot issue of ecological research in recent years. In order to understand how forest fragmentation effect on insect herbivory, Hongyan Hu surveyed insect herbivory of dominant tree species in four rain forest fragments and eleven evergreen broad-leaved forest fragments and continuous forest in Nabanhe National Reserve of Xishuangbanna. Her results showed that forest fragmentation could cause mean herbivory frequency of dominant species decreased significantly, but had no significant effect on mean herbivory of them. Forest type and season could influence insect herbivory of dominant species in forest fragments significantly, but fragment area, tree diversity and leaf characteristics were not correlated with insect herbivory of dominant species.
Photo of Hongyan Hu(胡鸿雁) with her supervisor Zheng Zheng(郑征)
Soil nematodes play a key role in many important ecological processes such as nutrients cycling and vegetation succession. However, it needs still further studies to explore the relative importance and characteristic scale of niche processes and neutral processes on soil nematodes community assemblage, especially for tropical seasonal rainforests. Through high intensively collecting spatial information about topography, soil properties, litter fall, vegetation and nematodes community structure, Zhipeng Li found that biotic and abiotic environmental heterogeneities are important for nematodes community assemblage in tropical seasonal rainforests. It might have important influence on ecosystem function and maintenance of aboveground biodiversity.
Photo of Zhipeng Li(李志鹏) with his supervisor Xiaodong Yang(杨效东)
Invited by Professor Yang (PI), Professors Zhihong Xu and Chris Johnson visited Soil Ecology Group (SEG) On 26th-29th May, 2016. Professor Zhihong Xu is the director of Environmental future research center in Griffith University, Australia, and chief editor of Journal of Soils and Sediments. Chris E. Johnson is the professor in Syracuse University, USA, and editor of Journal of Soils and Sediments.
On 27th May, in the International Academic Hall, Professor Zhihong Xu give us a presentation with title of Tipping points of non-linear tree growth responses to climate change in different forest ecosystems from subtropical to boreal regions. Chris E. Johnson give us a presentation with title of Soil Carbon stocks in a temporate hardwood forest: Climate changes effects and recover from chronic acidification.
On 28th May, Professor Zhihong Xu and Chris Johnson visitied the 20 ha. forest dynamic plot in bubeng.
Professor Zhihong Xu and Chris Johnson are very interesting in the ecological process of nutrients cycling in tropical rainforest and discussed with SEG for the potential possibility for cooperation in future.
During 21-24 May, 2016, Professor Xiao-dong Yang, and colleagues Hai-feng Xiao and Shang-wen Xia attended the International Workshop on Agricultural Resources and Environment (2016) Soil-Plant Interactions and Soil Microbial Ecology undertake by Nanjing Agricultural University. More than 100 scientists and students attended the conference. Xiao-dong Yang given a presentation with title of “Link biodiversity to reconstruct Environmental Friendly Rubber Plantation”, Hai-feng Xiao given a presentation with title of “Genomics reveal distribuional patterns of soil nematode in relation to environmental viriables in tropical and subtropical forests”.
After the meeting, we visited Professors Man-qiang Liu, and Hui-xin Li, et al in soil ecology lab in College of Resource and Environment Science and have friendly academic communications. Xiao-dong Yang given a presentation with title of “Climate and soil fauna differently modulate the effects of litter quality on decomposition along elevation gradient in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests”. Shang-wen Xia given a presentation with title of “Effect of biotic and abiotic factors on scale-dependent variability of soil nutrients”.
Group photos with part of collegue and students in soil ecology lab in College of Resource and Environment Science and visiting scholars including Bryan Sydney Griffiths and Michael Bonkowski
During 18-19 April 2016, Prefossro Xiao-Dong Yang, staff Jian-Ming Gan and Shang-Wen Xia visited Yuanjiang Dry-hot Valley Ecological Station.
With guide of station-officer Shu-Bing Zhang, we visited the dynamic monitor plot. We are very impressed by special savanna climate and plant adaption traits here, and discussed with station-officers for the potential for conduct soil ecology experiment here.
