Established in 2007, the Ecological Evolution Group in the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Gardens aims to promote research and conservation of the Asian tropics within the Chinese Academy of Sciences and internationally. Through a combination of basic research, applied conservation, local outreach and student training, we hope to have a positive impact on the future condition and management of natural forests and the communities they sustain. We integrate experience across a wide range of scientific approaches and techniques from systematics and phylogenetics to remote sensing and genomic biology.
The conservation and management of tropical forest resources is probably the most complex of the life sciences as it strives to balance the interaction between global human socio-economic patterns and poorly understood ecological and evolutionary forces of megadiverse communities. We are working at this interface in many ways, from using remote sensing technology to develop detailed spatial strategies and broad geographic surveys of biomass and biodiversity, from phylogenetic studies of phenotypic trait evolution to genomic sequencing projects using the latest cutting-edge DNA sequencing platforms.
We’ve grown rapidly in the past two years and the scope of our work continues to expand. While the central themes of our work remain the same, our techniques and approaches seem to be as dynamic as the region in which we find ourselves!
Latest Updates
13 Oct 2009XTBG scientists attended the Next Generation Sequencing Conference (NGS) 2009, Barcelona, Spain
Chuck Cannon and Chai-Shian Kua attended the Conference Of Next Gen Sequencing 2009 (1st-3rd, Oct ) at the historical Casa Convalescencia of Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona. This conference, with the aim to address challenges and oppurtunities presented by Next Gen Sequencing technology, has brought technological representatives and researchers together to interact [...]
07 Aug 2009AFEC-X comes to a successful close
The final symposium for the Advanced Fieldcourse in Ecology and Conservation in the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Gardens was held on August 6, 2009. Ten student groups presented their independent research projects, demonstrating a lot of hard work and improvement. Many of them tackled new topics and concepts, developed their own analyses and interpretations. They obviously [...]
31 Jul 2009Addicted to rubber
Science Magazine has a special section on Restoration Ecology this week and there are two feature articles about China and Southeast Asia. XTBG is highlighted several times.
Read the “Addicted to Rubber” article here.30 Jul 2009XTBG special section in China Daily
China Daily had a special section in their newspaper about the garden.
This link will take you to the page at XTBG’s website.
You can directly get the PDF here.24 Jul 2009In China Daily…are we famous yet?
A short article about living and working in the garden.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cityguide/2009-07/23/content_8464291.htm
Interesting to see how fragments of what you say can be used for different purposes.
