A symposium of the Advance Fieldcourse in Ecology and Conservation - XTBG (AFEC-X) 2011 was held at the Conference Hall on Dec 1st, which marked the completion of the six-week intensive training course. Course participants presented the findings from their independent research projects conducted in Bulong Nature Reserve, Mengsong, a Forest Reserve near the Myanmar border, which contains old-growth forest, surrounded by different secondary forest types and famous Pu-er tea plantations.
The panel of judges was comprised of Prof Li Qingjun, Prof Ferry Slik, Dr. Rhett Harrison,Dr. Tang Yong, Dr Jeremy Miller and Dr Fan Zexin. The presentations of the group projects by the course participants impressed the judges and audience a lot.
The Best Research Project prize went to Xi Xinqiang, Pichani Saengtharatip, and U Unjong, whose presentation was entitled “The Effect of the Gravity on the Architecture of the Trees” .The Second Prize winners were Dang Viet Dai, Ashoka Ranjeewa, Kim KwanHyok and Yan Yan, who presented “Prey capture efficiency and movement behaviour in Nephila clavata in tea plantation in Mengsong, Yunnan, China” .
Prize winners and the judges
Afterwards, the panel judges had an informal communication with the participants and encouraged them to pursue further studies (MSc or PhD courses) in XTBG.
AFEC-X 2011 was held at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) from October 22 –December 3 and attracted 25 students from 12 countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, US, DPR Korea and China.
Sixteen researchers taught in the course. Resource staff from XTBG were Prof Cao Kunfang, Prof Ferry Slik, Prof Chuck Cannon, Prof Xu Zengfu, Assoc Prof Rhett Harrison, Assoc Prof Doug Schaefer, Dr Fan Zexin and Ms Shi Lingling. Other resource staff were Prof Doug Yu (Kunming Institute of Zoology), Dr Jeremy Miller (Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis), Dr Jacob Wickham (Institute of Chemistry, CAS), Dr Kathryn Bushley (Institute of Microbiology, CAS), Dr Bosco Chan (Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden, Hong Kong), and Dr David Roubik (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama).
Dr. Chen Jin, director of XTBG, visited the field course in Mengsong and attended the progress presentations conducted there. He also joined the participants in a traditional Hani dinner held in a local village house.
AFEC-X was generously supported by the leaders of XTBG, the Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).
The course participants and teachers
