The Ninth Cross-Straits Workshop on Forest Dynamics Plots was held at National Dong Hua University of Chinese Taiwan from November 20-27. The workshop was hosted by Biodiversity Committee of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), attended by 120 participants from Chinese mainland and Taiwan. Prof. Yang Xiaodong and four young researchers of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) participated in the workshop.
   The workshop comprised talks focusing on forest dynamics, spatial patterns, biodiversity monitoring, forest soil, wildlife diversity, phylogenetic studies, etc. The participants extensively discussed these topics during the workshop.
  Prof. Yang Xiaodong and Dr. Hu Yuehua of XTBG presented their research entitled “Soil fauna diversity and distribution in the tropical and subtropical forests – a base study of 20 ha CTFS plot in Yunnan Province, SW china” and “Partitioning phylogenetic and species composition in soil fungal community of a 20  ha tropical rainforest” respectively. Dr. Lin Luxiang chaired a symposium on biodiversity studies based on network of forest plots.
  After the workshop, XTBG participants visited 10-ha forest plot in Kunming.

About
Funded by Biodiversity Committee, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network (CForBio) began to be established in 2004. It is a research base for monitoring changes in biodiversity of forest ecosystems in China, and also an important part of global forest biodiversity  monitoring network. It covers major forest vegetation types at different latitudes, including conifer and broadleaf mixed forest, deciduous broad-leaved forest, evergreen broad-leaved forest and tropical rainforest.