Recently, the Department of Science and Technology of Yunnan Province released the Key Laboratory Construction Plan of Yunnan Province in 2024.  According to the plan, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) has been approved to construct one Yunnan provincial key laboratory, namely Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Forest Ecosystem Stability and Global Change Response.

The laboratory is based in Yunnan and faces the Southeast Asian region. It primarily studies typical forest ecosystems such as tropical rainforests, savana ecosystem in dry-hot valleys, subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests, and subalpine coniferous forests in Yunnan Province.

Relying on national field stations, a widely established network of forest plots, canopy tower cranes, carbon-water flux iron towers, and large precipitation isolation experiments as research platforms, the key lab focuses on the stability of forest ecosystems under the background of global change and the complex interactions with global changes. It pays special attention to the changes in structure and function of forest ecosystems under extreme climate events and their response mechanisms.

The key lab aims to build a globally leading scientific research platform, gather interdisciplinary scientific talents, cultivate and create internationally influential research teams. It will provide key technological support for formulating biodiversity conservation strategies, addressing global change challenges, achieving "carbon neutrality" goals, and offer theoretical support for implementing important ecosystem protection and restoration.

It is reported that in 2024, a total of 18 key laboratories across the province will be supported.

This is the second provincial key laboratory of XTBG. Previously, Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Rainforest and Asian Elephant Protection was approved for construction in 2022.