Ecological Complexity and Ecosystem Services
Sino-USA Collaboration Project
Return Trip • Participants • Library • Products • FYI • Contacts • Credits • Chinese Site
The research challenge of understanding ecological systems grows more daunting every day, as the “natural” world grows increasingly connected to the “anthropogenic” world due to the large scale movements of information, capital, people, organisms, and materials. These connections have major implications for the interactions between the natural economy that provides key ecosystem services of benefit to society and the human (monetary) economy. These interactions are of particular interest in China and the USA, the nations that now dominate the world stage economically, demographically, and environmentally. This workshop activity in China will bring together American and Chinese researchers on biocomplexity and ecosystem services in a series of interactions designed to establish a network of international collaboration and exchange.
Following preliminary meetings between US and Chinese organizers, 10-12 American scientists will China to meet with Chinese counterparts at various national and regional research facilities and institutes. In addition to exchanging ideas and data, contacts will be made, and plans will be established for a return visit by Chinese scientists to relevant institutions and research sites in the USA.
Motivating Issues: Ecological systems are dynamic, complex and evolving; the multidisciplinary challenge of studying such systems has recently been brought under an over-arching concept of “biocomplexity” (Colwell 1998, Michener et al. 2001). The research challenge of understanding ecological systems grows more daunting every day, as the “natural” world grows increasingly connected to the “anthropogenic” world due to the large-scale movements of information, capital, people, organisms, and materials. These connections have major implications for the interactions between the natural economy that provides key ecosystem services of benefit to society and the human (monetary) economy (Daily 1997). These services include a wide array of direct and indirect benefits, including water purification, pollination, climatic stabilization, flood mitigation, and maintenance of soil fertility. In addition, natural ecosystems are vast repositories of genetic information, in the form of biological species uniquely adapted for diverse biochemical functions. Scientists are just now beginning to tap this ever-shrinking reservoir of evolutionary capital and to understand how particular human impacts threaten its future. Conserving ecosystem services and preserving biological diversity in concert with expansion of human populations and with desired enhancements of human welfare are daunting but not necessarily conflicting imperatives. Meeting these challenges will require not only state-of-the-art understanding of ecological principles but also an appreciation of the sociological and economic forces that impinge on human decision-making in the face of environmental change. Indeed, if enhanced human welfare is to be sustained in the long run, the value of key ecosystem services must somehow begin to be factored into the complex calculus of the human endeavor. These complex issues call for a new approach to ecology and its connections to economics and management. They also call for new efforts to bring together the world’s best scientists to address them, particularly in China and the USA, the nations that now dominate the world stage economically, demographically, and environmentally. In the USA, the task of understanding the intricate inter-relatedness of biotic (human and non-human) and abiotic components of the environment is being facilitated, in part, by new opportunities afforded by NSF programs including Integrated Research Challenges in Environmental Biology (IRCEB) and the larger Biocomplexity in the Environment initiative, especially its program in Coupled Natural and Human Systems.
In China, significant programs of environmental research are also advancing and it now seems opportune to further develop lines of communication between US and Chinese scientists interested in novel approaches to ecological complexity and impacts on ecosystem services. Doing so will allow topics of common interest to be identified and new ideas to be exchanged among each nation’s scientists. These will serve to focus attention and planning on questions of common interest so that productive programs can begin to evolve to capitalize on the particular strengths and opportunities afforded by the scientific infrastructures of both nations. One measure of success of this endeavor will be new collaborative research proposals involving both American and Chinese counterparts submitted to relevant agencies and programs. Involvement by scientists specifically participating in this exchange is expected; broader success will be indicated by new collaborations catalyzed indirectly by this visit and by a widening circle of collaborations among numerous American and Chinese researchers. This initiative is intended to be phase I of a process of USA-China collaboration in this area; Phase II will involve a reciprocal visit by Chinese scientists to key American institutions and study sites.
Primary Goals of the Workshops and Visits: Activities will focus on the general theme of biocomplexity in the environment and its applications in understanding the key role of ecosystem services in diverse environments. In response to local interests, some presentations and activities may focus more on basic science research issues with biocomplexity themes while others may be more highly focused on applied issues related to ecological economics or resource management. These emphases will evolve during the dialogue between the project steering group prior to departure for China and can be adjusted “on the fly” during the visit according to local demands. The primary goals of the endeavor are the following:
• To reciprocally exchange cutting-edge ideas, techniques, theories, and data sets pertaining to ecological complexity and ecosystem services among American participants and a crosssection of Chinese counterparts.
• To identify, in a publicly circulated white paper, a set of broad research questions pertaining to ecological complexity and ecosystem services of common interest to Chinese and American scientists. These questions can also be broken down and coupled to more focused issues related particular regions, ecosystems, or theoretical approaches.
• To specify means of facilitating productive interactions with aspiring Chinese students interested in graduate studies in ecology at American universities, and to identify opportunities
for American students to perform relevant research or study in China.• Develop a plan for a return visit to the USA by Chinese scientists and officials (Phase II). Scope of the Planned Activity: To catalyze the interactions outlined above, I request funding for an international workshop that will assemble a team of 10-12 American scientists and professionals interested in various aspects of ecological research and education.
At each site, US participants and Chinese counterparts will exchange ideas via seminar-type talks, workshops, or small-group discussions with presentations by both US participants and local Chinese scholars. In addition to these research exchanges, group members will visit potential study sites and research institutes and seek out interactions with a broad range of Chinese investigators and students. Our goal is to create a web of personal connections of Chinese scientists not only with the participating USA team members but also with the network of close collaborators and institutional colleagues of the USA participants. Both formal and informal means of exchange will be involved, including oral presentations about research (from both US and Chinese scholars); hands-on workshops focusing on models, statistical approaches, and unique datasets; field tours; question-answer colloquia about life at American universities; and celebratory meals. A key aspect will be for each US participant to be prepared to describe not only his/her own particular research program but to describe a portfolio of opportunities and activities associated with his/her home institution and/or closest collaborators. Prior to departure, specific plans for these activities and presentations will be finalized during meetings of the steering committee and project participants and in consultation with Chinese counterparts. All activities will be closely documented using digital media for dissemination to Chinese counterparts and for development of project web pages aimed at the American research community.
China Trip Itinerary and Map
1-May 22 Departure from US
2-May 23 Arrive at Beijing
3-May 24 Beijing symposium Presenations
4-May 25 Beijing symposium contintued
5- May 26 Field trip
6- May 27 Arrive at Chong Qing
7- May 28 Arrive at Three Gorge River Dam
8- May 29 Arrive at Shennongjia Nature Reserve
9- May 30 Field investigation at reserve and CAS station
10- May 31 Field investigation at reserve and CAS station
11- June 1 Arrive at Wuhan
12- June 2 Wuhan symposium Presenations
13- June 3 Donghu Lake investigation
14- June 4 Arrive at Liangzihu Lake and field investigation
15- June 5 Arrive at Wuhan
16- June 6 Departure for US through Shanghai or BeijingLiterature Cited
Colwell, R. A. 1998. Policy forum - Balancing the biocomplexity of the planet's living systems: A twenty-first century task for science. Bioscience 48: 786-787.
Daily, G. C. 1997. Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems. Island Press.
Michener, W. K. and others. 2001. Defining and unraveling biocomplexity. BioScience 51: 1018-1023.The project is supported by the USA-National Science Foundation (USA-NSF) and its counterpart of Chinese NSF and the the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The website is funded by the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth. For more details, please visit the Credits page.
You are visiting the homepage of the collaboration site. This site includes six sections.
The Paticipants section features information about American participants. Their publications will be found in the Library.
This site will be periodically updated in the Products and FYI section so please keep in touch. The FYI section also carries links regarding Chinese culture, language, local tourism, local news in English, and other subjects of interest.
If you would like to get touch with somebody in the group you can do that through the Contacts section.
Last but not the least, sponsors of the project are located in the Credits section.
