Projects completed
(1) State Key Projects(4):
“The selection of appropriate plant species in salinized sandy lands and afforestation experiments for stress resistance ”(1986-1990).
“The study of integrated regulation technology and experimental demonstration on the eco-environment of oasis-desert transition zone in the southern fringe of Taklamagan Desert”(1991-1995).
“The land regulation technology and demonstration of desert areas in arid zones”(1995-2000).
“The study of integrated regulation and demonstration on the oasis-desert eco-tone in the southern fringe of Taklamagan Desert”(1995-2000).
(2) Projects under State Natural Sciences Fund(2):
“Study on the interactions between water use efficiency and δ13C of major desert plant species in China”(1999-2001).
“Study on the optimizing model of protection system and the development of expert system in the southern fringe of Taklamagan Desert”(1991-1994).
(3) Locally-funded Projects(2):
“Experimental study on the drifting sand control in Cele County”(1983-1988) “Study on the restoration and afforestation technology of Tamarix in large area by means of irrigation system in saline and sandy land”(1987-1994)
(4) Projects under International Cooperation Fund(3):
“China-Japan cooperative study on revealing desertification mechanism”(1989-1994) “Study on the ecophysiology characteristics of various Populus species”(1996-2000) “ Basic ecological study on sustainable use of natural vegetation in central Asian desert region”(1998-2001)
Research Achievements: Since 1989, eleven scientific awards have been granted to Cele Station, including 2 international, 3 national and 6 ministerial and provincial prizes. In 1998, it was listed as one of the outstanding organizations at the field-work meeting of Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2002, it was selected as one of the excellent organizations for its contribution to the study of national sand control. Up to now, it have already published over 80 scientific papers, about 20 of which were available in international journals or presented at international conference.
Highlights include:
(1)Of the first 8 Awards of Outstanding Contribution in Combating Desertification and Controlling Land Degradation in Dryland Environment” granted globally by UNEP(United Nation Environment Programme) in 1995, two awards for China were solely for Cele Desert Research Station---one is “Experimental study on the drifting sand control in Cele County” and the other “Study on the restoration and afforestation technology of Tamarix in large area by means of irrigation system in saline and sandy land”. Those are the awards of the highest level around the world in this research area so far.
(2) As the project “ Experiment and demonstration study on the applied technology of high-quality and high-yield cotton in Cele County” (1998-2001) made a great breakthrough in cotton production technologies, generating the highest yield of cotton per unit globally area for a consecutive of 3 years in newly-cultivated sandy land, with the production of lint surpassing 250 kg per mu, this was listed as one of the top ten sci-tech news in China in 2001.
(3) The project “basic ecological study of sustainable use of natural vegetation in central Asian desert region”(1998-2001) under China-EU Cooperation Programme came to a successful conclusion, providing a key principle for the restoration and rehabilitation of desert vegetation in region. Under the EU programme, proceedings of an international conference had been published, available both in Chinese and English. In addition, 12 papers had been published in SCI journals, including Cell Environment and Plant, and Plant Ecology.