Linze Inland River Basin Comprehensive Research Station, CERN Mail

Address: 260 Donggang West Road, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.                                 Tel: +86-931-4967137, +86-931-4967137   Fax: +86-931-8273894 E-mail: zhaowzhi@ns.lzb.ac.cn Director:  Zhao Wen-Zhi

Introduction:    Linze Inland River Basin Comprehensive Research Station (Linze Staion), located in Linze County (39o21'N，100o07' E, a.s.l. 1367m), in the middle of the Hexi Corridor of Gansu Province, Northwest China, was first set up in 1975. It is subordinate to the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, CAS. Since 2000, intensive research work has being carried out in Linze Station in response to the Knowledge Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute. Linze Station was expanded and re-equipped in 2000 and was listed as a desert ecosystem research station of Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) in 2003. As the only station which can provide related conditions to conduct comprehensive studies on hydrology, soil, atmosphere and biology in Heihe river basin in China, Linze station undertakes to the long-term monitoring of the evolution of both desert ecosystem and oasis agricultural ecosystem and dedicates to the ecosystem management of the inland river basin, the rehabilitation of the ecological environments and the sustainable development of oasis.

Linze Station is provided with good field experimental condition and equipment, management supports and multi-disciplinary research group. Scholars all over the world are warmly invited to conduct joint research in the Linze Inland River Basin Comprehensive Research Station, CERN. Natural Conditions Linze Station is located at the edge of the Linze oasis in the middle of the Heihe river basin. This region has a typical temperate desert climate, characterized by dryness and hotness in summer, coldness in winter, plenty of sunshine, little precipitation, strong wind and frequent drifting sands. The annual mean air temperature is only 7.6℃, with a maximum of 39.1℃and a minimum of -27℃.The normal annual precipitation is 117 mm. Mean annual pan-evaporation is around 2390 mm. The frost-free season lasts 165 days on average. Accumulated temperature of ≥ 10℃ is about 3088℃. Mean annual wind velocity is 3.2, and prevailing wind direction is northwest. Gales with wind velocity >17 m s-1 occur 15 or more days per year. The dominant soil types have zonal soils are Aripsamment and Calciorthids. The natural vegetation in the edge of oasis composed of Calligonum mongolicum, Calligonum gobicum, Nitraria sphaerocarpa, Reaumuria soongorica, Haloxylon ammodendron, Caragana korshinskii, Hedysarum scoparium and Tamarix chinensis. The staple crops are spring wheat and corn.