Location: Stations--Agricultural Stations--Yan Ting

YANTING AGRO-ECOLOGICAL EXPERIMENTAL STATION OF PURPLE SOIL Chinese Academy of Sciences Chinese Ecosystem Research Network

Yanting Agro-ecological Experimental Station of Purple Soil (105o27 E, 31o16 N, 420m altitude), subordinate to the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences was founded in 1980. It is one of agro-ecological research stations of Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN).

The station is located in Linshan township, Yanting prefecture of Sichuan province. Geomorphologically, it is typical hilly area in the central Sichuan Basin. The climate of the area is of mid-subtropical monsoon climatic type with annual average temperature and precipitation being 17.3 and 826mm respectively. The soil is typical purple soil (Regosols in FAO taxonomy) developed from Jurassic purplish shale which widely distributed along the Yangtze River. It is covered by mixed forest of alnus cremastogyne and cypressus funebris as major types of vegetation with scattered arbors and grass. The population density of this area is 525 persons/km2. The per capita of land is 0.36 hectares in average, including 0.08 hectares of farmland and 0.16 hectares of forestry land.

RESEARCH ORIENTATION AND KEY POINTS

 Yanting station is oriented to make comprehensive studies on structures and functions of agro-ecosystem in the hilly area of purple soil in the central Sichuan Basin. Based on data collecting of long term experiment, observation of ecological indexes of soil, water, climate and biology, integrated analyses will be conducted to find out ecological laws regarding the energy transfer and material movement. Human activities and interaction with natural resources have been explored to serve the rational utilization of agricultural resources as soil, water, climate and biology so as to establish optimal management models of agro-ecosystem. All tasks would serve to provide scientific basis for overall management and exploitation of purple soil, and protection of environment of upper reaches of Yangtze River.

PRESENT

 priorities Rock weathering processes and eco-environmental effects. Soil fertility formation and evolvement of purple soil. Cycling and balance of water, the approaches to improve the utilization efficiency of water. Carbon, Nitrogen and phosphorus cycling and environmental impacts. Monitoring of soil, water, climate and plant in the hilly area of the central Sichuan Basin Structure and function of agro-forestry-water ecosystem for Yangtze River. Potential productivity of farmland and integrated management model for high yield of crops. The adjustment of agricultural structure and development of green agricultural industry.

ITEMS OF LONG TERM OBSERVATION

Meteorological radiation; Gradient micro-climate of farmland and forestry land; Soil formation; Soil erosion; Runoff, sediment yields and water quality in a small watershed; crops photosynthesis etc. STAFF It has 13 full time employees composed of 3 professors, 4 associate professors, 4 assistant professor, 2 engineers and technicians. There are also about 10 guest researchers coming to work at the station.

RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENT CONDITIONS

Yanting station has an experimental field of 36 hectares including a farmland of 24 hectares and a forest land of 12 hectares. It is provided with the facilities and equipments for observation and experiment mainly including soil formation, nutrient cycling, agricultural ecology, soil erosion and sediment yield, meteorological radiation, water balance and agro-forestry ecology. A comprehensive building with an area of 1000m2 can serve 20 full-time staff and 10 visiting scholars. All rooms are well equipped with working and resting facilities. The floorage for laboratories is 300 m2, including a computer room, a micro-biological room and a lab for soil physics and chemistryexperiments.

SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS

There are more than 50 items of national, provincial and other research projects undertaken since the foundation of Yanting station. They have won 30 scientific prizes awarded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Sichuan province. More than 300 research papers have been published. The Seasonal No-tillage Ridge Cropping System which was developed by Yanting station have been extended for more than 1million hectares in the upper reaches of Yangtze River.

CONTACT US

Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment. No.9 Block 4, Renmin South Road Chengdu, China 610041 Tel/Fax: +86-028-85235869 E-mail: ytg@mail.sc.cninfo.net Field station: Linshan Town,Yanting County Sichuan,China Tel: 0816-7398842