Hosted by the CAS Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), the annual field biology course in Asia of the Center for Tropical Forest Science – Arnold Arboretum (STFS-AA), Harvard University, was held from 2 September to 14 October in Xishuangbanan, southwest China's Yunnan Province.
More than 20 trainees from 10 countries took part in the course, which was offered by 14 local and foreign resource on a range of topics, including plant and insect systematics, plant community dynamics, soil ecology, plant ecophysiology, and plant-animal interactions, and completed two short, independent research projects during the six-week course.
In addition to activities at XTBG, the trainees visited the monodominat Parashorea forest in Bubeng, where the CTFS and XTBG have recently established a 20 ha forest dynamics plot, and spent 10 days at the montane forest field station at Ailoshan. The field course was coordinated by STRI Associate Researcher Rhett Harrison.
