Soil Ecology Group of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences was set up in 2003. It is a part of Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology. Under Dr. Zou Xiaoming’s (as PI from 2003-2010) leadership, researchers and graduate students conducted a study of microbial ecology, biogeochemical cycling, soil carbon and nitrogen cycling mechanism and other hot issues of science in tropical, subtropical and temperate forest ecosystems, laying the foundation for the development of XTBG soil ecology group.
In May 2012, Prof YANG Xiaodong became the research group leader. Based on the previous study, our group use tropical, subtropical and temperate forest system in the southwest region of China with the main research objective to explore the mechanisms of biodiversity maintenance and ecosystem function through theoretical, experimental and field survey method. Research mainly involves: response mechanism of tropical and subtropical forest ecosystems arthropods (insects) and soil organisms community structure and diversity to environmental change; effects of important functional groups of soil biological on nutrient transformation, carbon sequestration and release; interactions between spatial and temporal heterogeneity and co-evolution of insect, soil organisms and aboveground plants; Detrital food web structure and function, interaction mechanisms of different trophic levels of functional groups (or species); driving factors of invasion of exotic soil organisms (such as earthworms); relationship between plant rhizosphere effect and soil microbes, nematodes.
