Theme: Late Cenozoic Environmental Change in Eastern Eurasia and Its Impact on Past and Present Biodiversity

Time: March 19-25th, 2013

Place: Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan (Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, CAS)

On behalf of the Sino-German Center, Professor Zhe-Kun Zhou from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Volker Mosbrugger from Senckenberg Research Institute and Museum will host a meeting with a focus on the late Cenozoic environmental change in eastern Eurasia and its impact on past and present biodiversity.

A series of major geologic and climatic events are associated with the Neogene: the transition from the greenhouse Earth of the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene to the icehouse Earth of the Quaternary, the formation of the Arctic ice cap, the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the evolution of the Asian Monsoon Systems. These events contributed to the formation of an environment suitable for human existence, and greatly influenced the composition of the flora and fauna.

Chinese and German scientists have a long history of studying past environmental changes because they consider them crucial to better understanding ongoing global change; particularly its impact on present environments and ecosystems. In 1999, scientists mainly from Germany and China set up the NECLIME (Neogene Climate Evolution in Eurasia) network in order to cooperate on quantitative reconstructions of Neogene climates in Eurasia. So far, collaborations initiated by this network have lead to paleoclimate reconstructions based on hundreds of floras. These results have improved our understanding of Neogene climate change in Eurasia. The development of new calibration datasets, as well as new techniques, will provide further insight into paleovegetation and paleoecological changes in response to paleoclimate change.

The aims for this meeting are:

(1) Build a consensual stratigraphical framework for the eastern Himalayan Neogene;

(2) Provide concise palaeoclimate and palaeovegetation reconstructions and study the response of the biosphere to past climate change;

(3) Address and discuss the uplift history of the eastern Himalayas;

(4) Study the evolution of monsoon intensity and its impact on past and present biodiversity throughout the Neogene and analyze the triggering mechanism.

If you are interested in the meeting, please contact Dr. Frédéric MB Jacques (email: jacques@xtbg.org.cn).

Attached: List of Oral Presentation