The Global Change Research Group of XTBG is seeking motivated post-doctoral candidates to work on the carbon, nitrogen and water budgets and cycles, and the feedbacks to climate change, in different types of forests in Southwest China. The ideal candidate will have a general knowledge of ecology and ecosystem processes, and specific experience with the study of greenhouse gas emissions (canopy and soil CO2, CH4, N2O), and carbon, nitrogen, and water biogeochemical processes. Previous experience in the field and lab work on forest ecosystems is also an asset, but not essential. The candidate should be under the age of 35.The primary responsibilities will be the analysis and interpretation of data, and the preparation of manuscripts for publication. Some field or lab work will be required. The position will be for two years, with extension contingent upon obtaining additional funding.
Location: Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xishuangbanna, China. Salary is RMB180,000 per year.
Interested applicants should send a curriculum vitae, copies of published and prepared manuscripts, a research proposal, and contact information for two professional referees to Dr. Zhang Yiping, the group leader, 88 Xuefu Road, Kunming, China, 650223.
Email submissions are preferred to yipingzh@xtbg.ac.cn .
Research base and plans
The Global Change Research Group has set up five eddy flux observatory systems and forest phenology detection systems in tropical rainforest, rubber plantation, subtropical evergreen forest and semiarid savanna. Previously we have carried out long-term artificially controlled ecological studies, including rainfall exclusion studies in tropical rainforest and semiarid savanna; the effect of soil warming on soil respiration in subtropical and subalpine forests; and 15N tracer field research in tropical rainforest. In addition, a natural 13C study was carried out in evergreen broadleaved subtropical forest. This group has also carried out projects focusing on the characteristics and mechanisms of the carbon and water cycles of the various ecosystems. Most of the results have been published in international and national academic journals, including Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research, Hydrological Processes, New Phytologist, and Plant and Soil. In addition, the group has conducted collaborative research with several domestic and overseas institutes and universities, such as the Norwegian Life Science University, the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan, and Natural Resources Canada.
Future plans include further research on carbon, nitrogen and water cycles, and their influence mechanisms, in various forest ecosystems, with emphasis on the impacts of global climate change (increased temperature and decreased precipitation). These studies will be based at the ecological stations in Xishuangbanna, Ailaoshan, Yuanjiang and Lijiang, and will take full advantage of the existing eddy flux systems, drought experiments, manually controlled soil warming, and forest phenology detection systems at these sites. The overall aim is to understand both the effects of human activities on greenhouse gases emissions and the mechanisms involved, as well as the driving factors of the carbon, nitrogen and water cycles across latitudinal and altitudinal gradients from the equator to the Arctic.
Applications will be reviewed as they are received. The positions will remain open until filled.
