The 6-week Advanced Field Course in Ecology and Conservation-Xihuangbanna 2016 (AFEC-X 2016) came to a successful end on November 20, with 39 students from 10 countries presented their research to a panel of judges.
The course included lectures, practical work in the field of laboratories. The students learned patterns of species distribution, climate change biology, application of molecular biology in biodiversity conservation, conservation biology, invasion ecology, canopy ecology, methods of investigating insects and birds, statistical analysis, R program, bioinformatics, and experiment design etc.
They also had training on ecological photography, iNaturalist, paper writing, camera trapping, presentation skills etc. They investigated tropical vegetation around Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical garden (XTBG), canopy corridor, 20-ha forest dynamic plot, canopy cranes, limestone vegetation, etc.
The course students were divided into 9 groups to carry out research project in and around XTBG.
On November 20, the students presented their group work to the judges. The 9 projects were as following:
1. Measuring Leaf Functional Traits of Tree Species at Different Altitude Levels in Limestone Forest
2. Water utility strategy of pseudobulb orchids on rocktop in limestone forest, Xishuangbanna, China
3. Bird Community Structure at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden
4. Diversity, abundance and distribution of land snails in XTBG
5. Learning in Jumping Spiders: can they be trained with colour cues?
6. Pollination-induced petal senescence in two species of orchids
7. Assessing the co-occurrence of carnivores in three XTBG habitats using camera traps
8. Perceptions and attitudes of rubber farmers towards impacts of rubber cultivation in South-west China
9. Arboreal Ant Diversity on Trees with Lianas in Rubber Plantation of XTBG
The best research project award went to “Colour-cue based training and memory in a jumping spider - Siler semiglaucus (Aranaea: Salticidae)” completed by Yu-Ying Luo, Ade Prasetyo Agung, and Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Naveen Jayalal Dissanayake.
Trainees and teachers pose a photo
