On February 17, the Yunnan Provincial Department of Education announced the selection results of excellent doctoral and master's degree theses in Yunnan Province in 2023. Three doctoral dissertations by LI Lili, YANG Milian, YANG Raoqiong and one master thesis by SHI Xiong from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) are enlisted on the 63 excellent dissertations or the 86 master theses.
Li Lili’s work during her doctoral studies focused on perceptive and cognitive capacity and cooperative behavior of Asian elephants. Her study mainly aimed at answering: 1) Can they choose tray with food merely by vision in a two-choice paradigm? 2) Can they discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar humans by voice? 3) How do Asian elephants maintain cooperation in a competitive environment? 4) Do they display altruistic prosocial behaviors? Related results have been published in PLoS Biology, Oryx, and Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Her supervisor is Prof . Quan Ruichang.
Yang Milian’s research focused on the mechanism of circadian clock protein pseudo response regulator (PRR) in regulating plant seed germination. Her study identified the function of PRR protein in ABA signaling, and elucidated the molecular mechanism of its interaction with ABI5 to regulate ABA response. It revealed the network of circadian clock protein PRR integrating endogenous hormonal signals (ABA and IAA) to regulate seed germination. Related results have been published in Plant Cell, Journal of Experimental Botany. Her supervisor is Prof. Hu Yanru.
Yang Raoqiong’s study focused on climate sensitivity and temporal-spatial characteristics of radial growth in three pine species in southwestern China. Her study provided a theoretical basis for forest planning and a background knowledge for predicting forest dynamic changes under future climate change.
It discussed the key factors affecting radial growth of trees and the effects of extreme drought events on tree growth. Related results have been published in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Forest Ecology and Management, etc. Her supervisor is Prof. Fan Zexin.
SHI Xiong studied the indirect effects of environmental change on alien plant invasion：soil legacy effect and plant-plant interaction. His research results suggested that the precipitation and land use change could affect plant invasion through soil legacy effect. And water, phosphorous and herbivory could affect the alien’s interspecific competitive advantages via altered plant-plant interaction. Related results have been published in Environmental and Experimental Botany. His supervisor is Prof. Zheng Yulong.
Excellent dissertations in Yunnan Province are selected through the preliminary evaluation and recommendation of training units, re-evaluation by Graduate Education Steering Committee, comprehensive evaluation, approval and publicity by the expert committee, etc. This award marks the continuous improvement of the quality of postgraduate training in XTBG.
