On August 2-3, LI Tianlai, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor of Shenyang Agricultural University, visited the Qingyuan Forest Ecosystem Field Observation and Research Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as Qingyuan Station, CAS). Academician LI was accompanied by ZHU Jiaojun, director of the Institute of Applied Ecology, CAS, and head of Qingyuan Station.

Academician LI took a field trip to learn about the research facilities within the secondary forest experimental plots, including the LiDAR tower network (ecological data) monitoring system, the in-situ warming experiment plots, the watershed-scale hydrological monitoring system, the automatic meteorological station, and the integrated data centre, etc. ZHU Jiaojun gave a detailed introduction to the relevant experiments and research facilities.

Academician LI and the technical personnel at Qingyuan Station conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions with respect to the methodology and scientific questions about these research facilities, and he spoke highly of the infrastructure of this research station.

In the lecture hall of Qingyuan Station, ZHU Jiaojun briefly introduced the overview of IAE and its field research stations. He told Academician LI in detail about the history, research objectives, main achievements and future development direction of Qingyuan station. Deputy station head YU Lizhong introduced the work progress of the station over the years, such as the on-going research and demonstration site construction with respect to under-forest economy.

Academician LI believed that the scientific research achievements of IAE occupy a prominent position in the same field in the world. He affirmed IAE's major contributions to forestry, agriculture, ecology and other fields in response to national needs, and the achievements made by researchers at Qingyuan Station in the past 17 years. Academician LI was very interested in the forest flux research conducted at Qingyuan Station.

He pointed out that tree photosynthesis, understory litter and soil organic matter interact with each other, playing a synergistic role in the carbon source-sink relationship in forest ecosystems. He suggested that the demonstration and research on under-forest economy at Qingyuan Station should fully consider ecological, economic and social benefits, comprehensively evaluate different planting/breeding models, and select the best model for promotion and application. In addition, he also put forward many other constructive opinions and suggestions on the future development of Qingyuan Station.