A team of researchers from the Institute of Applied Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has launched an innovative project to restore and enhance the ecological functions of sandy and degraded grasslands in China.

The project, which aims to address the national strategic need for ecological security in the new era, was inaugurated at a meeting on 24 November 2023. The meeting was attended by more than 30 researchers, including the deputy director of the institute, ZHUO Junchen, and the chief scientist of the project, WANG Zhengwen.

WANG introduced the research direction, goals, personnel, research conditions and plans of the project, and pointed out the challenges and urgency of developing more systematic theories and technologies for the restoration of sandy and degraded lands.

The project will focus on four key research areas: plant community construction and near-natural restoration, soil barrier mechanisms and improvement techniques, plant-soil-microbe interactions and systemic restoration technologies, and multifunctional synergistic enhancement principles and technologies. Four leading researchers, WANG Zhengwen, LI Hui, LIN Guigang and Lü Xiaotao, reported on the background, ideas and existing research basis of each area.

ZHUO praised the project’s positioning and development direction, and encouraged the team to coordinate the talents, tasks and resources around the scientific goals. He also urged the team to strive for greater achievements in national major tasks, team building, talent cultivation and introduction, and significant research results output.

At the end of the meeting, the participants had a lively discussion on the development of the project. WANG expressed his hope that all team members would work together and cooperate, and produce some innovative achievements to provide solid theoretical and technical support for the ecological restoration of sandy and degraded grasslands in China.