A team of researchers from
Michigan State University left the United
States for China on June 14 to continue
a long-term study of how human population
trends affect giant panda habitat in the
Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province,
southwestern China.
Jianguo (Jack) Liu, an associate professor
of fisheries and wildlife at Michigan
State is leading the research team, which
is partially funded by the National Science
Foundation (NSF). Liu received an award
from NSF's Faculty Early Career Development
(CAREER) program in 1997 for his work
on panda habitat. The MSU team will work
with scientists from the Chinese Academy
of Sciences in Beijing and China's Center
for Giant Panda Research and Conservation
to assess the rates of change in forest
cover and giant panda habitat.
Liu's team last year published its findings
on their work in Science. Using
both data from a recently declassified
spy satellite and NASA's Landsat satellites
as well as information about the human
settlements in the Wolong Reserve, the
study showed that panda habitat inside
the reserve was destroyed more quickly
after the reserve was established.
NASA and the National Institutes of Health
are also funding the research.
The team plans to send regular dispatches
and images from the field back to the
United States. They will be available
as a link from the NSF Web site. Additional
information also is available on the Michigan
State site. See: http://www.msutoday.msu.edu/
research/ index.php3?article=10Jun2002-1
For more information contact: Bill Noxon
(703) 292-8070/wnoxon@nsf.gov
- Dispatch
1 - Beijing - June 17, 2002
- Dispatch
2 - Dalai Lake, Inner Mongolia, China
- June 20, 2002
- Dispatch
3 - Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan
Province, China - June 20, 2002
- Dispatch
4 - Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan
Province, China - June 21, 2002
- Dispatch
5 - Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan
Province, China - June 23, 2002
- Dispatch
6 - Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan
Province, China - June 24, 2002
- Dispatch
7- Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan
Province, China - June 25, 2002
See also: Michigan
State website |
|
List
of Dispatches
Before departing Beijing for the Wolong
Reserve, Jianguo Liu of Michigan State
University and Zhiyun Ouyang of the Chinese
Academy of Sciences check maps of the
territory.
Photo courtesy: MSU
Singing children greet the group at Dalai
Lake.
Photo courtesy: MSU
A panda enjoys bamboo at the Wolong Nature
Reserve.
Photo courtesy: MSU
Graduate student Guangming He interviews
members of the Chen family about changes
they are experiencing as governmental
policy changes to protect panda habitat.
Photo courtesy: MSU
|