Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences

　　The Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences ( KLMEES) is a key laboratory of Chinese Academy of Sciences ( CAS), open to both domestic and overseas universities and institutes. The key laboratory is belong to the Institute of Oceanology (IOS). It was founded in December 2001 as part of the innovation program of the CAS, in line with the national needs and the progress of marine science globally. With a team of about 50 researchers, including an academician of CAS and an academician of CAE (Chinese Academy of Engineering), the laboratory has a total of 14 professors. Prof.Zhiming Yu is the director of the laboratory and Prof. Dahe Qin, academician of CAS, is the chief of the scientific steering committee.

　　With a history of more than 50 years, marine ecology and environmental sciences are the dominant research fields in the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS). Research in these fields has formed the basis for the development of marine ecology and environmental science in China. KLMEES was founded based on a combination of Marine Ecology and Marine Environmental Sciences laboratories. It now encompasses strong research teams with advanced equipment, and is well known both in domestically and internationally.

　　Aiming for progress based on the innovation program of CAS, KLMEES will make much greater contributions to the development of both Chinese and internationally oceanographic research.

Directors of KLMEES

　　 Prof. Yu Zhiming, Director of KLMEES

　　 Prof. Li Chaolun, Deputy Director of KLMEES

Academic Committee

Members of Academic Committee of KLMEES

　　Prof. Qin Dahe, Academician of CAS, Chief

　　China Meteorological Administration (CMA) 

　　Prof. Sun Song, Deputy Chief

　　Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

　　Prof. Fu Bojie, Deputy Chief　　　 

　　Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Members of the Scientific Steering Committee：

Research Directions and Contents

The research direction of KLMEES:

　　 Key processes of marine ecology and effects on the environment and resources.

Research Area I: Key biological production processes in marine ecosystems

　　Main research contents:

·           　Primary production, production of microorganisms and microscopic food loops;

·           　Population dynamics of key species in marine ecosystems

·           　Population recruitment mechanisms of key fishery species

·           　Population dynamics of key species in the Antarctic Ocean 

Research Area II: Key Biogeochemical processes in marine ecosystems

　　Main research contents:

·           　Regulatory effects of biogenetic elements on marine ecosystems

·           　Mechanisms and effects of biogeochemical cycling of carbon in the sea

·           　Role of sediment in biogeochemical circulation of biogenetic elements　　 

Research Area III: Environmental change and its effects on marine ecosystems

　　Main research contents:

·           　Processes, mechanisms and countermeasures for coastal eutrophication

·           　Ecology and Oceanography of harmful algal blooms and measures for prediction and mitigation

·           　Impacts of marine pollution on coastal environmental quality and its ecological response;

·           　Ecological control and environmental management in mariculture system.

　　The key research areas are global, including almost entire coastal area of China, the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the east China Sea and the South China Sea, and international waters such as the Antarctic and Arctic Oceans.　　

Research Teams　 

　　　  The KLMEES team has around 100 people, of which over 40 are research staff. There is an academician of CAS, an academician of CAE, 14 professors,11 individuals in senior research positions and about 20 in middle or primary positions.

According to research direction of “Key processes of marine ecology and effects on the environment and resources”, as indicated in the following figure, KLMEES makes the layout of research team and position in three major research areas. Now it forms a coherent and comprehensive team composed of both young scientists and senior experts from different research fields, which represents the spirit of Creative and collaborative research.

There are 2 scientists of “distinguished young scholars supported by NSFC”, 1 chief scientist of national basic research program of China (973 project) and 4 scientists of “CAS hundred talents project”. In 2008, the laboratory got “Science Foundation of Creative Research Group” from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Academic Adviser

Prof. Liu Ruiyu, Academician of CAS

　　Prof. Liu Ruiyu, a foremost scientist in the field of marine biology with a special interest on crustaceans, is one of the founders of benthic ecology studies in China. He is the third director of the institute. During his 50 years of study on marine science, he has published 150 papers and 9 monographs. He was awarded 3 prizes at national level and 17 prizes at province or department level. The fruits of his research have benefitted the development of marine biology, crustacean biology and mariculture industry in China and won him a high reputation both domestically and overseas.

Prof. Zhang Fusui, Academician of CAE

　　Prof. Zhang Fusui, marine biologist, is an expert on shellfish mariculture. Prof. Zhang is mainly working on biology, experimental ecology and industrialization of shellfish culture and is one of the founders of shellfish culture in China. He has published around 100 papers and has been awarded more than 10 different prizes, including a first-grade National Prize of Science and Technology Progress, Chen Jiageng Agriculture Prize, a first-grade Prize of Science and Technology Progress of CAS and a Prize of Agriculture from TWNSO.

Research Area I: Key biological production processes in marine ecosystems

　　Academic leaders

　　Sun Song， Ph.D. and Professor, Director of IOCAS, Deputy Chief of Academic Committee of KLMEES

　　The group, comprised of 20 persons including staff and students, is mainly working on ecosystem dynamics in coastal seas and and in polar regions. It now undertakes around 10 projects from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It has published more than 100 papers and won 2 awards from the State Ocean Administration.

　　 Xiao Tian, Ph.D. and Professor

　　 The group, with 15 persons including staff and students, is mainly working on marine microorganism ecology, microbial food loop and marine magnetotactic  bacteria. It now undertakes around 10 projects from the Ministry of Science and Technology (973 project 、863 project and 908 project), Natural Science foundation of China (Overseas’ outstanding Scientists’ Fund), or Chinese Academy of Sciences. It has published around 60 papers and 5 books winning a third-grade award of Scientific Progress Prize from CAS.

　 Shuozeng Dou, Ph.D. and Professor, CAS hundred talents project

　 A total of 8 staff members and graduate students in research team are currently working on ecological regime shift and its effects on the production processes of marine fishery resources in the coastal waters of China. Since 2001, the group has been funded 9 research projects by NSFC, MSTC and CAS to conduct studies related to this scientific issue. The topics for the group to study include (1)long-term bio-physical interactions on the recruitments of marine fishes,(2) reconstructing the life history of marine fishes using otolith analyses, and (3) fish population biology and dynamics. The group has published over 40 papers related to these topics in journals such as JFB,Aquaculture,EBF, FFB,NJSR etc.

Research Area II: Key Biogeochemical processes in marine ecosystems

　　Academic leaders

　　Song Jinming， Ph.D. and Professor，Distinguished young scholars supported by NSFC，CAS hundred talents project

　　This group of 15 persons, including staff and students, is mainly working on marine biogeochemistry, geochemistry of marine sediment and applied marine chemistry. It now undertakes projects including the National Key Basic Research and Development Project of China (973), “one-hundred scientists” CAS award and key projecst in the Innovation Program of the CAS. It has published around 100 papers and 3 monographs, and won 10 prizes including a third-grade award of Natural Science Prize from CAS, and a second-grade award of Scientific Progress of Shandong province.

　　Wan Xuchen, Ph.D. and Professor, CAS hundred talents project

　　The group of only 3 staff, is mainly working on marine biogeochemistry of organic compounds and isotope geochemistry. It has made great progresses in studying source, migration, and geochemical circulation of organic compounds in the sea. It now undertakes projects of “one-hundred scientists” award of CAS and innovation project form IOCAS.

　　Zhao Weihong，Ph.D. and Professor

　　The group, with 7 people of staff and students, is mainly working on the Marine Chemistry, Marine Pollution Chemistry,and Marine Ecology. It had undertaken 16 projects including “863”, “973”, NSFC etc. and assumed principal of 9 projects. It has published around 50 papers and co-edited 3 books. It was awarded 2 Second Prize for Marine Science Innovation Awards by the State Ocean Administration of China and 1 Youth Science and Technology Award of Qingdao.

Research Area III: Environmental change and its effects on marine ecosystems

Academic leaders

　　YU Zhiming, Ph.D.and Professor, Director of KLMEES, “Distinguished young scholars” and chief scientist of the “Creative Research Group” supported by NSFC (National Natural Science Foundation of China).

　　This team is mainly engaged in the study of coastal eutrophication, mitigation of harmful algal blooms, and marine environmental chemistry. The technique of HAB mitigation by modified clays, which was invented by Dr. Yu, has been successfully applied to both fresh water and sea water, resulted in considerable social and economic benefits. The group has 5 faculty and 12 graduates. Over 10 national research projects have been undertaken. Over 100 papers were published and over 10 academic awards was obtained, including the “Second Class Award for Technological Invention” offered by Shandong Province Government, China.

　　Prof. Zhou Mingjiang, Principal Investigator of National Basic Research Program of China, is a responsible professor and supervisor of Ph.D. candidateN.

　　The group, with 5 staffs and 5 students, is working on the behavior and impact of marine pollutants, the mechanisms and impacts of harmful algal blooms. 10 projects had been completed or are in progress, funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It published more than 130 papers and won the Second-grade Award of the Natural Science Prizes of the CAS and the First-grade Award of the Advancement in Science and Technology of Shandong Province.

　　Yang Hongsheng, Ph.D.and Professor, Assistant Director of IOCAS,

　　This group of 5 staff and 10 students, is mainly working on ecology, physiology, and biological remediation of environment related to mariculture industry. It now undertakes more than 10 projects from the Ministry of Science and Technology (973 project and 863 project), Natural Science foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 70 papers have been published to date.

Creative Research Group on Marine Ecology and Environmental Science

　　Under the background of the national needs and international research forefront, KLMEES in long-term concerns and studies key processes, change patterns and environmental effects of marine ecosystem from various research areas. Members of the laboratory actively participate in the relevant international research projects such as GEOHAB, GLOBEC etc. Through a series of collaboration on the research programs and projects, a creative research group mostly composed of young scientists, characterized by interdisciplinary study and focusing on "the key ecosystem processes and environmental effects in China coastal waters" comes into being. In 2008, the research group got “Science Foundation of Creative Research Group” from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Research Direction, Objective and Tasks

Research Direction:

　　Key ecosystem processes and environmental effects in China coastal waters

Research Objective:

　　To find the mechanism of ecosystem succession and environmental degradation in the typical coastal waters of China; to infer the further change tendency and lay the scientific foundation for coordinated development between economy and environment in the coastal area of China through the interdisciplinary and integrated studies on biological and productive processes of the key species in marine ecology, biogeochemical processes of major nutrient elements, and response of marine ecology to abnormal environment.

Research Tasks:

　　According to the goals of marine ecology and environmental protection in China, combined with own research base and international development trends in this area，the creative research group will take the ecosystem succession and environmental degradation in Yangtze River estuary and adjacent waters as the typical issue to study the processes and mechanism of marine ecosystem succession in China coastal waters.

The composition of creative research group

　　The creative research group are mostly composed of young scientists and characterized by interdisciplinary study, including Zhiming Yu, Song Sun, Mingjiang Zhou, Hongsheng Yang, Jingming Song, Jinbao Song, Tian Xiao, Shuozeng Dou and so on, of which three scientists are “distinguished young scholars supported by NSFC”, one is the chief scientist of national basic research program of China (973 project) and four belong to the “CAS hundred talents project”.

Education

The key Laboratory is devoting attention to the training of young experts in marine ecology and environmental science and endeavoring to develop the Laboratory into the key education base of the field.

There are 4 doctoral programs and 5 master programs in KLMEES. About 30 doctoral and master students graduate every year. Several graduates obtained awards of “excellent degree thesis of Shandong province”. Now there are more than 100 of the enrolled doctoral and master students in the laboratory. The laboratory also opens some postdoctoral position every year and there are now 3 postdoctoral researchers.

　　Graduate Programs of KLMEES

Foundation for Open Research Projects

　　Another key issue of KLMEES is going all out for the construction of a research platform, providing a better scientific environment and welcoming outstanding guest scholars. KLMEES has an annual open research foundation for outstanding researchers both domestic and international. This foundation mainly finances the research subjects closely relating to the research direction of KLMEES, particularly the creative and innovative items.

　　Application guide is regularly published on the website (www.qdio.ac.cn). The expert committee organized by KLMEES makes serious comments on the applications and the results are announced openly on the internet. Open research projects are managed strictly according to “Regulation on Management of the Open Research Projects of KLMEES”. The programs with good progress will be encouraged, however, the programs which are not progressing smoothly will be given a warning or even cancelled.

　　KLMEES has attracted many applications from outstanding scholars, both in domestic and oversea, since the Foundation for Open Research Projects was set up. Up to now, scholars from more than 10 universities and institutes have obtained the foundation.

Academic activity, cooperation, and exchange

Introduction

　　 Based on the principles of “Open, Collaboration, Exchange and Competition”, KLMEES encourages cooperation and communication between KLMEES and other institutes both domestic and overseas. Some scientists in KLMEES have taken part in the international projects such as GLOBEC，GEOHAB and so on, and some scientists hold a concurrent post in international academic organization such as SCOR, CoML, GEOHAB, CMarZ, POGO, NOWPAP, GLOBEC,etc. It has close collaboration and academic exchange with many famous universities and institutes overseas.　　 

Collaboration 

　　　KLMEES has close collaboration with institute or universities overseas, such as Woods Hole Ocean Institute in USA, University of British Columbia in Canada, Research Center in France, Ifremer of France, University of Georgia in USA, Suez Canal University of Egypt, Ocean Institute in Tokyo University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and some institutes in Russia and Korea etc. The research has improved through the effective collaboration.

Exchange

　　　KLMEES is paying much more attention to academic exchange both in domestic and overseas. The lab also increase its publicity through inviting of foreign scientists to visit the lab and sending scientists abroad. There are about 60 times of such exchanges in the past few years.

Academic Conferences

　　KLMEES encourages scientists to take part in the activity of international organizations, and international conferences. Some scientists in KLMEES have important positions in related international academic organizations. Hundreds of participants at international academic conferences have been recorded in the past few years. Over 20 people were invited for keynote speech at the conferences，and over 60 people were invited for oral presentation.　 

Annual Meeting of Academic Committee

　　Annual meeting of academic committee of KLMEES has been hold regularly from 2004 to 2008 for orientation and development of KLMEES, which has much supports for development of KLMEES.

　　In the last five years KLMEES undertook over 150 projects, including 1 National Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar, 1 Fund for Creative Research Groups by NSFC, 2 collaborative project with young scientists abroad, 4 CAS hundred talents projects, 1 National Basic Research Program of China, 15 National High Technology Research and Development Program of China, 2 key programs and 38 general programs from National Natural Sciences Foundation of China and 10 innovation projects from CAS. There are on average 21new projects annually. The budget of all projects reached 297 million, in which 67 million is allocated to the laboratory.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  Research programs during 2004 to 2008

Research Achievements

　　Scientists in KLMEES published over 450 paper from 2004 to 2008, with 179 papers published in SCI or EI journals. 3 monograph have been completed, plus 14 invention patents and 6 particle patents have been authorized during this period. 8 national and ministerial awards were won. Great progress has been made on the research into dynamics and production of key species in marine ecosystem, key biogeochemical processes related to ecosystem variation, evolvement of marine environment and the optimization techniques of shellfish mariculture etc. These achievements have attracted the attention of many international experts.　　

Contact Address:

　　Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology & Environmental Science，

　　Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

　　7, Nanhai Road, Qingdao 266071

　　Tel/Fax: 0532-82898867

　　Email: klmees@qdio.ac.cn