Jiang Gaoming

Infobox Person
name = Jiang Gaoming


image_size = 111px
caption = Jiang Gaoming is a botanical expert.
Chinese=蒋高明
birth_date = birth date|1964|09|16
birth_place = Shandong Province, China
spouse = Jianjie Lu
occupation = Professor and Ph.D. tutor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Botany

Jiang Gaoming (zh-tsp|t=蔣高明|s=蒋高明 |p=Jiăng Gāomíng ) is a professor and Ph.D. tutor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Botany.cite web |url=http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/920-Stopping-the-sandstorms |title=Stopping the Sandstorms |accessdate=2008-11-08 |publisher=chinadialogue] He is also vice secretary-general of the UNESCO China-MAB (Man and the Biosphere) Committee and a member of the UNESCO MAB Urban Group. He is known for his concepts of “urban vegetation” and allowing damaged ecosystems to recover naturally.cite web |url=http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/920-Stopping-the-sandstorms |title=Stopping the Sandstorms |accessdate=2008-11-08 |publisher=chinadialogue]

Jiang received his Bachelor's degree in Botany at Shandong University in 1985 [ cite web |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vO-Uuk1nV8gC&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&dq=jiang+gaoming+biography&source=web&ots=_8i8ZXxyof&sig=o-kG3ftMfj65xclqv76Pvb8aq8c&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA153,M1 |title=World who is who and Does what in Environment & Conservation
author=Nicholas Polunin and Lynn M. Curme
publisher=Earthscan |date=1997 |accessdate=2008-08-04] , and his Master's degree in Botany at the Institute of Botany Academia Sinica in 1988 [ cite web |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vO-Uuk1nV8gC&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&dq=jiang+gaoming+biography&source=web&ots=_8i8ZXxyof&sig=o-kG3ftMfj65xclqv76Pvb8aq8c&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA153,M1 |title=World who is who and Does what in Environment & Conservation
author=Nicholas Polunin and Lynn M. Curme
publisher=Earthscan |date=1997 |accessdate=2008-08-04] . He received his Phd in Botany in 1993. He studied at the University of Liverpool from 1991-1992. [ cite web |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vO-Uuk1nV8gC&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&dq=jiang+gaoming+biography&source=web&ots=_8i8ZXxyof&sig=o-kG3ftMfj65xclqv76Pvb8aq8c&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA153,M1 |title=World who is who and Does what in Environment & Conservation
author=Nicholas Polunin and Lynn M. Curme
publisher=Earthscan |date=1997 |accessdate=2008-08-04]

Jiang has done research on a wealth of topics. These topics include eco-environmental planning for middle-sized cities in China, bioindicating and biomonitoring of air pollution by plants, phosphorus cycling and chemical ecology, the ecology of colliery spoils, and urban vegetation. He initiated the first conference for the Young Chinese Botanists in Beijing 1987, and the first conference on Environment and Plant Resource Exploring in China in Changbaishan in 1988. [ cite web |url=http://english.ibcas.ac.cn/info_www/news/detailnewsb.asp?infono=33 |title=Jiang Gaoming Group |publisher=Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences |date=2004 |accessdate=2008-11-08]

Jiang was the first person to chart the pollution history of Chengde in northern China. He was the first to explain why ancient pine trees in gardens were dying. He has also established models for monitoring sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution in woody plants.

Jiang noted the effects of tourism and urbanization on the Chengde Mountain Resort (also known as the Summer Villa estate), which is the largest existing imperial garden in China. [ cite web |url=http://english.ibcas.ac.cn/info_www/news/detailnewsb.asp?infono=33 |title=Jiang Gaoming Group |publisher=Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences |date=2004 |accessdate=2008-11-08]

Jiang Gaoming is married to Jianjie Lu. They have a daughter. [ cite web |url=http://english.ibcas.ac.cn/info_www/news/detailnewsb.asp?infono=33 |title=Jiang Gaoming Group |publisher=Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences |date=2004 |accessdate=2008-11-08]

Works

Jiang has published hundreds of articles, papers, and books, a majority of which are in Chinese. His main topics include plant ecology and plant ecophysiology. [ cite web |url=http://english.ibcas.ac.cn/info_www/news/detailnewsb.asp?infono=33 |title=Jiang Gaoming Group |publisher=Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences |date=2004 |accessdate=2008-11-08] He publishes articles for chinadialogue, which are available in Chinese and English.

*Letting nature heal itself [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/2226-Letting-nature-heal-itself] chinadialogue 18 July 2008
*The countryside is being forgotten [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/2094-The-countryside-is-being-forgotten] chinadialogue 12 June 2008
*To everything there is a season [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/2032-To-everything-there-is-a-season] chinadialogue 22 May 2008
*Saving Beijing’s reservoirs [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1929-Saving-Beijing-s-reservoirs] chinadialogue 23 April 2008
*Land reclamation: tread carefully [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1792-Land-reclamation-tread-carefully-] chinadialogue 11 March 2008
*Chinese consumers must reject polluted food [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1683-Chinese-consumers-must-reject-polluted-food] chinadialogue 05 February 2008
*China’s “green deserts” [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1604-China-s-green-deserts-] chinadialogue 08 January 2008
*Waiting for the smoke to clear [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1402-Waiting-for-the-smoke-to-clear] chinadialogue 17 October 2007
*The problem with cotton [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1313-The-problem-with-cotton] chinadialogue 12 September 2007
*Securing our food — and our future [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1248-Securing-our-food-and-our-future] chinadialogue 16 August 2007
*The disappearing sand of Yimengshan [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1210-The-disappearing-sand-of-Yimengshan] chinadialogue 07 August 2007
*The truth about dead chickens [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1096-The-truth-about-dead-chickens] chinadialogue 14 June 2007
*A sea of plastic [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1011--A-sea-of-plastic-] chinadialogue 16 May 2007
*Stopping the sandstorms [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/920-Stopping-the-sandstorms] chinadialogue 13 April 2007
*Global warming’s local solutions [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/855-Global-warming-s-local-solutions] chinadialogue 15 March 2007
*China must say no to imported waste [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/756-China-must-say-no-to-imported-waste] chinadialogue 08 February 2007
*The new Green Revolution [http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/698-The-new-Green-Revolution] chinadialogue 17 January 2007

Positions

*Invasive SpeciesIn July Jiang asked the government to watch out for invasive species, especially during the Olympic games. [cite news |first=Jiangtao |last=Shi |title=Vigilance needed to keep out unwanted guests, say botanists |publisher=South China Morning Post |location=Hong Kong |date=2008-07-11 |accessdate=2008-08-11 ] He noted that international meetings are often bothered by invasive species. This could cause biological catastophes and incur major economic losses. For example, the State Forestry Bureau said last year that there were more than 290 alien species on the mainland, causing estimated losses of 56 billion yuan (HK$63.79 billion) a year. [cite news |first=Jiangtao |last=Shi |title=Vigilance needed to keep out unwanted guests, say botanists |publisher=South China Morning Post |location=Hong Kong |date=2008-07-11 |accessdate=2008-08-11 ]

*DesertificationJiang is eager to control desertification but he criticizes the government's policy of planting one species of trees. [ cite news |title=Feature: Please...No More Trees! |publisher=Xinhua News Agency |location=Beijing, China |date=2007-06-17 |accessdate=2008-08-11] "Ecology is on everyone's lips, but ecology does not mean blindly planting trees," Xinhua News Agency reported Jiang as saying. [ cite news |title=Feature: Please...No More Trees! |publisher=Xinhua News Agency |location=Beijing, China |date=2007-06-17 |accessdate=2008-08-11]

Jiang thinks the main cause of desertification in Inner Mongolia is overgrazing. By 2000 some 80% of the grasslands in Hunshandake had deteriorated into desert, and 33% of the land had become mobile sand dunes. In the 1960s mobile sand dunes only made up 2% of the land. [sina] The first attempt to solve desertification involved planting 100,000 yuan (13,000 U.S. dollars) worth of willows, because conventional thought led Jiang to believe trees were the best solution to stop sandstorms. [cite news |url=http://english.sina.com/technology/1/2007/0617/115384.html |title=Ecological conservation not equal to tree planting |publisher=Xinhua News Agency |location=Beijing, China |date=2007-06-17 |accessdate=2008-11-08]

Later Jiang's team tried a different approach. A 2670-hectare (26.7 sq km) section of grassland in the Bayinhushuo Gacha was fenced off and no grazing was allowed. [cite news |url=http://english.sina.com/technology/1/2007/0617/115384.html |title=Ecological conservation not equal to tree planting |publisher=Xinhua News Agency |location=Beijing, China |date=2007-06-17 |accessdate=2008-11-08]

The success achieved in Bayinhushuo Gacha quickly spread to the surrounding regions: several gachas followed suit, fencing off grasslands for natural restoration and thereby expanding the protected areas to more than 6500 hectares. Jiang is pleased that a policy of "ecological conservation first, ecological construction second" has been included in the 11th Five-Year Plan on Ecological Protection. [ cite news |title=Feature: Please...No More Trees! |publisher=Xinhua News Agency |location=Beijing, China |date=2007-06-17 |accessdate=2008-08-11]

*BiofuelsJiang supports burning straw instead of coal as a source of power. He estimated that a biomass power plant of 25,000 kw can generate 100,000 tons less carbon dioxide every year compared with the coal burning power plant of the same capacity. Furthermore, Jiang said that biomasses are less wasteful than coal. Thirty percent of burnt coal is waste while biomass burning generates just two percent and can be used as fertilizer after proper processing. [ cite news |title=Feature: Please...No More Trees! |publisher=Xinhua News Agency |location=Beijing, China |date=2007-06-17 |accessdate=2008-08-11]

*PesticidesJiang believes that the use of pesticides in Chinese farming can lead to poor quality and even dangerous food. “Farmers adopted certain production methods to make food-production cheaper. They use whichever chemicals are cheapest. The use of pesticide seems better, and it is cheap. In fact, the pesticides they would buy are also used as fertiliser, and this makes it all the more dangerous,” Jiang said. [ cite web |url=http://persianoad.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/beijing-consumers-are-going-organic/ |title=Beijing consumers are going organic |publisher=organic agriculture |date=2008-06-30 |accessdate=2008-08-11]

ee also

*Shandong University
*Chinese academy of sciences
*desertification
*monoculture
*biodiversity
*invasive species
*Chengde Mountain Resort

References

External links

The Group of Jiang Gaoming [http://english.ibcas.ac.cn/info_www/news/detailnewsb.asp?infono=33]