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2nd Announcement of 5th International Symposium on the Family Zingiberaceae
Updated: 2009-07-10 15:09 6 th - 9 th July, 2009, Xishuangbanna, China Hosted by Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences Sponsored by CAS
The International Symposia on the Family Zingiberaceae aims to foster the exchange of ideas and new research progress made in the Ginger Family among biologists who are interested in the Zingiberaceae, other members of the Zingiberales, and related research fields. This Symposium, which is the fifth such conference focusing on the Family Zingiberaceae, will be held in the summer of 2009 and hosted by Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS). This conference in China will follow the very successful Second Symposium hosted in 1995 by the South China Botanical Garden in Guangzhou. Xishuangbanna is a Dai Autonomous Prefecture. It is located at the southernmost tip of Yunnan Province, bordered by Myanmar to the southwest and Laos to the south and southeast, with Jinghong as its capital. Xishuangbanna, with the Lancang (Mekong) River flowing through it, is well-known for its rich biodiversity and is the only place in China that still maintains large tracts of tropical rain forest. Thus it is reputed as a Kingdom of Tropical Fauna and Flora. Xishuangbanna is also rich in cultural diversity with 13 dominant minority nationalities, such as Dai, Han, Hani, Lahu, Yi, Bulang, Jinuo, and Yao, the Dai, which make up a majority of the population in Xishuangbanna.
 XTBG is a comprehensive botanical research institution of plant resources, focusing on forest ecosystem ecology, conservation biology and resource plant development. XTBG is located in Menglun Township, Mengla County, and is 60 km from Jinghong. After 50 years of development, XTBG has become an integrated base for research on tropical botany, forest ecology, plant germplasm preservation, and public science education. With an area of 900 ha, XTBG is the largest botanical garden in China and has the richest plant collections in the country. Over 10 thousand species of tropical and subtropical plants are well preserved in its 35 living collections. XTBG also has a long history of investigations of the taxonomy, conservation biology, ecology, biochemistry, and utilization of ginger plants. Over 200 ginger species from China and surrounding countries have been collected and planted in the Wild Ginger Garden in XTBG. This series of symposia highlight recent researches in the Zingiberaceae and related groups in the Zingiberales as well as providing the venue for researchers to meet and discuss their work. The symposium includes oral presentations and posters covering such diverse fields as taxonomy & systematics, molecular studies & phylogeny, phytochemistry & pharmacognosy, diversity & conservation, horticulture & hybridization and all aspects of their biology, etc. The symposium will have lasting value as the presentations will be published in the proceedings volume. |
