On Feburary 14, State Top Science and Tecknology Award Ceremony was held in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing. The Compiling and Digitization of the “Vegetation Map of the People’s Republic of China (1:1000000)”, whichwas mainly completed by the researchers ofInstitute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences(IBCAS) won the second place prize of the State Natural Sciences Award. CAS members HOU Xueyu and ZHANG Xinshi, Dr. SUN Shizhou and Dr. HE Miaoguang of IBCAS were awarded the certificates due to their contribution to the Vegetation Map.

 

The Compiling and Digitization of the Vegetation Map of the People’s Republic of China (1:1000000) was completed with the efforts of 3 generations of scientists, and by more than 200 people. It includes sixty-four Vegetation Type Map (1:1000000) in folio and one Vegetation Regionalization Map (1:6000000) in standard-sized sheet, two volumes of illustrations support the Maps, an optical disk, a system of vegetation map database, and a system of simple and easy information managing. The Vegetation Type Maps represent all country 11 vegetation type groups, 55 vegetation forms, 960 vegetation formations and sub-formations, more than 2000 communities dominant species, and geographic distribution of main and industrial crops. Vegetation Regionalization Map shows difference of vegetation in district of vegetation of China. It divides all country into 8 vegetation regions, 116 vegetation districts, and 464 vegetation sub-districts.　

 

The compiling and digitization of the vegetation mapis not only a fundamental study of ecology and geography, but also an important basis for ecological construction and the development of farming, forestry and animal husbandry. It has been applied in 44 major research projects sponsored by more than 20 national departments, such as the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, etc.

 

Certificate ofthe second place prize of the State Natural Sciences Award