Scientific
Applications:
ECOLOGY-GRID CONTRIBUTES TO
TAIWAN'S OUTDOORS
Taiwan's great outdoors is getting some preservation help from the
international community with a research project in Fushan. This project allows
ecologists to link their information and ideas with others.
The recent completion of the first ecology-grid system at the Taiwan
Forestry
Research Institute's (IFRI) Fushan Research Station in Ilan County,
makes it possible for Taiwan to contribute its ecological data to the
international community. With this latest move, Taiwan can help ensure the
future of its biodiversity and at the same time contribute to the increasing
global debate on ecological issues.
By working with the National Center for High-performance Computing (NCHC)
under the National Science Council (NSC), results of research and observations
carried out by ecologists at the 1,100-hectare research site can be made
available to counterparts overseas by way of the eco-grid system.
A little grebe makes its nest in the Fushan research site.
Wei Yau-huei, director general of NSC's department of life sciences,
said that the establishment of the eco-grid system has made Taiwan a pioneer
in both long-term ecological research and high-tech development.
The NSC-sponsored Taiwan Ecological Research Network (TERN) was established
in
1992. The network includes council scientists who cooperate with universities
and the IFRI. So far, the network has established five research sites --
northern Fushan, Yuanyang Lake, central Guan-daushi, Tatachia and Nanjen
Mountain on Taiwan's southern tip.
A litsea cubeba persoon, known in Chinese as "mountain pepper" is an
example
of Fushan's rich biodiversity.
"The cooperation between TERN and NCHC in establishing the eco-grid system
demonstrates that Taiwan is willing to shoulder its responsibility for
preserving biodiverstiy," IFRI director-general Yang Jeng-chuan said on
Saturday at a press conference held in Fushan.
According to NCHC officials, increased network bandwidth, more powerful
computers and the popularization of the Internet have driven an increasing
demand for more high-tech solutions in sectors ranging from commercial
enterprise to academic institutions and research organizations.
According to NCHC director Joe Juang, in Taiwan, grid technology has
diverse practical applications, such as ecological research, healthcare
services, disaster prevention and digital learning.
Grid computing, however, requires powerful, reliable, high performance
systems
and sophisticated software.
Connected to the Pacific Rim Applications & Grid Middleware Assembly
(PRAGMA),
a unique collaboration among Asian Pacific countries and supported by the US
National Science Foundation, Taiwan's eco-grid system has become part of the
first attempt to bring long-term ecological research to the international
community.
Other webmasters involved include Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER), the
San Diego Supercomputer Center, US High Performance Wireless Research and
Education Network and Japan National Agricultural Research Organization.
"The eco-grid system at Fushan enables researchers in Taiwan to do
comparative
studies between Fushan and other parts of the world," said Peter Arzberger,
director of National Biomedical Computation Resource at University of
California in San Diego.
For the grid to work, and to truly understand and then create a sustainable
environment, a global approach will be needed, Arzberger said.
Illustrating other data-sharing systems, including the EU-Data Grid in
Europe
and TeraGrid in the US, Arzberger said that the promotion of such projects
rely on well-established partnerships between research, industry, government
and educators at local, national and global levels.
Lin Fang-pang, head of NCHC's Grid Computing Division, said that
several high-resolution hidden cameras had been installed at Fushan Research
Station to collect real-time ecological data.
"Ecologists can efficiently analyze activities of animals and plants by
reading image data transmitted from cameras on the field to indoor computers
without making long and difficult journeys to research sites," Lin said.
In the last three months, Lin said, the system has successfully shot the
activities of wild boars, macaques, Formosan Reeves munt-jacs and
other wild animals. The NCHC plans to replace the existing system with
wireless communication facilities to collect data and expand monitored areas
into places researchers cannot reach, Lin said.
Officials said the eco-grid system can carry out data-analysis tasks on the
long-term monitoring of soil erosion and channel sedimentation, and the
dynamics of animal communities of all shapes and sizes.
The eco-grid system is also due to be established at TERN's other research
sites.
NCHC director Juang said Fushan was chosen to test drive the eco-grid
system
because of its biodiversity. More than one-third of Taiwan's plant and animal
species are represented at Fushan.
Called by locals "the accessible paradise," Fushan is famous for its
abundant
natural beauty.
"Here you can see naughty macaques riding on meek muntjacs, or waterfowls
flying over the lake" said Huang Shu-mei, 49, who has spent more than
a decade with her husband at the station educating visitors.
Leading a pack of reporters around the research site last week, Huang said
limiting visitors to 400 a day has led to the preservation of the fragile
ecological systems at Fushan. Accordingly, visitors have to book reservations
30 days in advance and the site remains closed for one or two months each year
to give the animals some peace and quiet during breeding season.
Walking by a lake, Huang lowered her voice to point out a little grebe
(€pψερΟ), which was brooding eggs in its nest by the shore. The next day, a
newborn nestling could be seen under its mother's wings.
Researchers said they often enjoy chewing the fruits of the acronychia
pedunculata plant picked up from the ground.
The fruit is also a favorite of monkeys and other animals at Fushan.
With an average annual rainfall of 3,800mm, Fushan's humid environment
allows
a number of native plants to thrive, such as Lagerstroemia subcostata koehne
and white magau , and many kinds of rhododendron.
To boost their collection of plants and preserve endangered species,
researchers also transplant foreign species to Fushan.
Researchers said each plant at the station has a card designating its
origin,
history other information.
Taking Wulai rhododendron as an example, Lin Kuo-chuan, a
scientist at the division of silviculture of the IFRI, said its habitats along
Peishih River had been inundated by water due to the establishment of
the Feitsui Reservoir in Taipei County in 1987.
"The species only may exist here now because no records suggest that it has
been seen in the field in the last decade," Lin said.
King Hen-biau, a TFRI scientist who helped to found the TERN, said
results of long-tern studies aimed at understanding ecological systems in
Taiwan could provide crucial information for policy-makers to design sound
policies on eco-system management.
Despite ecologists' hard work in linking research results with the
international community, King said poor conservation education in Taiwan is
compromising the result. Illegal hunting at Fushan is just one example, he
said.
According to Chiou Wen-liang, who chairs the TFRI's Fushan Research
Station, a few weeks ago, the remains of six muntjacs were discovered at
Fushan.
Chiou said hunters sneaked into the site to kill the inquisitive animals,
which are relatively unafraid of humans.
Illegal hunting remains a long-term problem at Fushan, Chiou said, and
animals
are innocently sacrificed for to feed a voracious appetite for meat in
Taiwan.
Chiou said that to promote ecological conservation, workshops had been held
in
townships nearby but their effectiveness has been limited.
"Illegal hunting leads not only to loss of life but also to the loss of
data
on long-term ecological research," Chiou said.
IFRI director-general Yang criticized the government for its failure to
control illegal hunting.
"To give consideration to both ecological conservation and Aboriginal
cultural
preservation, the government should designate hunting seasons in certain
mountainous areas based on breeding activities," Yang said.
Officials at the NCHC are now considering adding surveillance instruments
into
the wireless eco-grid system at Fushan.
Due to funding and manpower constraints, however, that realization depends
on
the cooperation of the high-tech industry. Currently, the hidden cameras
installed at Fushan are borrowed from high-tech firms.
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