BotanistZhongYangdevotedhislifetoscientificresearchandeducation.Withhisstudents,Zhongcollectedmorethan40millionseedsfrommorethan1,000speciesofplants,one-fifthofalltheadvancedplantsinTibet,whichtremendouslyenrichedChina’snationalseedbanks.courtesyofFudanUniversity
ProfessorZhongYangreadsanexhibitiondisplayboardattheShanghaiNaturalHistoryMuseum.Hespentconsiderabletimecomposingillustratedtextforthemuseum.courtesyofFudanUniversityThenewsannouncedbyFudanUniversityonSeptember25,2017broketheheartsofmanyChineseacademics.BotanistZhongYang,aprofessorwhodevotedhislifetoscientificresearchandeducation,waskilledinacaraccidentonabusinesstriptoInnerMongoliaattheageof53.HeleftbehindanunfinishedcareerresearchingbiologicalphenomenaandtracesofevolutionintheplantsofTibet.
ABotanist’sPilgrimage
Tibetisconsideredaholydestinationbymanytravelerswhoventuretheretofindinnerpeace.Forbotanists,theQinghai-TibetPlateau,knownasthe“roofoftheworld,”isjustasdistinctive.Theareaishometomorethan6,000advancedplantspeciesthatmakeupnearlyone-fifthofthetotalinChina.Moreimportantly,atleast1,000ofthemareendemictotheregion,evenbythemostconservativeestimates.
“Agenecansaveacountryandaseedcanbringhopeandhappinesstoall,”explainedZhongaboutwhathisworkmeant.Hebelievedthatmanyseedsbecomeextinctbecauseofclimatechangeandenvironmentaldamagecausedbyhumanactivitiesbeforetheirscientificbasisislearnedandunderstood.
ThoughconsideredthelargestgenedatabaseinChina,theQinghai-TibetPlateauisexploredbyfewbotanistsduetotheextremeweatherandoftenprimitivelivingconditions.Formostacademics,collectingseedsinthewildisfarlessrewardingthanlaboratoryexperimentsleadingtocutting-edgestudies.
Zhongwasanotableexception.HisscientificjourneyacrossTibetbeganin2001,ayearafterhebecameaprofessoroflifesciencesatFudanUniversityinShanghaiCityonChina’seasterncoast.
HewasinspiredbyoverseabotanistswhopreservedgermplasmresourcesinseedbankssuchastherenownedSvalbardGlobalSeedVault.AndwhenheworkedwithscientistsoftheKewRoyalBotanicGardeninLondon,oneoftheworld’srichestseedreserves,ZhongfoundthatnothingintheircollectioncamefromTibet.HerealizedthatseedcollectionontheQinghai-TibetPlateauwasparticularlyurgent.
Themissioncameataprice.Workingathighaltitudesforlongandintenseperiodstookatollonhim.Zhongfoundithardtocontrolhisweightandsufferedfromgoutandhighbloodpressure.
Lhachung,aprofessoratTibetUniversity,isastudentofZhong’s.HerecallsascientificexpeditiononMountQomolangma,knownasMountEverestintheWest,in2013whenZhongwasstruckbyseverealtitudesickness.
“Itoldhimtostayinthecampandthatwewouldcollectseedsforhim,”Lhachungrecounted.“Beingyoungandlocal,weareusedtotheextremeweather.Buthesaid,‘Ifyoucandoit,Ihavenoexcusetostay.’”
Thattripprovedworththepainswhentheteamsecuredseedsamplesofarareplant,Saussureagnaphalodes,atanaltitudeofmorethan6,000meters.ItwasthehighestaltitudeeveratwhichChinesebotanistsmanagedtocollectplantseeds.
Zhongplannedtocollectatleast600plantspeciesayearandsecure5,000seedsamplesofeach.Theteamfollowedstrictrulesrequiringdifferentsamplesofeachspeciestobefoundatleast50kilometersawayfromeachother.Thetaskisnoteasyontheplateauwheretheaveragealtitudeexceeds4,000metersabovesealevel.
Zhongtraveledmorethan500,000kilometerswithhisstudentsover16years,leavingfootprintsinthemostremoteareasontheplateau.Theysurvivedonthesimplestoffoodssuchasflatcakes,hamsausageandpicklestosaveroomfortoolsandseeds.
Theycollectedmorethan40millionseedsfrommorethan1,000speciesofplants,onefifthofalloftheadvancedplantsinTibet,whichtremendouslyenrichedChina’snationalseedbanks.TheseedbankinKunming,capitalofsouthwesternChina’sYunnanProvince,hasbecomeoneofthethreelargestofitskindintheworld.
Somediscoverieswereinspiring.MedicalresearchinstituteshaveproventhattheseedsofcedarwoodthatZhonggatheredfromtheplateauarehighlyeffectiveincombatingcancer.Someotherswereevenmonumental.Zhongandtwoofhisstudents,XuMinandZhaoNing,discoveredanewtypeofArabidop-sisat4,150metersabovesealevel.Themodelorganism,equivalenttoguineapigsinanimalresearch,canbewidelyusedinbotanicalexperiments.ThebrandnewspeciescansurviveacrossChinawithcarefromscientists.Zhongcalledita“giftfromTibetandnature.”
ProfessorZhongYangtraveledmorethan500,000kilometerswithhisstudentsacross16yearstocollectseeds,leavingfootprintsinthemostremoteareasoftheQinghai-TibetPlateau.courtesyofFudanUniversity
ProfessorZhongYangtutoredsixdoctorsandeightmaster'sstudentsatTibetUniversity.MostofthemjoinedZhong’sresearchteamaftergraduation.courtesyofFudanUniversity
Overthepastdecade,theGermplasmBankofWildSpeciesinKunming,YunnanProvincehaspreservedmorethan9,000plantspecies,whichaccountfor32percentofthetotalinChina.VCGGiftforFutureGenerations
SowingseedsforscientificresearchintheheartsofTibetanstudentswascrucialtoZhong.Hecouldhaveneverexploredthetreasuretroveoftheplateaualone.Overtheyears,ZhonghadalwaysbeenassistedbyyoungTibetanscholars.
Zhonglaunchedthefirstmaster’sanddoctoralprogramsforecologicalstudiesatTibetUniversityin2011and2013,respectively.HeledthebiologydepartmentinarisetothetopinChina.Over16years,Zhongtutoredsixdoctorsandeightmaster’sstudentsthere.MostofthemjoinedZhong’sresearchteamaftergraduation.In2011,theyobtainedfundingfromChina’sNationalNaturalScienceFoundationforaproject,thefirst-everinTibet.
Asabotanistandeducator,Zhongwasenthusiasticaboutspreadingknowledgeaboutnature.HespentconsiderabletimecomposingillustratedtextfortheShanghaiNaturalHistoryMuseumondiversesubjectsrangingfromastronomy,geologyandbiologytohumanities.
BaoQijiongoverseestheworkofpreparingforallthebackgroundinformationforitemsondisplayinthemuseum.WhenshebroughttheintensetasktoZhong,heacceptedwithouthesitation.“HewasalwayssobusytravelingbetweenShanghaiandTibet,butZhongwouldvisitusevenwhenhehadhalfadayoff,”Baorecalls.“Henevermissedadetail,beitasinglewordorapunctuationmark.”
AccordingtoBao,theprofessoralsoprovidedraresnakesamplesandhelpedtransportfrogsamplesfromtheQinghai-TibetPlateautothemuseum.Thesesampleshelpillustratetheformationoftheveryplateauitself.
Atthemuseum,Zhongdeliveredpubliclecturestoelementaryandmiddleschoolstudents.Healwayshadawaytoexplainbiologyinsimplelanguageandarouseinterestamongchildren.Thebotanistwasalwaysfullofhopeforfuturegenerations.Zhongnamedhistwinsonsafterplants,Yunshan(spruce)andYunshi(Mysorethorn),oneisgymnospermandtheotherangiosperm.
“Alllifecomestoanendeventually,”Zhongoncedeclared.“Iamfearlessbecausemystudentswillcontinueourscientificexploration.Theseedswegatheredcouldtakerootandgerminateseveralhundredyearslatertorealizethedreamsofmany.”