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Tang Keli, woman specialist in soil erosion and soil and water conservation, was born in Shanghai in 1932. She graduated from Dept. of Soil &Agrochemistry, Shandong Agricultural University in 1954, and acquired Ph. D for Soil Erosion from the Institute of Soil Sciences in the former Soviet Union in 1962. Dr. Tang has been research professor in Research Center of Soil & Water Conservation and Ecology Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Education Ministry, and founded the first Soil Erosion Lab. in China in 1980. She has been the founder and the first director in State Key Lab. of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, CAS (1991-1996); now honor director of the Lab(1996-).
Dr Tang has devoted her professional life to soil erosion and soilwater conservation in China. For a century of half, she has investigated the Loess Plateau many times, and set foot in Yangtze River, Pearl River Basin, etc. She is the founder of a lot of field stations for siteecology research and new laboratory for modeling research. She developed the new methods to study erosion environment and the erosion catena of slopegully system, and new field to study complexity of waterwindcrossed erosion. She led her group has made great advance and important contribution for nations land realignment, management of Yellow River and ecological construction.
1. Dr. Tang first discovered that intensive soil erosion on the loess plateau did not occur in soil from an area with more precipitation but occurred in the windwatercrossederosion region within the semiarid region, and revealed the temporalspatial changing characters and the interaction process of soil erosion. The crossed erosion region is also aroused region of modern sandstorms. She set up the field experimental station to show models for erosion control and agrohusbandry development. Those achievements have provided an important scientific basis for the 2001～2050 Soil and Water Conservation Planning in China. Theoretically, her studies on windwatercrossederosion have set a world front scientific field.
2. She first systemically studied the soil erosion processes on slope farmlands and founded a new scientific branch, the erosion dynamics of “erosion catena” in sheetrillshallow gullygully erosion system. She revealed that the shallow gully erosion was a major erosion process in slope erosion catena, leading to intensive gully erosion and increasing sediment load in the river. She gives a new criterion of slope gradient for farmland abandoning. Above achievements gives base for the nations strategic policy on steep slope farmland abandon for erosion prevention and ecological restoration.
3. Dr. Tang concluded that the humanmade accelerated soil erosion is the main cause of modern soil erosion. Observing data show that accelerated soil erosion could be hundreds of times of natural erosion. Integrate analysis of the longterm monitoring data including runoff plots, small watersheds and main stream and tributaries of Yellow River, together with the data of field investigation and the remote sensing shows that extraordinary large floods and droughts in Yellow River occurred once per 30 to 40 years when there is synchronism reaction in sediment yield in the Yellow River. Soil erosion can be effectively controlled in watersheds with more than 70% of forest coverage. Particular study in the Quaternary loesspalaeosol sequence by using soil micromorphology also shows a close relationship between fluctuation of soil erosion intensity and changes of vegetation coverage in the geological history. The achievements make up new scientific foundation for current policy
As a pioneer in the discipline of soil erosion and soilwater conservation, Dr Tang has devoted major efforts to found scientific research platform and trained more than 30 research scientists, 17 of them obtained doctor or master degree.
Dr Tang has published seven books and more than 150 papers in domestic and international journals, especially the first detailed monograph of Soil and Water Conservation in China is a great contribution to the science and practice of soilwater conservation in China and even the world. She won first class prize of natural science and SciTech Progress by CAS.
From 1983 to 1995, she was reappointed three times in succession as the director of soil erosion committee of Chinese Soil Society. She has led group to investigate nine countries and launched a number of cooperative projects with Japan, Australia and USA. She is the first person to establish an academic society link between China mainland and Taiwan. She was a member of the Advisory Council of the International Research and Training Centre in Erosion and Sedimentation, UNESCO in Beijing (1984-1987)，and a professor for the International Training Course for Soil and Water Conservation, UNESCO (1988-1998). In view of her outstanding achievements in scientific research and contributions to the society, she was honoured by many awards.
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