The River Basin Research Center, AsiaFlux* and the National Institute for Environmental Studies jointly hosted "AsiaFlux2019-20th Anniversary Workshop" at Gifu University and Takayama City (Gifu Prefecture) from September 29 to October 5, 2019. The workshop was held to commemorate the 20th anniversary since the foundation of AsiaFlux.

Terrestrial ecosystem such as forests, grasslands, farmlands, etc. are believed to be conducive to adjusting the concentration of greenhouse gasses through photonic synthesis, transpiration, etc. It is now known that the rise of CO2 level, climate change, people's land utilization are all causing a negative effect on the ecosystem.

Through collaboration with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, the River Basin Research Center established the Takayama Field Station in 1993. The center is Asia's first facility to monitor the extent of CO2 absorption by forests. Since its establishment, the center continues to engage in joint research programs/projects with research communities both in Japan and abroad.

From September 29 to October 1, training courses for young researchers opened on campus, and the workshop's plenary session was held in Takayama City from October 2 to 5. The participants also joined the tour of the Takayama Field Station.

In the plenary session, approximately 180 people attended, of them half were from over 10 countries and regions (China, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, United States, Italy, etc.) It began with the opening declaration by Professor Yu Guirui (from Chinese Academy of Sciences, AsiaFlux Chair) and the video message from President Hisataka Moriwaki of Gifu University. The following were the topics discussed during the workshop:

- Carbon cycling mechanism in the ecosystem (such as forests)

- New findings in unknown pedosphere

- Impacts on the ecosystem by climate change

- Observation of ecosystem by artificial satellites

- Integration between ecology and earth sciences

A total of 44 oral presentations and 93 poster presentations were conducted and the participants earnestly discussed and debated the topics above during this three-day workshop. Professor Yoshio Awaya, Director of the River Basin Research Center presented the distinguished service awards to the people for their contribution to the growth and development of AsiaFlux. During the Takayama Field Station tour, international researchers looked particularly impressed with the crosscutting observation system which started more than 25 years.

The River Basin Research Center will continue to cooperate with research institutions, universities, research networks at home and abroad in hopes of the advancement of research education in forest ecosystem and climate change.

*AsiaFlux is a regional research network bringing together scientists from universities and institutions in Asia to study the exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere across daily to inter-annual time scales.