Abstract: The terrestrial transect has already become an important approach and hot spot for International Geosphere-Biosphere Progran (IGBP) in the global change study. Northeast China Transect (NECT) is listed as one of the first set of IGBP transect. It is placed along the latitude 43˚30' N, between longtitudes 112˚ and 130˚30' E, and approximately 1 600 km in length. NECT is basically a gradient driven by precipitation/moisture factors located in the mid-latitude of the temperate zone. The vegetation zones or biomes along the NECT consist of temperate mixed evergreen coniferous and broadleaf deciduous forest and temperate steppe, including three subzones, viz. meadow steppe, typical steppe, and desert steppe, along an east-westward continuous transitional spatial seties, respectively. There are four ecological experimental stations with support from a great number of permanent samples and long-tenn experimental data on the transect. The initial gradient analysis and simulation for the predicted scenario under increasing temperature given for the transect included the geographical location, significance of setup, topography, geomorphology, Climate, soil, vegetation and pattern of land use. One remote sensing driven model and one NPP model have been tested and operated for the whole transect. The study on NECT will be enhanced by research project, concerning biogeochemical cycles (water, C, N, P, etc, and CO2, CH4 greenhousegas emisson), structure, function and dynamics of ecosystems, land use and land coverage, biodiversity, dynamic globalvegetation modeling (DGVM), and high resolution remote sensing data. It will become a frontier for the studies of Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) and other IGBP core projects in China.

Key words: Global change, Terrestrial transect, Gradient analysis, Northeast China Transect