The innovative research team in the field of agricultural geography and rural development of Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), carried out fruitful research work basing on the projects what they presided, which were funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,the Knowledge Innovation Program of CAS, National Key Program for Developing Basic Science (973 Program), and National Key Technology R&D Program, etc.

Aiming at the demands of national development strategies and the objectives of discipline development, the researchers paid more attention to exerting the discipline advantages of geography, and carried out a lot of problem-oriented investigations in typical regions, joint studies of the whole research team, and international exchanges and cooperation, in the fields of agricultural resources and environment, land-use type and structure, the change of rural socio-economic development pattern and its effects, etc., during the rural-urban transformation development period in China.

Some important progresses and achievements have been obtained in the aspects of rural spatio-territorial system evolution, geographical research on building new countryside, land-use change driven by rapid urbanization and its impact on rural sustainability, theoretical bases of rural hollowing and rural housing land transition, the pattern and effect of water-land resources conversion due to strategic adjustment of agricultural structure, assessment of cultivated land quality in an ecologically fragile environment using RS and GIS, etc.

This research team have published seven articles in international SSCI Journals with high impact factors (over 2.0), of which two in Applied Geography (SSCI; 2009IF: 2.324), three in Land Use Policy (SSCI; 2009IF: 2.355) and two in Journal of Environmental Management (SCI/SSCI; 2009IF:2.367). At present, four among the seven have citation records on ISI-Web of Science and their total number of citation is 64 times, and the most cited frequency of single article is 32 times.

Articles list：

1.　 Liu Yansui, Zhang Yanyu, Guo Liying. Towards realistic assessment of cultivated land quality in an ecologically fragile environment: A satellite imagery-based approach. Applied Geography, 2010, 30(2):271-281.

2.　 Gao Jay, Liu Yansui, Chen Yufu. Land cover changes during agrarian restructuring in Northeast China. Applied Geography, 2006, 26(3-4): 312-322.

3.　 Liu Yansui, Wang Jieyong, Long Hualou. Analysis of arable land loss and its impact on rural sustainability in Southern Jiangsu Province of China. Journal of Environmental Management, 2010, 91 (3):646–653.

4.　 Long Hualou, Tang Guoping, Li Xiubin, Heilig G.K. Socio-economic driving forces of land-use change in Kunshan, the Yangtze River Delta Economic Area of China. Journal of Environmental Management, 2007, 83(3): 351-364.

5.　 Long Hualou, Liu Yansui, Li Xiubin, Chen Yufu. Building new countryside in China: A geographical perspective. Land Use Policy, 2010, 27(2): 457-470.

6.　 Long Hualou, Liu Yansui, Wu Xiuqin, Dong Guihua. Spatio-temporal dynamic patterns of farmland and rural settlements in Su-Xi-Chang region: Implications for building a new countryside in coastal China. Land Use Policy, 2009, 26(2): 322-333.

7.　 Long Hualou, Heilig G.K., Li Xiubin, Zhang Ming. Socio-economic development and land-use change: analysis of rural housing land transition in the Transect of the Yangtse River, China. Land Use Policy, 2007, 24(1): 141-153.