Field Experimental Approach (FEA) is sponsored by National Sun Yat-sen University’s (NSYSU) Dongsha Atoll Research Station (DARS), Dongsha Atoll National Park and Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University (IONTU). The students will have opportunity to spend one week at DARS (1/21-1/28/2016) to conduct field researches and to learn hand-on experimental methods. Due to weather condition and the rough sea in winter, this FEA course will focus on intertidal sedimentary and seagrass ecosystem in the small lagoon and the southern shore of the Dongsha Island, where the DARS is conveniently located.

Dongsha Atoll National Park is a remoted and the only atoll reef ecosystem in the South China Sea. It is over 250 km from Shantou, China and over 400 km from Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Since its inauguration, the Dongsha Atoll National Park has recieved wide scientific interests both domestically and internationally because of its unique physical setting, such as:

1. The South China sea is the most acid ocean on earth, the pH value is 0.1 lower than the average pH of the seawater (the pH value decreased 0.1 over the past 200 years), it is believed but still unproven that the Dongsha Atoll might be a refuge for marine organisms under ever increasing pressure from ocean acidification and climate changes
2. The largest internal waves (IWs) on earth (up to 150 m in wave height) have been observed in this area. Every 12 hours, the enormous IWs bring nutrient-rich water from the deep sea and propagates through the Dongsha Atoll to shape its unique ecosystem.
3. Because of its remoteness and remained close from publics, Dongsha Atoll is mostly affected by climate forcing (i.e. frequent typhoons & climate changes) with little influence by anthropogenic impacts. This makes Dongsha Atoll an ideal natural laboratory.
4. Dongsha Atoll represents the northern brink of the Coral Reef Triangle in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean. This region is widely recognized as a diversity hotspot and thus the Dongsha Atoll also harbors i