BEIJING -- China has established 167 national field observation and research stations across the country to strengthen grassland protection, a veteran grassland scientist told a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

These stations play a crucial role in China's ecological civilization construction and major disaster prevention and control, said Xin Xiaoping, director of the national observation and research station on grassland ecosystem in Hulun Buir, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, at the press conference hosted by the State Council Information Office.

"Just as hands can sense warmth and cold, the stations serve as outposts for us to perceive changes in ecosystems," Xin said.

According to Xin, decades of uninterrupted observations at her station have yielded more than 20 million data records, reshaping people's understanding of biodiversity in the Hulun Buir grassland. Meanwhile, a series of scientific research projects were carried out at the station to identify the causes of grassland degradation and come up with targeted restoration measures.

In addition, the stations serve as demonstration zones for new technologies. For instance, the world's first grazing robot-UAV system was launched in Hulun Buir last year, according to Xin.

"The stations are the test sites for science and technology to benefit herdsmen," she said.

Xin's team has also promoted the grassland restoration technologies in Hulun Buir with a demonstration area of over 100,000 mu (about 6,666.67 hectares), and the grass yield in the demonstration area has increased by 2 to 6 times.

As a bridge linking science and society, the stations have served as an open platform for hundreds of universities and research institutes, cultivated many graduate students rooted in grassland research, and offered advice and suggestions to support policy formulation, she added.