Download 2 - Chinese Academy of Sciences

BCAS
Vol.24 No.4 2010
Biodiversity Research in the Chinese
Academy of Sciences
MA Keping1, LOU Zhiping2 & SU Ronghui2
1
2
State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, CAS, Beijing 100093
Bureau of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, CAS, Beijing 100864
T
he year 2010 has been designated the International
Year of Biodiversity by United Nations. The
theme for this initiative is “Biodiversity is life and
biodiversity is our life.” A one-day high-level meeting
took place on September 22, 2010, coinciding with the
conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals Summit.
Taking the continuing loss of biodiversity as a major
obstacle to attain the Millennium Development Goals, the
United Nations General Assembly will consider strategies
for speeding up the implementation of measures to protect
and conserve species and ecosystems around the world.
The State Council of Chinese government reviewed and
approved China Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and
Action Plan from 2011 to 2030 on September 15, 2010,
showing China’s commitment to the implementation of the
Convention on Biological Diversity.
Owing to the growing population and intensifying
anthropogenic activities, biodiversity, which is concerned
with human survival and development, has suffered from
great threats mainly arising from human activities. Since the
early 1980s, biodiversity conservation and research have
become the focus of attention worldwide. As early as in the
late 1980s, a group of biologists of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CAS) introduced the concept, research progress
and trend of biodiversity into China, and begun actively
promoting biodiversity research in this country. This
article reviews the course and achievements of biodiversity
research in CAS over the past 20 years.
A Good Start
Although the biodiversity-related research at CAS could
trace its history back to about 60 years ago, studies in the
framework of biodiversity concept started in the late 1980s,
almost at the same time with international community. The
most significant event was the first biodiversity seminar held
by the CAS Bureau of Biology and Biotechnology (BIOCAS)
in March 1990, Beijing. More than 50 experts attended
the seminar, and more than 20 of them gave speeches,
introducing the progress of biodiversity research abroad,
and making suggestions for starting biodiversity research in
China. Proceedings of the seminar were edited afterwards
and, though not formally published, played a great role in
the dissemination of biodiversity concept and the startup of
biodiversity research in China. The papers in the proceedings
were cited frequently by publications on biodiversity in China
196 Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Proceedings of the CAS
Biodiversity Seminar in
March 1990.
Vol.24 No.4 2010
HU Xiansu
(1894–1968)
ZHONG Guanguang QIAN Chongshu
(1868–1940)
(1883–1965)
CHEN Huanyong
(1890–1971)
QIN Renchang
(1898–1986)
LIN Rong
(1903–1981)
YU Dejun
(1908–1986)
Review
WU Zhengyi
1916–
Part of Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae and associated chief contributors.
in the early 1990s.
The first biodiversity seminar and other related
activities had a direct bearing on the establishment of a CAS
biodiversity working group in January 1990. Led by Profs.
WANG Sung from the CAS Institute of Zoology (IZCAS) and
CHEN Lingzhi from the Institute of Botany (IBCAS), this
working group included other eight members: CHEN Yiyu,
HONG Deyuan, HU Zhi’ang, LI Dianmo, MEN Dapeng, SHI
Liming, WANG Xianpu and XU Zaifu. Its activities had great
influences on biodiversity studies in China:
(1) Convening experts to compile Biodiversity in China
(Biodiversity Committee,1992), Biodiversity in China:
Current Situation and Conservation Policy (Chen, 1993),
which made a basic evaluation on biodiversity in China, and
provided abundant data for drawing up China Biodiversity
Conservation Action Plan. Two collections of Biodiversity
Translations were published, giving an overall introduction
of the progress and trends of biodiversity research and
conservation in the international community;
(2) Actively applying for support from the CAS Major
Research Project, leading to the initiation of the research
project Biological Basis for Biodiversity Conservation and
Sustainable Use in 1991; and
(3) Applying for a World Bank Loan project, namely
Biodiversity Research and Information Management (BRIM),
which was started in 1993.
These two projects laid foundation for the biodiversity
research in China in terms of scientific research and capacity
building. Taking CAS Key Research Project in the field as an
example, its research priorities were set on the basis of serious
discussions by domestic experts and suggestions from some
foreign experts. At present view, the research contents chosen
at that time are comparably suitable: being both prospective
and practical. The funds of 4.5 million US dollars for the
BRIM project were used by 15 CAS institutes to purchase
equipment, train competent young professionals and start
building the Chinese Biodiversity Information System (CBIS).
To meet the need of biodiversity research, the CAS
Biodiversity Committee (http://www.brim.ac.cn/) was
established in March 1992, with then CAS Vice President LI
Zhensheng as director and then Director General of BIOCAS
QIAN Yingqian as executive director. The committee’s
important duties included implementation of BRIM (1993–
2002), co-organizing a biennial national symposium on
biodiversity conservation and sustainable use since 1994
with formally published proceedings of the eight symposia
(with the 9th symposium to be held in this November, 2010),
launching the journal Chinese Biodiversity in 1993, which was
renamed as Biodiversity Science in 2001 and remains the only
academic journal of biodiversity science in China so far. The
committee has organized scientists to prepare and publish five
book series: Biodiversity Translations, Chinese Biodiversity
Conservation and Research Progress, Biodiversity Research
Monographs, Biodiversity Conservation Popular Science
Series and Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network
Series, with 35 books published. To promote the nationwide
biodiversity research and strengthen the communication and
cooperation with international academic colleagues, Chinese
National Committee for DIVERSITAS was established in
2004, CHEN Yiyu, then the vice president of CAS, was
appointed the chairman.
Since the key project of biodiversity research was
initiated by CAS in 1991, CAS experts have successively
presided over a number of key projects of the Ministry of
Science and Technology and the National Natural Science
Foundation of China, taking a leading role in the development
of Chinese biodiversity research. In the meanwhile, CAS
has made huge investments in the construction of biological
herbaria or museums, botanical gardens and seed banks to
strengthen the infrastructure and instruments for biodiversity
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research (Lou et al., 1997; Li et al, 2009). In addition, a
special fund was established by CAS in 1989 to support
taxonomic and biogeographic research, allocating money
every year to back up the basic running of more than 20
herbaria or museums and over 10 botanical gardens of CAS,
as well as the compilation of Flora of China, Fauna of China,
Spore Flora of China, and the taxonomic research. All of
them have played a critical role in promoting the development
of taxonomy in CAS, especially in stabilizing the taxonomic
research team and maintaining the necessary facilities.
Major Achievements
Rapid progress in biodiversity inventory
Biodiversity inventory of China has made remarkable
progress during the past 20 years. The Flora Reipublicae
Popularis Sinicae (FRPS), a masterpiece that comprehensively
summarized the systematic classification of 31,142 vascular
plants in China, consisting of 80 volumes and 126 books.
Accomplished in October 2004, the FRPS is the world’s
biggest flora to date in terms of the number of species involved.
It was the sole first-class prize winner of the National Award
for Natural Sciences for the year 2009. The Flora of China is a
revised edition of FRPS in English. Two thirds of its volumes
have been published so far, the others will be put to press by
2012. The Flora of Pan-Himalayas was started in 2010 as an
international initiative with a plan to complete 80 books in 50
volumes within 12 years. Chinese botanists will work together
with overseas institutions with good research basis from the
countries of Himalayan region and beyond. More than 125
volumes of the Fauna of China have been published, including
31 volumes on vertebrates, 44 volumes on invertebrates and 50
volumes on insects. The Cryptogamic Flora of China includes
the following five taxa: marine algae, freshwater algae, fungi,
lichens and bryophytes. To date, 84 volumes of it have been
completed, including 70 published volumes, with 254 families,
1,347 genera and 12,440 species of sporophyte plants. The
whole set of 26-volume Flora Yunnanica was published in
2006, including 16,201 species belonging to 433 families
and 3,008 genera. The Areal-types of Seed Plants and Their
Origin and Differentiation (Wu et al., 2006), the Endemic
Genera of Seed Plants of China (Ying and Zhang 1994), the
China Endemic Birds (Lei et al., 2006) and the Checklist of
Marine Biota of China Seas (Liu, 2008) are also important
achievements on biodiversity inventory of China. More
comprehensive description of the type, structure and function of
Chinese ecosystems have been compiled together (Sun, 2005).
The vegetation map of China is another important
research project, which has been in rapid progress. Both
the Vegetation Type Atlas of China (1:1,000,000) and the
Vegetation Regionalization Map of China (1:6,000,000) have
been published with digitized versions. Correspondingly, the
database system of Chinese vegetation was integrated with
Under the auspices of the Botanic Gardens Conservation International, CAS, Hubei Provincial Government, State Forestry Administration
and Wuhan Municipal Government, the 3rd World Botanical Gardens Congress is held from April16 to 20, 2007, in Wuhan, capital of central
China's Hubei Province.
198 Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Vol.24 No.4 2010
Review
describe the taxonomy, endangerment category, population
status, threats, conservation measures and breeding methods. In
particular, Vol. 1 to 3 of China Species Red List were published
in 2004 and 2005 (Wang et al. 2004). The authors adopted the
"IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria" for the evaluation
of the endangered status of the 10,211 species of animals and
plants (5,803 animals and 4,408 plants) in China. Based on this,
IBCAS is currently organizing botanists nationwide to evaluate
all of the 34,000 higher plants distributed in China by using
IUCN criteria, hoping to complete the project within two years.
China Plant and Animal Red Data Books
environmental information, thereby enlarging the application of
the traditional vegetation maps, greatly promoting advances in
vegetation ecology and bridging vegetation science with related
sciences in China. This atlas exhibits an overall picture of
vegetation in China, including the distribution of 11 vegetation
type groups, 55 vegetation types, 960 formations and subformations, more than 2,000 dominant plant species, major
agricultural crops and economic crops with great detailed
illustrations enclosed. It is essential for natural resource
management, environmental monitoring, basic research, and
other public services. Since 2009, IBCAS has carried out the
first project of compiling Vegetation Monographs of China
and made a plan to provide comprehensive and systematic
descriptions on main vegetation formations or formation groups
of China. The first group of vegetation formations was selected,
including "Leymus chinensis grassland and meadow", "spruce
forest" and "beech forest."
Leading the development of biodiversity informatics in
China
In the late1980s, CAS started the establishment of species
databases under the framework of a science database project.
Now, its biology section comprises tens of biological databases
and provides the background information of plant and animal
species in China (http://www1.csdb.cn/). Chinese Biodiversity
Informatics System (CBIS), which was initiated in the early
1990s with the sponsorship of several projects such as World
Bank loan project, has been developed by 15 CAS institutes.
It has set up the biodiversity information network covering
the whole country. At the beginning of the 21th century, the
infrastructure of museums and herbaria has been fundamentally
improved and the construction of its information system
initiated. In the meanwhile, the digitization of biological
specimens has been promoted with active participation of
25 museums and herbaria of CAS. In order to encourage
data sharing, BIOCAS has promulgated Regulations on
Administration of the Information System Network of Biological
Museums and Berbaria in CAS (trial version) in 2003. The
project "standardization and integration of specimen resources
as well as the construction of sharing platform," presided
over by CAS and sponsored by the Ministry of Science and
Technology, was initiated in 2005 with the participation of 137
Comprehensive evaluation on the status of the threatened
species in China
China is one of the mega-diversity countries in the world
and full of endemic species. Unfortunately, this
biodiversity faces enormous threat. In the late
1980s, CAS experts began to conduct evaluation
on the threatened status of animals and plants
in China so as to effectively conserve the
threatened species. In 1991, the first volume of
the China Plant Red Data Book was published,
encompassing 388 rare and endangered plant
species. The red data book with color photographs
provides clear information about the current
status, morphology, distribution, ecological and
biological features, protection value (academic
and economic significance), conservation
measures and cultivation methods for each plant
species. China Red Data Book of Endangered
Animals, published in 1998, comprises four
volumes, including mammals, birds, amphibians
Some biodiversity monographs published under the organization of the CAS
Biodiversity Committee.
& reptiles, and fish. These books comprehensively
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research institutes and universities. The completed digitization
adds up to more than eight million specimens, contributing a
lot to the basic data accumulation of biodiversity informatics
as well as the construction and development of sharing
platform (http://beta.cvh.org.cn/is/). With the strengthening of
international cooperation, CAS has been actively promoting
the development of biodiversity informatics in China over the
past five years. As some important biodiversity information
facilities such as Species 2000-China node (http://www.sp2000.
org/), Encyclopedia of Life China Regional Center (http://www.
eolchina.org/), Biodiversity Heritage Library China Regional
Center (http://www.bhl-china.org/cms/), Chinese Virtual
Herbarium (CVH, http://www.cvh.org.cn/), and Chinese Field
Herbarium (CFH, http://www.cfh.ac.cn/) were subsequently set
up, and the related programs have achieved steady progress.
In addition, the trial version of Catalogue of Life-China's CDRom was produced in 2007 and a revised version was officially
launched in 2008. The updated edition of Annual Checklist of
the Catalogue of Life-China is produced each year. This year’s
annual checklist with the memory of the International Year
of Biodiversity includes 55,274 known species distributed in
China.
Initiation of the biosafety research in China
With the rapid development of biotechnology, the safety
regarding the release of genetically modified organisms
(GMO) has become a great concern. In China, discussions
were started on the potential biosafety issues concerning the
release of GMO (Qian, 1994). Based on the summary of the
related research progress abroad, CAS initiated the strategy
research for the assessments to the potential biosafety risks
Invasion mode of red turpentine beetle (Dendroctonus valens) and
its fungal associates (Drawn by Dr. Nancy Gillette)
200 Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
posed by GMO, and took active part in the international
negotiation over the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
Recently, encouraging advancements have been made
on the experimental research upon environmental effects
caused by the release of GMO such as anti-insect cotton and
transgenic oilseed rape. Additionally, the invasion of exotic
species has become one of the disastrous environmental
problems. CAS has launched the key research project of
"the Invasion Ecology Effects and Management Technology
Research on the Important Exotic Species" and organized a
group of related experts to tackle the key problems together.
CAS scientists have found a series of effective control
measures against harmful invasive species such as pinewood
nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus), red turpentine
beetle (Dendroctonus valens), crofton weed (Eupatorium
adenophorum) and Chinese tallow (Sapium sebiferum). For
example, a rapid sample and precise molecular diagnostics
technique to detect pinewood nematode has played an
important role in practice. Furthermore, some management
strategies including legislation, quarantine, early warning,
prevention and control were suggested (Zhang et al. 2009).
Meanwhile, many significant progresses on the research
of invasive species such as rapid evolution, prediction for
potential spread trend and interaction with native species have
been successfully made (Zhu et al. 2007; Feng et al. 2009; Lu
et al. 2010; Huang et al.2010).
Promotion of research platform establishment for further
investigation of ecosystem diversity
CAS has accomplished outstanding achievements on
ecosystem research. Not only the research on the basis of
Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN), but also the
publications and improvements of vegetation distribution as
well as mapping systems, have laid a solid foundation for
ecosystem diversity research. At the beginning of the 1990s,
research was started on ecosystem changes and maintenance
mechanisms under anthropogenic activities in key regions and
ecosystem types and gained remarkable achievements with
the support from the CAS Key Program and the Ministry of
Science and Technology of China. After 2000, large-scale field
experiments were successively conducted. These experimental
facilities have greatly promoted the development of ecosystem
diversity research. During four years from 2004 to 2007, four
20–25 ha. forest dynamic plots were set up one after another in
the Changbai Mountains, Gutian Mountain, Dinghu Mountain
and Xishuangbanna region, for exploring species coexistence
mechanisms with sound data. Significant advances have
been made in many aspects such as identifying the densitydependence mechanisms and tree species distribution patterns.
(Chen et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2010; Li et al., 2009). Another
four establishing large-scale forest dynamic plots are hopefully
to be accomplished at the end of 2010. Consequently, China
Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network (CforBio) with
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Manipulation experiment based in Duolun of Inner Mongolia
eight forest dynamic plots would become the largest one of
its kind in the world except for the Center for Tropical Forest
Science (CTFS). In addition, research on grassland biodiversity
maintenance mechanisms in Mongolian Grassland Ecosystem
Research Station have made great achievements and received
attention of counterparts both at home and abroad (Bai et al.,
2004; 2007). In cooperation with tens of counterparts from
Europe and North America under the support of Sino-German
and China-US collaborative projects, IBCAS experts have
established experimental fields in Dexing of Jiangxi Province
and Xilingole of Inner Mongolia, respectively, for examining
the biodiversity ecosystem functioning of forest and grassland
ecosystems. The results from these field experiments have
been published in top ecological journals (Bruehaide, 2010). A
large-scale multi-factor manipulation experiment for detecting
ecosystem adaptation to global change has also attained
groundbreaking progress on impacts of different warming
treatments and water-thermal interactions on ecosystems and
biodiversity (Bai et al., 2009; Yang et al., 2010).
Greenhouses of the South China Botanical Garden
Tropical Botanical Garden (right, photo by Chen Jin)
Review
Fast paces in preservation and research of germplasm
resources
China has rich genetic resources with a long research
history. Over the past 20 years, CAS researchers have made
great advances in collection, preservation and research of
wild relatives of crops, economic tree germplasm resources,
e.g. tea plant, wild flowers germplasm resources, wild forage
germplasm resources, aquatic plants germplasm resources,
rare germplasm resources in the Yangtze River basin, marine
biological germplasm resources and microbial resources.
Especially, the establishment of Southwest China Germplasm
Bank of Wild Species at the CAS Kunming Institute of Botany
(KIB) in 2007 and the implementation of research projects on
technical regulations and standards, and integration and share of
collective and preservative technology of key wild germplasm
resources (Li et al, 2009) and special project of forest
germplasm resources in Northeast China have dramatically
accelerated the preservation and investigation of germplasm
resources. For instances, research into rice germplasm resources
illustrates the origin and phylogeny of rice ployploid (Ge et
al., 1999). In addition, the systematic research into origins and
genetic diversities of main domestic animals, e.g., pig, cattle,
sheep, goat, donkey, horse, dog, rabbit and chicken, reveals that
East Asia, especially South China and regions nearby, is the
key origin area for domestic animals (Chen et al, 2005). The
State Key Laboratory of Genetics Resources and Evolution was
established at the CAS Kunming Institute of Zoology in 2007,
and the CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Innovation
and Characteristic Agriculture was set up in the CAS Wuhan
Botanical Garden in 2010. The construction of both the CAS
South China Botanical Garden and the CAS Xishuangbanna
Tropical Botanical Garden has made remarkable development
in terms of facilities. More and more plant species have been
introduced and cultivated in the two gardens. Moreover, the
specific collections of such as Magnolia, Rhododendron,
kiwifruit, clove, orchids, waterlily and so on have been set
(left, photo by Liao Jingping)
and a glance at the new extension area of Xishuangbanna
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up and enriched for conserving rare germplasm resources. In
recent years, China Barcode Promotion Project, advocated by
ZHANG Yaping et al., has obtained great advance in DNA
barcoding for animals, plants and fungi under the vigorous
supports of CAS, the Ministry of Science and Technology and
the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The project
has joined the International Barcode of Life Project (iBOL),
and become one of four key nodes in the world.
Suggestions on Future Research Priorities
CAS has good foundation, competent personnel and
sound platforms to conduct biodiversity research. On the
basis of major progresses already made, CAS should select
research priorities to meet the national strategic needs at
international academic frontiers, to provide scientific and
technological support for Chinese biodiversity conservation
and sustainable use, and to make contributions to the
development of biodiversity science. Meanwhile, for the
projects with better progress, special attention should be paid
to extending regional scope, and strengthening international
collaboration with other countries, in particular those in
Asia. Therefore, for the coming five to 10 years, several
research directions are proposed for consideration.
service center; and
(4) To construct China biodiversity e-Science platform
even extending to continental level along with strengthening
the constructions of special information platforms such as
CoL-China, EOL-China, BHL-China, CVH and CFH, which
will be the cores of national biodiversity information platform.
Finally, next major aspects to consider in the construction
of the biodiversity e-Science infrastructure should consist of
strong coordination and organization, data standardization and
extension, mass data storage and computation, ontology and
semantic web development, thematic analysis and modeling,
service standardization and contents, and specialized service
for public community (Xu et al. 2010).
Compilation of biological encyclopedia and biodiversity
inventory
The compilation of Flora of China, Fauna of China,
Spore Flora of China, and Vegetation Monographs of China,
and the continual update of Catalogue of Life — China should
be the major tasks in terms of Chinese biodiversity inventory.
As for endemic taxa such as higher plants, vertebrates, and
macro fungi, we might be able to answer the question of how
many species are there in China, but know little about their
distribution, living status, and influenced factors. All knowledge
on these questions is important foundation for biodiversity
conservation and sustainable use. We have worked on these
questions for decades, but still need more efforts.
Enhancing Chinese network of biodiversity monitoring
and conservation research
Regarding the biodiversity monitoring and conservation
in China, the priority should be placed on:
(1) Extending the existing Chinese Forest Biodiversity
Monitoring Network (CForBio) to cover better
representative ecosystems of various types and regions;
(2) Building up 60–80 grassland biodiversity monitoring
sites along three transects in temperate area;
(3) Supplementing the monitoring network with 10
marine ecosystems and 20 wetland ecosystems;
(4) Accomplishing the biodiversity monitoring network
covering the major ecosystem types and taxa in China within
the next five to 10 years and carrying out the research on the
biodiversity change and associated mechanisms; and
(5) Choosing part of monitoring stations to carry out
deeply conservation biology research for a long term in order
to provide sound support for conserving the key species and
ecosystems, especially to supply the baseline data and strategic
measures for improving the management of nature reserves.
E-Science and biodiversity informatics
We will exert persistent efforts to the development of
e-Science and biodiversity informatics in the future. Though
a quite solid base has been laid down in existing biodiversity
informatics platform, this still needs strengthening:
(1) To construct the national biodiversity e-Science
infrastructure, which serves as a platform of biodiversity
data along with related analysis and modeling tools shared
by multi-organizations;
(2) To effectively validate, manage and integrate the
multi-source data, as well as to manage the metadata and data
source, on the basis of the existing data, analysis tools and
website platforms, data standardization and transfer protocols;
(3) To supply external applications with specific port
platforms delivering types of services outward through
202 Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Biodiversity‘s role in adaption to and mitigation of
climate change
Since climate change is mainly due to human activities, it
is paramount important to carry out research on the adaption
of biodiversity to climate change by large-scale manipulation
experiments and field observation to examine the response
of key biological taxa to global climate change as well as the
relationship among global change, biodiversity and ecosystem
Vol.24 No.4 2010
function. Moreover, the corresponding results should be
combined with species conservation and reasonable spatial
distributions of nature reserves. Regarding the mitigation
of climate change, besides the potential for carbon storage
and sequestration, research on "Reducing emissions from
deforestation and degradation plus (REDD+)", along
with establishing the objective assessment criterions and
management models, should also be taken into account.
Conservation and utilization of biological resources and
application of DNA barcoding
Biological resources are the important material basis
for ensuring the economic and social development in a
comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable way. Without
biological resources, the innovation of biology industry and
the development of biotechnology would fall into a terrible
situation. The utilization of biological resources concerns,
Review
in either a direct or an indirect way, all the problems now
facing mankind, such as food, energy supply and environment
remediation, disease prevention and public heath, biochemical
and biological weapons, without an exception. Biological
economy will become the fourth type of economic forms,
following agricultural economy, industry economy and
information economy. To meet the needs of national strategy,
scientists should collect and make full use of germplasm
resources at global scale through international cooperation to
provide material basis for biological research, biotechnological
innovation and bioeconomic development. The comprehensive
survey of biological resources at national scope, including the
collection, storage, evaluation and utilization of germplasm
resource should be prioritized. Moreover, it is an urgent need,
not only for the development of taxonomy, but also for the
evaluation and application of germplasm resource, to actively
promote the application of DNA barcoding.
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