Experiments on the physiology of southern and northern krill,Euphausia superba and Meganyctiphanes norvegica,with emphasis on moult and growth – a review

Physiological data are needed for life history studies on krill, and as parameters for input into energy budgets and models. In conjunction with moult and growth data, these may also prove useful for assessing the fishable biomass of krill. Here, the development of physiological concepts in experimental krill research is briefly evaluated, with emphasis on the gaps to be filled. Krill growth is very flexible, as well as strongly temperature and nutrition dependent. The polar Antarctic krill Euphausia superba grows as fast as the boreal species Meganyctiphanes norvegica, at least during the first 2.5 years, and the species are comparable in terms of physiological plasticity. Accordingly, as krill appear to adjust quickly to specific laboratory conditions, short-term experiments are essential if field conditions are to be reflected as closely as possible. Furthermore, direct comparisons between laboratory experiments and swarming studies in the field are advantageous. For these, M. norvegica is particularly well-suited, as swarms can be followed over longer times and more easily than in E. superba. For example, processes of moult and reproduction were found to be highly coordinated in swarms and populations of Northern krill. For this species a conceptual model of reproduction was developed based on a combination of short-term laboratory observations coupled with field data on moult and ovary stages. In further physiological experiments krill should be studied as groups when swarming. Using proxies, that is applying physiological and/or biochemical methods side by side, is a promising way to enhance the reliability of life history data.     

南极磷虾行为与生理生态学研究进展

行为生态学和生理生态学是生态学领域的两个重要研究范畴,开展相关研究可以更好地理解海洋生物的生活习性及其对环境的适应能力.南极磷虾是南大洋生态系统中的关键物种,探究其行为和生理生态学可以了解磷虾类等海洋生物应对极端环境的能力.本文从行为生态和生理生态两方面总结了南极磷虾的典型生态学特征.行为生态学包括其集群(规模、行为)及游泳(游泳角度、附肢摆动)等;生理生态学包括呼吸、排泄与代谢以及蜕皮与生长等.目前关于南极磷虾的生理生态学和行为生态学的研究仍较为有限,且多数研究结果基于陆基实验室的暂养.鉴于陆基实验室暂养与自然的南极磷虾栖息环境差异较大,开展南极磷虾的现场实验生态学研究迫在眉睫.     

Zooplankton swarms: characteristics,proximal cues and proposed advantages

This review focuses on monospecific swarms of four taxonomic groups of small crustaceans: three groups are marine copepods: oithonids (Oithona and Dioithona), Acartia species and Calanus species; and the fourth group includes freshwater cladoceran species in the Order Anomopoda. For each of these groups there is a substantial literature on swarming behavior from field studies and laboratory experiments. Swarming characteristics of each taxonomic group are reviewed, proximal cues for swarming are described, comparisons are made for proposed advantages of swarming, and future research directions are suggested. Swarming characteristics of Calanus spp. are distinctly different from those of the smaller crustaceans: the oithonids, acartiids and cladocerans. In a conceptual model proposed for the smaller crustaceans, swarming behavior is affected by their interactions with light cues, water currents and turbulence, behavior of their predators and prey, and abundance of other trophic levels.     

Working with living krill - the people and the places

The fascination of Antarctic scientists with Antarctic krill and their capabilities has a long and varied history, and prompted many scientists to maintain and manipulate krill under laboratory conditions. Starting in the Discovery era with Mackintosh at the King Edward Point labs on South Georgia, 1930, scientists have collected krill from sailing vessels, small boats, inflatable zodiacs and large ice-breaking vessels. Krill have been maintained in small and large jars, deep rectangular tanks, large round tanks and in flow-through and recycling systems. They have been maintained both on board research vessels and in laboratories, in flowing seawater systems at ambient conditions and in temperature-controlled environmental rooms. A few researchers have transported living krill back to their home laboratories, for example tropical laboratories in Japan (Murano) and Australia (Ikeda), temperate laboratories (Nicol) in Australia, a northern European laboratory in Germany (Marschall) and a sunny maritime laboratory in California (Ross and Quetin). The goals have been varied: short-term experiments to understand in situ physiological rates, long-term experiments to test the effects of manipulations or controlled changes in environmental conditions, and behavioral responses. We take you on a brief historical tour as we trace the lineage of modern day research on living Antarctic krill.     

Effects of reproductive timing and colony size on the survival, offspring colony size and drone production in the honey bee (Apis mellifera)

ABSTRACT. 1. The effects of colony size and time of reproduction on the survival and size of offspring colonies and on drone production were examined for honey bees, Apis mellifera L. Drone and worker production and survival of parental and offspring colonies were monitored following swarming. Also, the temporal patterns of drone emergence and availability of unmated queens were examined.
2. Colony size at swarming was positively correlated with the number of workers invested in offspring colonies and the number of queens produced. However, colony size at swarming was not correlated with the number of offspring colonies produced.
3. Swarm size was positively correlated with drone and worker production after swarms were hived. Worker production of hived swarms was positively correlated with colony survival. Offspring queens which inherited a parental nest survived longer than queens in either primary swarms or afterswarms, presumably due to the advantage of inheriting a nest.
4. Drone emergence peaked just prior to swarming, the time when unmated queens were available. High drone production by colonies initiated by swarms probably reflected an attempt to reproduce prior to winter. The probabilities of a second swarming cycle within the same year and of surviving the winter were low for colonies initiated from swarms.     

Survival of honeybees in cold climates: the critical timing of colony growth and reproduction

Abstract. 1. The adaptive significance of the timing of growth and reproduction by honeybee, Apis mellifera L., colonies in cold climates was studied by describing the seasonal patterns of food storage, brood rearing, and swarming, and then observing the consequences of experimentally perturbing the seasonal cycles of brood rearing and swarming.
2. Colonies consume large amounts of food over winter (20+ kg of honey), but have only a brief period (about 14 weeks) for food collection each year.
3. The honeybee's striking habits of starting brood rearing in midwinter and swarming in late spring evidently help colonies achieve maximum use of the short summer season. Colonies whose onset of-brood rearing was experimentally postponed until early spring showed greatly retarded colony growth and swarming. Other experiments demonstrated that late swarms starve more often during winter than do early swarms.
4. We conclude that the timings of colony growth and reproduction are essential elements in the honeybee's suite of adaptations for winter survival.     

Spatial swarm segregation and reproductive isolation between the molecular forms of Anopheles gambiae

Anopheles gambiae, the major malaria vector in Africa, can be divided into two subgroups based on genetic and ecological criteria. These two subgroups, termed the M and S molecular forms, are believed to be incipient species. Although they display differences in the ecological niches they occupy in the field, they are often sympatric and readily hybridize in the laboratory to produce viable and fertile offspring. Evidence for assortative mating in the field was recently reported, but the underlying mechanisms awaited discovery. We studied swarming behaviour of the molecular forms and investigated the role of swarm segregation in mediating assortative mating. Molecular identification of 1145 males collected from 68 swarms in Donéguébougou, Mali, over 2 years revealed a strict pattern of spatial segregation, resulting in almost exclusively monotypic swarms with respect to molecular form. We found evidence of clustering of swarms composed of individuals of a single molecular form within the village. Tethered M and S females were introduced into natural swarms of the M form to verify the existence of possible mate recognition operating within-swarm. Both M and S females were inseminated regardless of their form under these conditions, suggesting no within-mate recognition. We argue that our results provide evidence that swarm spatial segregation strongly contributes to reproductive isolation between the molecular forms in Mali. However this does not exclude the possibility of additional mate recognition operating across the range distribution of the forms. We discuss the importance of spatial segregation in the context of possible geographic variation in mechanisms of reproductive isolation.     

南大洋极锋以南常见磷虾类生殖特性研究进展

磷虾是南大洋生态系统的基本组成部分,它们在南极海洋食物网中扮演着关键角色。磷虾可能是人类未开发的最大动物蛋白质来源,人类对磷虾资源开发的兴趣日趋增加,但目前关于这些种类的基础生物学,尤其是除南极大磷虾以外的其他磷虾类繁殖特性的了解极为匮乏。本文对已有相关研究进行梳理,揭示了不同种磷虾卵巢发育经历相似的生理步骤;磷虾卵母细胞大小存在区域性差异;通过观察第二性征和卵巢形态可以划分雌性磷虾的发育阶段;磷虾种间产卵期具有纬度差异,种内具有区域差异;多数调查发现样本中雌性磷虾个体占优。在此基础上,本文对今后的研究重点提出展望:1)加强南极大磷虾之外磷虾生殖特性的研究,探索磷虾生殖特点的季节性、区域性对磷虾环南极分布的影响;2)重点关注实验生物学研究,厘清磷虾的产卵次数及机制,以期准确估算繁殖力以评估磷虾资源开发可能产生的影响。     

Variability of Euphausia superba populations near Elephant Island and the South Shetlands: 1981 vs. 1984

Summary March 1981 and 1984 Euphausia superba populations were compared using acoustics and net catches near Elephant Island, the South Shetlands, and in the Bransfield Strait. In 1981, krill tended to form large, thick swarms and in 1984, smaller, more dispersed, shallower patches. March body lengths of juvenile-adult krill were 22–59 mm in 1981 and 13–59 mm in 1984. Near Elephant I. in 1981, krill >45 mm were most numerous; in 1984 sizes <45 mm were dominant. In March 1984, the larger (>45 mm) body-size group was prereproductive and occurred from just west of Elephant I. westward into waters north of the South Shetlands; in 1981 the larger krill were postreproductive and more widely distributed in the Elephant I. area. Overall, netted postlarval krill, 1981 vs. 1984, averaged 73 vs. 48 individuals/m², or 54 vs. 16 g/m²; acoustic biomass estimates were 229 vs. 134–201 g/m². Larvae near Elephant I. averaged >2000/m² in 1981 vs. <1/m² in 1984—compatible with respective March reproductive states. Net-type comparisons revealed short-term (15 min to 6h) variability of a similar scale in both MOCNESS and bongo net catches, but bongo abundances averaged greater. Variation in maturity composition across 1981 swarms, patches, and random transects was like variation among the random 1984 tows; spatial distributions were more heterogeneous in 1984. The March 1984 krill of 20–44 mm (Year-2, mode 34 mm) relate to November 1983 krill of 9–30 mm (mode 21 mm), indicating growth averaging 12 mm during the season. Body-lengths and size-frequency modes of Year-2 and combined Years-3,3+ krill from comparable Feb-Mar data collected since 1968 suggest trends between times when (1) Year-2 krill average small and peak reproduction seems to be late in the season and/or weak (1979, 1982–1984), and (2) Year-2 krill are larger, and reproduction is possibly earlier and more successful (1976, 1980, 1981).     

Moult cycle and seasonal activities of chitinolytic enzymes in the integument and digestive tract of the Antarctic krill,Euphausia superba

Summary Chitinolytic activity was quantified in euphausiid integuments in relation to moulting. In Euphausia superba, shortly before moult the activity increased in chitinase and N-acetyl--D-glucosaminidase to pronounced maxima indicating the onset of massive resorption of cuticular material. Enzymatic activity of E. superba corresponded to values in Meganyctiphanes norvegica, a boreal euphausiid which was investigated for comparison, as well as in insecta. Antarctic krill from winter catches displayed activities comparable to summer material suggesting physiological preparation for moulting. Accordingly, moulting did not cease during winter. Both enzymes were also active in the digestive tract in summer as well as in winter krill: chitin containing food of phyto-and zooplankton origin is digestable. Seasonally stable activities did not point to changes in nutritional preference. In contrast to other crustacea, digestive enzyme activity was not reduced around moult, suggesting a high capacity to continuously utilize food sources including chitin. This property can be linked directly to the high energy need caused by the necessity of constant active swimming in both krill species.Supported by German Research Counsil (DFG), grant-nos. Ad 24/9 and Bu 548/1Dedicated to Professor Dr. G. Hempel on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

The scheduling of spawning with the moult cycle in Northern krill (Crustacea: Euphausiacea): a strategy for allocating lipids to reproduction

Summary

Euphausiids moult and grow throughout their life, which implies sharing of resources between growth and reproduction for adult krill. In the Northern krill, Meganyctiphanes norvegica (M. Sars), female krill produce eggs cyclically. Spawning moult cycles alternate with vitellogenic moult cycles for lipid yolk accumulation. Histology shows that lipids are associated with the R cells of the digestive gland in both sexes, with the yolk platelets of mature oocytes and with the fat body cell membranes and blood lacunae in reproducing females. Mature female krill can have a total lipid content twice as high as males, mostly due to accumulation in the ovary, the fat body and the haemolymph. In contrast, in males, as well as in non-reproducing females, the highest percentage of lipids is found in the digestive gland and the haemolymph. In Meganyctiphanes norvegica, the most abundant lipid fractions are polar lipids and triglycerides, the latter being relatively low in reproducing female gonad and fat body. Triglycerides are believed to be a pure energy source and polar lipids are essential for membrane development in embryos. The fatty acid content and composition of the triglyceride and polar lipid fractions in females are different from males, related to both reproductive and dietary processes. Higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the polar lipid fraction were found in reproductive females. During the non-reproductive season, the converse was found, indicating the specific role PUFA and other fatty acids play in growth and egg production. Adaptive processes linked to reproduction were studied comparatively in three populations of the Northern krill—Clyde Sea (W, Scotland), Kattegat (E, Denmark), Ligurian Sea (Mediterranean)—all differing considerably in climatic and trophic conditions. Such adjustments in lipid synthesis and storage are viewed as reproductive strategies developed by the Northern krill in response to different environmental conditions.     

Preparation,Imaging, and Quantification of Bacterial Surface Motility Assays

Bacterial surface motility, such as swarming, is commonly examined in the laboratory using plate assays that necessitate specific concentrations of agar and sometimes inclusion of specific nutrients in the growth medium. The preparation of such explicit media and surface growth conditions serves to provide the favorable conditions that allow not just bacterial growth but coordinated motility of bacteria over these surfaces within thin liquid films. Reproducibility of swarm plate and other surface motility plate assays can be a major challenge. Especially for more “temperate swarmers” that exhibit motility only within agar ranges of 0.4%-0.8% (wt/vol), minor changes in protocol or laboratory environment can greatly influence swarm assay results. “Wettability”, or water content at the liquid-solid-air interface of these plate assays, is often a key variable to be controlled. An additional challenge in assessing swarming is how to quantify observed differences between any two (or more) experiments. Here we detail a versatile two-phase protocol to prepare and image swarm assays. We include guidelines to circumvent the challenges commonly associated with swarm assay media preparation and quantification of data from these assays. We specifically demonstrate our method using bacteria that express fluorescent or bioluminescent genetic reporters like green fluorescent protein (GFP), luciferase (lux operon), or cellular stains to enable time-lapse optical imaging. We further demonstrate the ability of our method to track competing swarming species in the same experiment.     

Swarming Behavior, Sexual Dimorphism, and Female Reproductive Status in the Sex Role-Reversed Dance Fly Species Rhamphomyia marginata

Dance flies are predaceous insects which often form male mating swarms. In many species males prior to swarming catch an insect prey, which is presented to the female at mating. In Rhamphomyia marginata, females in contrast to males gather to swarm, while males carrying a prey visit swarms for mating. Here I describe the swarming and courtship behavior in R. marginata and provide data on sexual dimorphism and swarming female reproductive status. Females swarm in small clearings in the forests. There was no specific swarm-maker. The swarming period lasted for 2–3 h and peaked around sunset. Identical swarm sites were used each evening and for several years. The mean number of females in swarms (swarm sites with at least one female) was 9.9 ± 9.1 (range, 1–40; n = 107) in 1993 and 7.1 ± 7.0 (range, 1–35; n = 68) in 1994. No obvious competition between females in swarms was observed. The operational sex ratio in swarms was extremely female biased (all swarms, 0.04). Less than one-third of male visits to swarms resulted in mating and males were found more often in larger swarms. Nuptial prey consisted of male midges. Females seem to mate more than once. Swarming females had undeveloped eggs, whereas mated females in swarms had further developed eggs than unmated females. Amount of sperm in the spermatheca was correlated with egg size. Amount of sperm and egg size did not correlate with wet weight, wing length, or wing load, except for egg size and weight. The wing coloration pattern and shape in R. marginata females are unique among dance flies, being greatly enlarged (1.6 times larger than that of males) and bicolored (gray part, 60% of wing area). When females, instead of males, possess extravagant secondary sexual characters, it is predicted from sexual selection theory that females should compete for males and that males should be selective in their choice of partner. A sex-role reversal will evolve when assess to males limit female reproductive success. The dance fly species R. marginata, like Empis borealis, another dance fly species studied earlier and discussed here, seems to fit these predictions.     

Moult cycle and growth of the crab Halicarcinus planatus (Brachyura, Hymenosomatidae) in the Beagle Channel, southern tip of South America

The crab Halicarcinus planatus is the only hymenosomatid crab that inhabits the southern tip of South America and is the only decapod species that reproduces twice a year in the Beagle Channel. In this article, we study the moult cycle in the field (moult frequency, analysis of size frequency distribution) and linked it with growth studied in the laboratory (absolute and per cent growth increment, Hiatt function). Hiatt functions were similar for males and females. Moult frequency was seasonal: in early austral spring and in austral summer. In females, the pubertal moult is the terminal moult, whereas males continue moulting after attaining the size of morphometric maturity. Moult increment was highly variable. The relationship between absolute moult increment and crab size was described by a quadratic function. Per cent growth increment decreased with size, and relationships were different for each sex: linear for females and quadratic for males. Seven and eight modal groups explained the size frequency distributions for females and males from the field, respectively, and revealed the existence of two cohorts of recruits per year. Further modal analysis was mainly hampered by the high variability of size increment that could make any moulting individual fall in its own or one of two following modal groups. The antagonism between growth and reproduction was evident in small males. We hypothesize that the terminal pubertal moult is an advantageous feature that allows females to maximize their investment in reproduction after their terminal moult, which allows this species to have two spawnings per year.     

Phase transformation and chiasma frequency variation in locusts

Locusts exhibit two basic forms or phases, one characteristic of swarming populations, termed phase gregaria, and the other characteristic of low density populations, termed phase solitaria. It has been claimed by Nolte that locusts living at low density, both in the field and in the laboratory, have a reduced chiasma frequency compared with animals living at high density. A postulated gregarisation pheromone is held to be responsible for the stimulation of melanin biosynthesis in the swarming animals and an unknown metabolite in this pathway causes the increase in chiasma frequency, as well as other phenotypic changes associated with phase transformation. According to Nolte this represents a means of releasing stored genetic variation necessary for adaptation in the areas invaded by swarms. — This claim has been re-examined in laboratory stocks of Schistocerca gregaria using a methodology comparable to that of Nolte. No reduction in the chiasma frequency of isolated animals was observed in any of the experiments. The isolated animals did, however, develop a phenotype characteristic of phase solitaria in terms of their pigmentation and morphometrics.     

Seabird and fur seal responses to vertically migrating winter krill swarms in Antarctica

Summary The foraging behaviour of fur seals and two species of surface feeding seabirds was observed over swarms of vertically migrating krill along the Antarctic Peninsula in July 1987. Fur Seal haul out patterns were correlated with krill in the upper 30 m of the water column. Krill moved to the surface at night; seals subsequently foraged from 1400-0700 hours before returning to floes. Foraging was continuous through the night. Dive duration decreased as krill moved up to the surface; shorter dives may have been more successful than longer ones. It is possible that very deep dives, which occur early in a foraging bout, represent more of an attempt to assess krill depth and distribution rather than being a genuine foraging effort. Seabirds responded to the presence of a surface krill swarm by circling over it and foraging; krill at depths greater than 30 m elicited directional flight and low frequencies of prey capture attempts. Both Snow Petrels and Antarctic Terns preyed on krill, but each species approached the swarms from different habitats. Snow Petrels primarily overflew areas covered by ice; terns preferred open water. This suggested that prey encounters are essentially opportunistic, although the search for prey is limited to rather specific marine habitats. This feature may be important to our understanding of the factors that determine the pelagic distribution of seabirds.     

Comparative population structure, abundance and vertical distribution of six copepod species in the North Atlantic: Evidence for intraguild predation?

The abundance, vertical distribution and stage composition of the copepods Euchaeta norvegica, Metridia lucens and Pleuromamma robusta and the abundance and vertical distribution of Acartia sp., Oithona spp. and Oncaea sp. were analysed for a period of 4.5 years (1971-1974), based on data previously collected at weather station India in the North Atlantic (59°N, 19°W). The results were compared with previously published results on Calanus finmarchicus during the same study. The factor analysis showed two well-differentiated groups. The cohort development and abundance of C. finmarchicus, E. norvegica and Oncaea were related to successive phytoplankton blooms. On the contrary, the cohort development and abundance of M. lucens, P. robusta, Acartia spp. and Oithona spp. were not related to phytoplankton concentration and showed negative relationships with Calanus abundance. We suggest that C. finmarchicus, which largely dominates the biomass at station India, could play a key role in the structuring of the community: as prey for the carnivorous E. norvegica, vectoring the spring bloom to deep waters through faecal pellet consumption by the coprophagous Oncaea spp., and through intraguild predation on the early stages of other omnivorous copepods such as Acartia, Oithona, M. lucens and P. robusta.     

Effect of prey density and hunger state on capture of krill, Nyctiphanes australis Sars, by Australian salmon, Arripis trutta (Bloch & Schneider)

When hungry salmon were offered a simulated (unattainable) swarm of krill with high central density, the density of the region first attacked increased with increasing attack readiness (measured as snout contacts). When allowed to capture krill in a range of prey densities, hungry salmon captured krill most successfully (in terms of capture/contacts) in the lowest density and less efficiently with increasing densities. However, salmon still captured a greater number of krill in a given time in high compared to low densities. When salmon in three different hunger states were exposed to a simulated swarm of krill, those with the lowest hunger level most often attacked the lowest prey densities first. Salmon with a high hunger level most often attacked the highest prey density first. Those fish with a moderate hunger level chose an intermediate prey density. This behaviour can be interpreted as a hunger-dependent feeding strategy. The ways in which swarming of the prey might influence capture by the predator are considered.     

Argentine ant foraging activity and interspecific competition in complete vs. queenless and broodless colonies

Introduction experiments may prove useful in understanding the mechanisms underlying the successful establishment of invasive ant species into new areas. These manipulative introductions could be particularly helpful in exploring the interactions between invasive species and the local fauna and flora. However, the inherent risk of accidental establishment in such experiments poses unacceptable ethical concerns. Some of the worst invasive species are tramp ant species, which can adversely affect biodiversity and community structure after establishment. We conducted laboratory and field experiments investigating a safe methodology for carrying out introduction experiments using the sterile workers of the invasive Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, as a model. We found no difference in foraging rate between worker-only colonies of L. humile and complete colonies, containing queens, workers and brood. Worker-only L. humile colonies showed the same exploitative and interference ability as complete colonies in bait dominance trials with the odorous house ant, Tapinoma sessile, in both laboratory and field trials. We suggest that for those invasive ant species with sterile workers, worker-only colonies may be substituted for complete colonies in short-term field experiments in new areas. Received 18 January 2007; revised 19 June 2007; accepted 22 June 2007.     

陆地生态系统环境控制实验的研究方法及技术体系

生物及生态系统与环境变化间的反馈关系及其过程机制是生态学研究的重要内容。不同类型的生物环境因素控制实验以及大尺度的联网野外控制实验被认为是认识生态系统响应和适应环境变化过程机制、精细定量表达的有效手段及认知过程的加速器。近年来发展了大型野外物理模拟实验装置网络(如ECOTRON)、生态系统分析与实验平台(AnaEE)、国际干旱实验研究网络(Drought Network)、氮沉降联合实验网络(Nutrient Network),以及基于各区域性生态观测实验站的联网控制实验(如USA-ILTER)。发展大陆尺度联网实验研究平台事业正日益受到学术界的重视,将会在认知生态系统环境响应过程机制方面发挥更重要的作用。基于以上背景,本文综述了生态系统环境控制实验的研究方法和实验体系的发展,明确指出各种类型的生物环境控制实验需要形成联合协作体系,共同解决生态系统对环境变化的响应及适应的基本科学问题。目前的控制实验包括: 1) 实验室封闭装置内的生物生理生态学控制实验;2) 野外实验场的半开放部分环境要素控制实验;3) 近自然状态的野外环境控制实验;以及4) 基于野外生态站的联网控制实验。进而,本文还深入讨论了陆地生态系统的环境响应及适应过程机制实验系统设计的发展趋势,分析了基于大尺度自然环境梯度实验及生态站尺度的要素控制实验的优势,提出了整合两种实验技术、发展新一代的野外联网实验体系的科学设想,讨论了基于野外联网控制实验的研究体系,论证了研究生态系统对环境变化短期响应和长期适应的规律和机制、生态系统环境响应定量表达的技术途径。若本文提出的控制实验体系设计方案能够得以实施,必将大大促进我国乃至全球生态系统和环境变化科学的研究水平,对我国应对气候变化和生态环境建设具有重要的科学意义。