Marine Conservation Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea's Biodiversity
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    Marine Conservation Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea's Biodiversity

    Manufacturer: Island Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    1. Marine Reserves: A Guide to Science, Design, and Use Marine Reserves: A Guide to Science, Design, and Use
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    ASIN: 1559636629

    Book Description

    Humans are terrestrial animals, and our capacity to see and understand the importance and vulnerability of life in the sea has trailed our growing ability to harm it. While conservation biologists are working to address environmental problems humans have created on land, loss of marine biodiversity, including extinctions and habitat degradation, has received much less attention. At the same time, marine sciences such as oceanography and fisheries biology have largely ignored issues of conservation.

    Marine Conservation Biology brings together for the first time in a single volume leading experts from around the world to apply the lessons and thinking of conservation biology to marine issues. Contributors including James M. Acheson, Louis W. Botsford, James T. Carlton, Kristina Gjerde, Selina S. Heppell, Ransom A. Myers, Julia K. Parrish, Stephen R. Palumbi, and Daniel Pauly offer penetrating insights on the nature of marine biodiversity, what threatens it, and what humans can and must do to recover the biological integrity of the world's estuaries, coastal seas, and oceans.

    Sections examine: distinctive aspects of marine populations and ecosystems; threats to marine biological diversity, singly and in combination; place-based management of marine ecosystems; the often-neglected human dimensions of marine conservation.

    Marine Conservation Biology breaks new ground by creating the conceptual framework for the new field of marine conservation biology -- the science of protecting, recovering, and sustainably using the living sea. It synthesizes the latest knowledge and ideas from leading thinkers in disciplines ranging from larval biology to sociology, making it a must-read for research and teaching faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate and advanced undergraduate students.

    Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation: The Freshwater Fish of Tropical Africa
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      Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation: The Freshwater Fish of Tropical Africa
      Christian Lévêque
      Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover

      Fish & SharksFish & Sharks | Animals | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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      IchthyologyIchthyology | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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      ASIN: 0521570336

      Book Description

      In order for biodiversity to be conserved, it is important to know how and where diverse populations of plants and animals exist, to understand the effects of human impacts on them, and to find the means by which these impacts can be lessened and even reversed. While tropical systems are known to be among the most diverse and most threatened globally, tropical freshwater systems have been neglected, and the tremendous variety of fish, amphibians, invertebrates and plants that live in them are poorly known yet seriously threatened. This comprehensive book brings together a wealth of information on the fish of tropical African systems, and discusses how these systems evolved, what holds them together, and what is tearing them apart.
      Nature Revealed: Selescted Writings 1946-2006
      Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
      • Going Blind?
      • A Superb Collection ...
      • The Ultimate Naturalist
      Nature Revealed: Selescted Writings 1946-2006
      Edward Wilson
      Manufacturer: Johns Hopkins University Press
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover

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      5. The Future of Life The Future of Life

      ASIN: 0801883296

      Book Description

      Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward O. Wilson is one of the leading biologists and philosophical thinkers of our time. In this compelling collection, Wilson's observations range from the tiny glands of ants to the nature of the living universe. Many of the pieces are considered landmarks in evolutionary biology, ecology, and behavioral biology. Wilson explores topics as diverse as slavery in ants, the genetic basis of societal structure, the discovery of the taxon cycle, the original formulation of the theory of island biogeography, a critique of subspecies as a unit of classification, and the conservation of life's diversity. Each article is presented in its original form, dating from Wilson's first published article in 1949 to his most recent exploration of the natural world. Preceding each piece is a brief essay by Wilson that explains the context in which the article was written and provides insights into the scientist himself and the debates of the time.

      This collection enables us to share Wilson's various vantage points and to view the complexities of nature through his eyes. Wilson aficionados, along with readers discovering his work for the first time, will find in this collection a world of beauty, complexity, and challenge.

      Customer Reviews:

      2 out of 5 stars Going Blind?.......2007-08-04

      Wilson is brilliant and this book contains a wonderful variety of his work in their original form. But why is it reproduced in teeny tiny print? Better buy a magnifying glass too if you want to read everything. Also some articles were originally printed in color so maps and graphs with color coding are lost in black white and gray. I only gave this book two stars for the presentation, not the content.

      5 out of 5 stars A Superb Collection ..........2006-06-06

      This is a superb collection of over sixty original scientific papers, book extracts and other articles by Ed Wilson, one of the all-time great scientists. Each article is placed into historical context with a new introduction by Wilson. Organized by major theme area rather than chronologically, the book illustrates how Wilson's grander biological theories have been underpinned by a deep, relentless inquisitiveness. Wilson's fascination with the diversity of nature in general and ants in particular really shines through. The production quality of the book is excellent. Even at the full retail price the book is a bargain; the currently discounted Amazon price is astounding. This book is well worth buying even if you have most of the original papers.

      5 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Naturalist.......2006-05-17

      E.O. Wilson is America's foremost writer on biology, biodiversity, and conservation. (He has two Pulitzer Prizes to prove it.)In "Nature Revealed," we get a look at his most significant writings, just as they appeared in the original journals. This selection gives us a look into the mind of one of today's most brilliant and influential scientists, but it also presents a moving clarification of some of the most important conservation issues facing us today. Everyone who cares about the fate of the earth should read this book.
      Insect Diversity Conservation
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        Insect Diversity Conservation
        Michael J. Samways
        Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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        1. Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity: With a Photographic Guide to Insects of Eastern North America Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity: With a Photographic Guide to Insects of Eastern North America
        2. Evolution of the Insects Evolution of the Insects

        ASIN: 0521789478

        Book Description

        Reviewing the background and ethics of insect conservation as well as current threats to insect diversity, this book explains the reasoning behind, and the techniques used, to maintain and protect insect diversity. Insect conservation has recently become a significant component of conservation biology because insects make up such a large proportion of total species numbers and biomass.

        Download Description

        This groundbreaking book is a contemporary global synthesis of the rapidly developing and important field of insect conservation biology. Insects play important roles in terrestrial ecological processes and in maintaining the world as we know it. They present particular conservation challenges, especially as a quarter face extinction within the next few decades. This textbook addresses the ethical foundation of insect conservation, and asks why should we concern ourselves with conservation of a butterfly, beetle or bug? The success of insects and their diversity, which have survived glaciers, is now facing a more formidable obstacle: the meteoric impact of humans. After addressing threats, from invasive alien plants to climate change, the book explores ways insects and their habitats are prioritised, mapped, monitored and conserved. Landscape and species approaches are considered. This book is for undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers and managers in conservation biology or entomology, and the wider biological and environmental sciences.
        The Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography (MPB-32) (Monographs in Population Biology)
        Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
        • Good theory, poor explication
        • Towards a unified thoery, but not there yet
        The Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography (MPB-32) (Monographs in Population Biology)
        Stephen P. Hubbell
        Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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        1. Species Diversity in Space and Time Species Diversity in Space and Time
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        3. A Primer of Ecological Statistics A Primer of Ecological Statistics
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        ASIN: 0691021287

        Book Description

        Despite its supreme importance and the threat of its global crash, biodiversity remains poorly understood both empirically and theoretically. This ambitious book presents a new, general neutral theory to explain the origin, maintenance, and loss of biodiversity in a biogeographic context.

        Until now biogeography (the study of the geographic distribution of species) and biodiversity (the study of species richness and relative species abundance) have had largely disjunct intellectual histories. In this book, Stephen Hubbell develops a formal mathematical theory that unifies these two fields. When a speciation process is incorporated into Robert H. MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson's now classical theory of island biogeography, the generalized theory predicts the existence of a universal, dimensionless biodiversity number. In the theory, this fundamental biodiversity number, together with the migration or dispersal rate, completely determines the steady-state distribution of species richness and relative species abundance on local to large geographic spatial scales and short-term to evolutionary time scales.

        Although neutral, Hubbell's theory is nevertheless able to generate many nonobvious, testable, and remarkably accurate quantitative predictions about biodiversity and biogeography. In many ways Hubbell's theory is the ecological analog to the neutral theory of genetic drift in genetics. The unified neutral theory of biogeography and biodiversity should stimulate research in new theoretical and empirical directions by ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and biogeographers.

        Customer Reviews:

        3 out of 5 stars Good theory, poor explication.......2006-10-19

        Hubbell's work is interesting and thought-provoking. Unfortunately, his writing ability leaves a lot to be desired. As an applied mathematician working with biologists personally I think you should:
        1. Specify your (mathematical) model *without* examples or justifications first.
        Hubbell mixes his models with examples and rambling justifications. Poorly constructed ones if you ask me. This makes it hard to pull out what exactly the model is sometimes.
        2. Make derivations clear and concise and if complicated put them in appendices. Hubbell does none of these. His mathematical reasoning and writing is far below the standard in science and although impressive for an ecologist, substandard for anyone else. He would have strongly benefitted from having a trained mathematician co-write or at least edit his mathy sections. Many of the results are either well known or would be explained differently by someone trained in the explication of mathematics. The importance of this is huge since the result is sometimes his statements are totally unclear. For example, on page 124 he says "as the sample size increase towards infinity..." This is a sample from a finite sized population. So he should be clear and say either sample with replacement, or also taking the population size to infinity, (which is it!) otherwise it doesn't make sense.

        I also find his egoism (common in my experience with ecologists) disappointing. While he may have come up with a new theory of biodiversity, he did not come up with many of the underlying models. Unfortunately, he barely pays any respect to the countless other people who paved the way for his results. For example, his species abundance distribution is just the Ewen's sampling formula from population genetics, derived in 1972. In fact, the model side of the entire theory comes straight out of population genetics. Yes it explains something different, but it would be nice to see something at least some acknowledgement of that (something he is clearly aware of since he cites many of the popgen papers).

        Also, the reference list is incomplete and the index is one of the worst I have come across recently. Paying for a good indexer is always worth the money.

        In short, the ideas in this book are important, but the book itself is cluttered and not as clear as it could be. So I average 5 stars and 1 star and get 3 stars.

        4 out of 5 stars Towards a unified thoery, but not there yet.......2001-09-05

        A couple of years ago, Dr. Jim Brown (Univ. New Mexico) wrote an article in the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) website indicating that he had not seen any really significant new ideas in ecology during the last few year. Well, we have one.
        In the hierarchy of biological systems, ecology deals with the highest and most complex levels. Explanation for patterns of abundance and distribution of organisms have been either too specific that only applies to a few species or even one, or too general that can not be tested (remember the ghost of competition's past).
        Ecologists working at the community level have mostly been guided by the general principle that interactions tend to determine the diversity of communities. On the larger scale of biogeography, researchers considered that local diversity tends to be a function of a regional species pool. This debate became very contested in the early 1980's and continued for almost a decade, without any meaningful progress. Nonetheless, significant achivements in both areas of inquiry were made.
        Hubbell takes advantage of the increased large-scale reasearch in community ecology (like the Smithsonian-MAB biodiversity network of plots) coupled with the ever more manipulative and reductionist approach to biogeography. Is important to add here Hubbell's own contribution to biodiversity research is substantial. Furthermore, the originality of the work is what sets this monograph appart from the last few in the series. The application of random walk models (i.e., ecological drift) to the organization of communities is not a truly new approach. What make is unique is that then he incorporates immigration and extinction rates across space (classical MacArthur-Wilson), and can then predict a range of abundances and distributions. He supplies ample data from tropical systems that agree with model's predictions. The more interesting aspect is when the data doesn't agree. Here there is plenty of productive work to be performed.
        One point that Hubbell makes concerning the "triviality" of the nuetrality assumption. Can there be cases when the differential survival of individuals lead to deviations from the theory's prediction? I think that the assumption of neutrality is not as trivial as Hubbell makes it.
        Overall, is probably one of the most intriguing and original works of the last decade. If you are interested in ecology, biogeography, and even conservation, this book will challenge what you know and how should we look at patterns and process of biodiversity.
        Biodiversity and Environmental Philosophy: An Introduction (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology)
        Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
        • MA thesis
        Biodiversity and Environmental Philosophy: An Introduction (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology)
        Sahotra Sarkar
        Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

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        Similar Items:
        1. Requiem for Nature Requiem for Nature

        ASIN: 0521851327

        Book Description

        This book explores the epistemological and ethical issues at the foundations of environmental philosophy, emphasizing the conservation of biodiversity. Sahota Sarkar criticizes previous attempts to attribute intrinsic value to nature and defends an anthropocentric position on biodiversity conservation based on an untraditional concept of transformative value. Unlike other studies in the field of environmental philosophy, this book is as much concerned with epistemological issues as with environmental ethics. It covers a broad range of topics, including problems of explanation and prediction in traditional ecology and how individual-based models and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is transforming ecology. Introducing a brief history of conservation biology, Sarkar analyzes the new consensus framework for conservation planning through adaptive management. He concludes with a discussion of the future directions for theoretical research in conservation biology and environmental philosophy.

        Customer Reviews:

        5 out of 5 stars MA thesis.......2006-11-05

        I am doing MA -thesis over biodiversity at Joensuu university in Finland

        That book is very important to me, thank you!

        Yours
        Esko Kiovistö
        The Ecology of Phytoplankton (Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation)
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          The Ecology of Phytoplankton (Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation)
          C. S. Reynolds
          Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Hardcover

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          5. Identifying Marine Phytoplankton Identifying Marine Phytoplankton

          ASIN: 0521844134

          Book Description

          Communities of microscopic plant life, or phytoplankton, dominate the Earth’s aquatic ecosystems. This important new book by Colin Reynolds covers the adaptations, physiology and population dynamics of phytoplankton communities in lakes and rivers and oceans. It provides basic information on composition, morphology and physiology of the main phyletic groups represented in marine and freshwater systems and in addition reviews recent advances in community ecology, developing an appreciation of assembly processes, co-existence and competition, disturbance and diversity. Although focussed on one group of organisms, the book develops many concepts relevant to ecology in the broadest sense, and as such will appeal to graduate students and researchers in ecology, limnology and oceanography.
          What Is Life?
          Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
          • If you can Only Read One
          • Savor science presented at its poetic best
          • A worthy exploration of a difficult question!
          • The best of the best.
          • Beyond biology
          What Is Life?
          Lynn Margulis , and Dorion Sagan
          Manufacturer: University of California Press
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

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          5. Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life

          ASIN: 0520220218

          Book Description

          Half a century ago, before the discovery of DNA, the Austrian physicist and philosopher Erwin Schrödinger inspired a generation of scientists by rephrasing the fascinating philosophical question: What is life? Using their expansive understanding of recent science to wonderful effect, acclaimed authors Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan revisit this timeless question in a fast-moving, wide-ranging narrative that combines rigorous science with philosophy, history, and poetry. The authors move deftly across a dazzling array of topics--from the dynamics of the bacterial realm, to the connection between sex and death, to theories of spirit and matter. They delve into the origins of life, offering the startling suggestion that life--not just human life--is free to act and has played an unexpectedly large part in its own evolution. Transcending the various formal concepts of life, this captivating book offers a unique overview of life's history, essences, and future.
          Supplementing the text are stunning illustrations that range from the smallest known organism (Mycoplasma bacteria) to the largest (the biosphere itself). Creatures both strange and familiar enhance the pages of What Is Life? Their existence prompts readers to reconsider preconceptions not only about life but also about their own part in it.

          Customer Reviews:

          5 out of 5 stars If you can Only Read One.......2007-01-14

          If you can Only Read One trade "science" book in your life, this should be the one. It is a slow-motion whirlwind trip into the depths of time and life on planet Earth.

          5 out of 5 stars Savor science presented at its poetic best.......2004-11-22

          The hardcover edition of this book (What is Life? by Margulis & Sagan) is a treasure in my extensive library. Clever writing and beautiful photographs bring out fascinating ideas. This is a book to be savored.

          4 out of 5 stars A worthy exploration of a difficult question!.......2004-10-12

          Lynn Margulis, as with many popular science writers, tends to get in a little bit of trouble both with her professional peers and with the devotees of her professional peers. Academic disciplines are a bit akin to competing schools of secular theology, with much (if not most) of the difficulty arising from what the layman *thinks* the masters say. Margulis is decidedly *not*, for example, the flaming vitalist or Earth Mother worshipper that some have painted her as (due to her subscription to the "Gaia" hypothesis), and Richard Dawkins was much more modest in his conception of the "meme" than some of his successors (notably Susan Blackmore) have been. If one can get past such hangups the thoughts of great scientists are a good deal more subtle than we sometimes think, and Lynn Margulis is no exception.

          She and her son Dorion Sagan both have a flair for lucid, non-technical writing, and the picture they paint--of life as a thermodynamically open system, responding as much to symbiosis and cooperation as it does to extinction and competition--is both intellectually interesting and aesthetically pleasing. Her neo-Darwinist cohorts might occasionally overstate the role of competition in natural selection as much as she can overstate the role of cooperation, but there seems no reason to deny that both factors play important (and complementary) roles in the natural world. Dr. Margulis' tour of the microbial and multicellular worlds is truly fascinating; I found myself learning more than I ever thought I would want to know about fungi, mushrooms, bacteria and protists, and remaining delightfully thirsty for more. Where she is making some hypothetical propositions, she usually clearly identifies these and doesn't pass them off as fact. However, she does include a certain paean to Gaia--the idea of biological life on earth functioning as a coevolutionary, self-regulating ecosystem/organism that helps maintain an earthly enviornment conducive to life as we know it--that some (like myself) might find compelling, while others will find it irrelevant. The jury's still out on Gaia, but she makes a persuasive case for why such a concept should be considered alongside the larger question of "what is life?" Overall, a worthy addition to the armchair scientist's bookshelf, alongside anything by Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, or Ernst Mayr.

          5 out of 5 stars The best of the best........2004-05-01

          I was totally engrossed with this book and for several weeks it became
          an appendage. It is filled with awsome facts and enlightenments.
          My only disappointment was that I am just an animal like all others on
          this earth and nothing was said concerning what happens to me when
          fungi take over. I mean "Me". Where do I go? Right now I beleive I just
          plain die. It makes life a bit harder to face, to think all this is gone when
          I die. Can anyone recommend a book that will help to give me an idea
          as to what happens to my consciousness when I die??

          5 out of 5 stars Beyond biology.......2003-01-08

          I was as enthralled as other reviewers with the amazing facts in this book. My favorite: bacteria don't age; they can die from accidental causes but "programmed death" started with eukaryotes. The authors show that death is necessary for organisms (like us) that practice meiotic cell division.

          But this book is far more than a random collection of facts. Margulis and her collaborators do an amazing job of assembling an understandable model of life using parts carefully selected from a vast body of biological knowledge. While a one-sentence definition is still elusive, the reader builds up a picture of life's most pertinent characteristics, as exhibited by the truly astounding diversity of living things on this planet. By the time I finished, I was satisfied that the authors had answered the question.

          You don't need to be a biologist to understand and enjoy this book. Its beauty is that the greatest scientific thinking on the most complex topics has been presented in common english, with necessary scientific terms explained as they are introduced. If you are intrigued by the question of life, I doubt there's a more complete, accurate, understandable, and enjoyable answer available than this book.
          Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity
          Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
          • Soporte conceptual importante
          Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity

          Manufacturer: Intermediate Technology Publications
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

          GeneralGeneral | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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          ASIN: 1853393940

          Customer Reviews:

          4 out of 5 stars Soporte conceptual importante.......2001-11-08

          He usado el libro para desarrollar una mejor comprensión del quehacer cultural y religioso de los pueblos originarios de América y su vinculo con la biodiversidad. Creo que es un interesante libro para quienes se introducen en este complejo tema de la relación entre los patrimonios naturales y culturales del mundo. Lo recomiendo para quienes desean componer un conocimiento más sustancial y teórico sobre la realidad de los indígenas y la naturaleza que los rodea. Es una muy buena contribución a la difusión del conocimiento
          The Nature of Diversity: An Evolutionary Voyage of Discovery
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            The Nature of Diversity: An Evolutionary Voyage of Discovery
            Daniel R. Brooks , and Deborah A. McLennan
            Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            GeneralGeneral | Biology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
            GeneralGeneral | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books
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            GeneralGeneral | Evolution | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
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            ASIN: 0226075907

            Book Description

            All living things on earth—from individual species to entire ecosystems—have evolved through time, and evolution is the acknowledged framework of modern biology. Yet many areas of biology have moved from a focus on evolution to much narrower perspectives.

            Daniel R. Brooks and Deborah A. McLennan argue that it is impossible to comprehend the nature of life on earth unless evolution—the history of organisms—is restored to a central position in research. They demonstrate how the phylogenetic approach can be integrated with ecological and behavioral studies to produce a richer and more complete picture of evolution. Clearly setting out the conceptual, methodological, and empirical foundations of their research program, Brooks and McLennan show how scientists can use it to unravel the evolutionary history of virtually any characteristic of any living thing, from behaviors to ecosystems. They illustrate and test their approach with examples drawn from a wide variety of species and habitats.

            The Nature of Diversity provides a powerful new tool for understanding, documenting, and preserving the world's biodiversity. It is an essential book for biologists working in evolution, ecology, behavior, conservation, and systematics. The argument in The Nature of Diversity greatly expands upon and refines the arguments made in the authors' previous book Phylogeny, Ecology, and Behavior.

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