how "wild" can these college students be when they sneak into the wetlands to conduct scientific research?
2024-09-16
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
teachers and students of the ecology department of fudan university are conducting their annual basic survey. they need to observe and investigate water quality, aquatic plants, benthic animals, birds, etc. some animals and plants need to be sampled and taken back to the laboratory for further research and collation.
the shanghai chongming dongtan migratory bird habitat has just been selected into the world natural heritage list, becoming the first world natural heritage site in shanghai. in fact, a group of young people from fudan university have already settled here, and they have contributed to the protection of this natural heritage with their "love".
what is the most "wild" college life you can imagine? recently, in the dongtan wetland, china youth daily and china youth network reporters met a group of fudan teachers and students who have been "wild" outdoors for a long time. some of them love fishing and cycling, some like small animals, and some like catching insects, setting up tents, and doing special forces-style scientific research.
the most amazing thing is that while they are "wild", they can still do research and write papers. they really treat their hobby as a job and write their papers on the wetlands.
do the coolest research and write the most "lively" papers
chongming island in shanghai is located in the midpoint of china's coastline along the western pacific ocean. it is located at the estuary of the yangtze river, china's largest river. it is the world's largest estuarine alluvial island and the third largest island in china after taiwan island and hainan island. the climate here is mild and humid, with distinct four seasons, clean water and soil, fresh air, and an excellent ecological environment.
a group of teachers and students from fudan university are stationed here. recently, fudan university held the "biological ecology discipline week" event. the reporter went to the shanghai yangtze river estuary wetland ecosystem national field scientific observation and research station (hereinafter referred to as the "research station") and met this group of interesting fudan people.
the research station was jointly built by fudan university's ecology, atmosphere and ocean, environment and other disciplines, as well as the shanghai municipal greening and beautification administration, shanghai municipal ecology and environment bureau, etc., and has a history of 26 years.
this group of teachers and students from fudan university are stationed for a long time at chongming dongtan, nearly 100 kilometers away from the campus, watching birds, catching insects, doing experiments in the wild, and studying the protection of wetland ecosystems.
what is the significance of studying birds and insects in nature? wei yulong, a young laboratory technician from the school of life sciences at fudan university, told reporters that many seemingly distant things are actually closely related to people's lives.
"for example, insects. although they are at the middle and lower end of the food chain, they are of great significance to mankind. 75% of flowers in nature are insect-pollinated and need insects to pollinate in order to bear fruit. without the help of insects, people would not be able to eat such a rich variety of fruits." wei yulong and his colleagues observed the growth of local animals and plants, collected and stored data, which can lay the foundation for studying ecological and environmental issues on a longer time scale.
"maybe in the short term we can't see any problems from the data of each year, but by stringing these data together, we can see the changes." he said that there are more and more bird species in chongming dongtan now. by observing the changes in the number of some indicator birds, such as 1% of bird species, little swans and shorebirds, we can explore the long-term evolution characteristics of dongtan's ecological environment over the past few decades.
the work results of "wei yulong and others" will eventually become papers that make important contributions to the world's ecology. since the establishment of the station, these fudan teachers and students have undertaken more than 300 key scientific research plans and major key projects of the national natural science foundation, published more than 700 papers in journals such as "nature" and "science", and won more than 20 awards including the second prize of the national science and technology progress award, the second prize of the national technological invention award, and the first prize of the shanghai natural science award. they have achieved many basic innovative results, such as the climate characteristics of the yangtze river estuary and the mechanism of atmospheric environmental changes, the impact mechanism of invasive plants on wetlands, the evolution of wetland biodiversity and ecosystem processes, and the habitat utilization and migration laws of wetland birds.
what is the value of catching insects, watching birds, and studying grass?
mr. zhang, the parent of a student majoring in ecology, told reporters that his daughter particularly likes this major, but in his eyes, the main feature of this major is "playing outside every day". "i can understand that studying ecosystems is very valuable, but from a sensory point of view, she is always playing in the wild all over the country, catching insects, watching birds, monitoring the atmosphere and so on. i have no idea what she is doing."
"field sampling is my favorite job. in fact, i majored in horticulture for my undergraduate and master's degrees. i applied for the job because i watched a video of technical sampling by the research station staff and was deeply attracted. working in the field is very different from sitting in an office. it is refreshing, and i can complete tasks with many friends. it gives me a great sense of accomplishment." wei yulong is now an experimentalist. he also came from the student days and has a special understanding of the value of his work. "it is very important."
for example, the mature demonstration technologies/models developed by the fudan team, such as spartina alterniflora control and wetland restoration, extreme weather forecasting, and atmospheric environment monitoring, are currently being promoted and applied in more than 20 provinces and cities across the country, providing important support for the coordinated and sustainable development of the ecology and economic and social development in my country's riverside and coastal areas.
more than 20 years ago, affected by regional development, the yangtze river estuary wetlands were threatened by environmental pollution, eutrophication, and alien species invasion, and serious problems appeared in the ecosystem. the biggest threat to the chongming dongtan ecosystem was the invasion of an alien plant called spartina alterniflora, which caused serious damage to bird habitats and a significant decline in the number of birds.
after more than ten years of ecological management of spartina alterniflora and optimization of bird habitats, chongming dongtan has rebuilt and rejuvenated the population of spinach, a landmark indigenous species of the yangtze river estuary, greatly improving the quality of migratory bird habitats and realizing the "birds return to chongming".
li bo, director of the research station and distinguished professor at fudan university, introduced that the structure of the ecosystem is very complex, with producers, consumers, and restorers. regulation of the ecosystem requires both upward and downward regulation to restore the ecological structure as completely as possible. "if the native species are not restored, spartina alterniflora may invade again, which would be equivalent to wasting all previous efforts. therefore, we have tried every means to carry out ecological restoration while controlling spartina alterniflora, and study how to restore more effectively from the perspective of ecosystem structure and function."
what kind of people are in the wild?
when working in the field, in order to improve sampling efficiency and not waste on-site operation time, everyone has developed a set of "special forces-style" operating procedures.
"when it's very hot in the summer, we set out at 4 o'clock in the morning and drive to farmlands, mudflats, reed beds and other places to collect samples of plants, insects, benthic animals and zooplankton. at noon, we will send a colleague to buy lunch boxes, and everyone will have a rest after eating to avoid the high temperature period. we will continue to work at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and work until 7 o'clock in the evening, and then send the materials back to the laboratory for subsequent identification or measurement. everyone is very tired after finishing work in the evening, and they always finish the food as soon as the food is served." wei yulong told reporters that this is the "most ordinary day" for teachers and students of the ecology major.
because he had to stay there for a long time, he had to rent a house on chongming island. although it was hard, this was what he wanted.
ju ruiting, executive deputy director of the research station and professor at fudan university, told reporters that there are currently about 300 species of birds in the chongming dongtan national nature reserve for birds. from november to february of the following year, a large number of overwintering migratory birds migrate to this habitat; in spring and autumn, a large number of migratory birds pass by, and the entire reserve is like a "paradise" for birds.
and he just likes this job.
guo haiqiang, deputy director of the research station and senior laboratory technician at fudan university, has a typical "outdoor person" circle of friends. long sleeves, long pants, a mask and a bucket hat are his standard travel outfit. his circle of friends is his work, his life and his hobbies - a weekend special forces-style cross-country run in march, a rush to buy a "shanghai waterbird and forest bird guide" with bird lovers in april, a trip to see spotted doves and amphibians and reptiles in july, and a climb to langkawi's second highest peak, makinzhang, in august, the first time to go deep into the tropical rainforest.
li bo, the station manager, told the reporter that fudan university only recruits about 10 undergraduates a year for the ecology major, and more graduate students. almost all of the students recruited love the outdoors, "we all come together because of this hobby, and our learning goals are very clear. we choose it because we like it."
li bo likes his own professional world very much. "my daughter also studies ecology, and her recent research focuses on the role of social media in ecological protection." li bo said that this major is particularly contagious. some of his students transferred from mathematics majors, some from computer majors, and some from foreign language majors.
he pointed to a sample of cages set up by researchers in a degraded salt marsh wetland without grass and said: "crabs eat grass, birds eat crabs, and how the relationship between these organisms affects the growth of wetland vegetation and ecological functions such as blue carbon sinks requires experiments. researchers use barrier nets and other methods to remove water birds or crabs for comparison to see in which case wetland vegetation grows better and deposits more carbon. these things may seem small, but they are related to the future of human living environment."
li bo said that it has only been 13 years since my country separated ecology from biology as an independent first-level discipline, but it has already cultivated a lot of talents and developed rapidly. for example, many technologies have been formed around the spartina alterniflora project, which have received great attention internationally. "compared with international counterparts, my country's ecological research is achieving a leap from 'following' to 'running side by side' and then to 'leading'."
china youth daily and china youth network reporters wei qimeng and wang yejie source: china youth daily
(source: china youth daily)
