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Ewers RM, Orme CDL, Pearse WD, Zulkifli N, Yvon-Durocher G, Yusah KM, Yoh N, Yeo DCJ, Wong A, Williamson J, Wilkinson CL, Wiederkehr F, Webber BL, Wearn OR, Wai L, Vollans M, Twining JP, Turner EC, Tobias JA, Thorley J, Telford EM, Teh YA, Tan HH, Swinfield T, Svátek M, Struebig M, Stork N, Sleutel J, Slade EM, Sharp A, Shabrani A, Sethi SS, Seaman DJI, Sawang A, Roxby GB, Rowcliffe JM, Rossiter SJ, Riutta T, Rahman H, Qie L, Psomas E, Prairie A, Poznansky F, Pillay R, Picinali L, Pianzin A, Pfeifer M, Parrett JM, Noble CD, Nilus R, Mustaffa N, Mullin KE, Mitchell S, Mckinlay AR, Maunsell S, Matula R, Massam M, Martin S, Malhi Y, Majalap N, Maclean CS, Mackintosh E, Luke SH, Lewis OT, Layfield HJ, Lane-Shaw I, Kueh BH, Kratina P, Konopik O, Kitching R, Kinneen L, Kemp VA, Jotan P, Jones N, Jebrail EW, Hroneš M, Heon SP, Hemprich-Bennett DR, Haysom JK, Harianja MF, Hardwick J, Gregory N, Gray R, Gray REJ, Granville N, Gill R, Fraser A, Foster WA, Folkard-Tapp H, Fletcher RJ, Fikri AH, Fayle TM, Faruk A, Eggleton P, Edwards DP, Drinkwater R, Dow RA, Döbert TF, Didham RK, Dickinson KJM, Deere NJ, de Lorm T, Dawood MM, Davison CW, Davies ZG, Davies RG, Dančák M, Cusack J, Clare EL, Chung A, Chey VK, Chapman PM, Cator L, Carpenter D, Carbone C, Calloway K, Bush ER, Burslem DFRP, Brown KD, Brooks SJ, Brasington E, Brant H, Boyle MJW, Both S, Blackman J, Bishop TR, Bicknell JE, Bernard H, Basrur S, Barclay MVL, Barclay H, Atton G, Ancrenaz M, Aldridge DC, Daniel OZ, Reynolds G, Banks-Leite C. Thresholds for adding degraded tropical forest to the conservation estate. Nature 2024; 631:808-813. [PMID: 39020163 PMCID: PMC11269177 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07657-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 07/19/2024]
Abstract
Logged and disturbed forests are often viewed as degraded and depauperate environments compared with primary forest. However, they are dynamic ecosystems1 that provide refugia for large amounts of biodiversity2,3, so we cannot afford to underestimate their conservation value4. Here we present empirically defined thresholds for categorizing the conservation value of logged forests, using one of the most comprehensive assessments of taxon responses to habitat degradation in any tropical forest environment. We analysed the impact of logging intensity on the individual occurrence patterns of 1,681 taxa belonging to 86 taxonomic orders and 126 functional groups in Sabah, Malaysia. Our results demonstrate the existence of two conservation-relevant thresholds. First, lightly logged forests (<29% biomass removal) retain high conservation value and a largely intact functional composition, and are therefore likely to recover their pre-logging values if allowed to undergo natural regeneration. Second, the most extreme impacts occur in heavily degraded forests with more than two-thirds (>68%) of their biomass removed, and these are likely to require more expensive measures to recover their biodiversity value. Overall, our data confirm that primary forests are irreplaceable5, but they also reinforce the message that logged forests retain considerable conservation value that should not be overlooked.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert M Ewers
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK.
| | - C David L Orme
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - William D Pearse
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Nursyamin Zulkifli
- Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan, Malaysia
| | | | - Kalsum M Yusah
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, London, UK
| | - Natalie Yoh
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
- The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Darren C J Yeo
- Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Anna Wong
- Malaysian Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Joseph Williamson
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
- Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | - Clare L Wilkinson
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Fabienne Wiederkehr
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Institute of Microbiology, Department of Biology, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Bruce L Webber
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
- CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Floreat, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Oliver R Wearn
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Fauna & Flora International, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Leona Wai
- Danau Girang Field Centre, Kinabatangan, Malaysia
| | - Maisie Vollans
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Joshua P Twining
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Edgar C Turner
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Department of Zoology, The David Attenborough Building, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Joseph A Tobias
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Jack Thorley
- Department of Zoology, The David Attenborough Building, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Yit Arn Teh
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Heok Hui Tan
- Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Tom Swinfield
- Department of Zoology, The David Attenborough Building, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Martin Svátek
- Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Matthew Struebig
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Nigel Stork
- Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Jani Sleutel
- Department of Biology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Eleanor M Slade
- Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Adam Sharp
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Conservation & Fisheries Directorate, Ascension Island Government, Georgetown, St Helena Island
| | - Adi Shabrani
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
- WWF-Malaysia, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
| | - Sarab S Sethi
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Dave J I Seaman
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Anati Sawang
- South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership, Danum Valley Field Centre, Lahad Datu, Malaysia
- Sabah State Museum, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
| | - Gabrielle Briana Roxby
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | | | - Stephen J Rossiter
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Terhi Riutta
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Homathevi Rahman
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
| | - Lan Qie
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
| | - Elizabeth Psomas
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Oxitec, Abingdon, UK
| | - Aaron Prairie
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Frederica Poznansky
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Rajeev Pillay
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Institute, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Lorenzo Picinali
- Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Annabel Pianzin
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
| | - Marion Pfeifer
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | | | - Ciar D Noble
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Reuben Nilus
- Forest Research Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, Sandakan, Malaysia
| | - Nazirah Mustaffa
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
| | - Katherine E Mullin
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Simon Mitchell
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Amelia R Mckinlay
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Sarah Maunsell
- School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Radim Matula
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Michael Massam
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Stephanie Martin
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Field Programmes Department, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, La Profonde Rue, Jersey
| | - Yadvinder Malhi
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Noreen Majalap
- Forest Research Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, Sandakan, Malaysia
| | - Catherine S Maclean
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Emma Mackintosh
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Forest Research Institute, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Queensland, Australia
| | - Sarah H Luke
- Department of Zoology, The David Attenborough Building, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Loughborough, UK
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Owen T Lewis
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Harry J Layfield
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Isolde Lane-Shaw
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Department of Wood and Forest Science, Laval University, Quebec, Quebec, Canada
| | - Boon Hee Kueh
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
| | - Pavel Kratina
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Oliver Konopik
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Wuerzburg, Am Hubland, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Roger Kitching
- School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Lois Kinneen
- School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Department of Sustainable Land Management, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Victoria A Kemp
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Palasiah Jotan
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Nick Jones
- Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Evyen W Jebrail
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
| | - Michal Hroneš
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Sui Peng Heon
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership, Danum Valley Field Centre, Lahad Datu, Malaysia
| | - David R Hemprich-Bennett
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jessica K Haysom
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Martina F Harianja
- Department of Zoology, The David Attenborough Building, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Jane Hardwick
- School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Marine Resources Unit, Department of Environment, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
| | - Nichar Gregory
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- EcoHealth Alliance, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ryan Gray
- South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership, Danum Valley Field Centre, Lahad Datu, Malaysia
| | - Ross E J Gray
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Natasha Granville
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Richard Gill
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Adam Fraser
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - William A Foster
- Department of Zoology, The David Attenborough Building, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Hollie Folkard-Tapp
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Robert J Fletcher
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Arman Hadi Fikri
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
| | - Tom M Fayle
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Aisyah Faruk
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst, Haywards Heath, UK
| | - Paul Eggleton
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum London, London, UK
| | - David P Edwards
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Rosie Drinkwater
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Rory A Dow
- Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Malaysia
- Naturalis Biodiversity Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Timm F Döbert
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
- CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Floreat, Western Australia, Australia
- Faculty of Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Raphael K Didham
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
- CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Floreat, Western Australia, Australia
| | | | - Nicolas J Deere
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Tijmen de Lorm
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Mahadimenakbar M Dawood
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
| | - Charles W Davison
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Zoe G Davies
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Richard G Davies
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Martin Dančák
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Jeremy Cusack
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Okala, London, UK
| | - Elizabeth L Clare
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
- Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Arthur Chung
- Forest Research Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, Sandakan, Malaysia
| | - Vun Khen Chey
- Forest Research Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, Sandakan, Malaysia
| | - Philip M Chapman
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- BSG Ecology, Witney, UK
| | - Lauren Cator
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Daniel Carpenter
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum London, London, UK
| | - Chris Carbone
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, UK
| | - Kerry Calloway
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum London, London, UK
| | - Emma R Bush
- Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | | | - Keiron D Brown
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum London, London, UK
| | - Stephen J Brooks
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum London, London, UK
| | - Ella Brasington
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Hayley Brant
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Michael J W Boyle
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Sabine Both
- School of Environmental and Rural Science, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Joshua Blackman
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Tom R Bishop
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
- School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Jake E Bicknell
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Henry Bernard
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
| | - Saloni Basrur
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | | | - Holly Barclay
- School of Science, Monash University, Subang Jaya, Malaysia
| | - Georgina Atton
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Marc Ancrenaz
- Borneo Futures, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
- Kinabatangan Orang-Utan Conservation Programme, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
| | - David C Aldridge
- Department of Zoology, The David Attenborough Building, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Olivia Z Daniel
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Glen Reynolds
- South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership, Danum Valley Field Centre, Lahad Datu, Malaysia
| | - Cristina Banks-Leite
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
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