The Laboratory of Marine Biodiversity Research was founded in 1959 and its name remains unchanged since its establishment. At present, it employs 55 researchers, including six senior professional technicians, 18 deputy senior professional technicians, and 29 doctoral degree holders.   

China Dayang Expedition 50

Its four major disciplines are: 1) classification and systematic evolution of marine organisms; 2) typical ecosystems; 3) research on breeding of marine economic animals and marine breeding ecological environment; 4) ecological effects, ecotoxicology and risk assessment of pollution organisms; 5) biodiversity and ecosystem management.

Joint Marine Ecological Station Costruction China-Indonsia Bitung Ecological Station in April 2013

Aside from presiding over and participating in a series of large-scale marine surveys and researches, it has also undertaken a large number of research projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the projects of the natural science foundations at the national and provincial levels, Program 973, Program 863, ocean special projects, polar scientific expedition, international cooperation, and national key research and development plans. Many research achievements, including some domestically and internationally leading achievements, have won Science and Technology Progress Awards issued by the State, the SOA and local departments.

The laboratory has compiled national standards such as Specifications for Oceanographic Survey—Part 6: Marine Biological Survey and Marine Biological Quality as well as industry standards such as Technical Guidelines for Mangrove Vegetation Restoration and Technical Guidelines for Marine Biodiversity Assessment in Offshore Areas. It is the editor and publisher of a series of monographs such as Marine Species and Their Distribution in China, Marine Species and Atlas of China (11 volumes), Theory and Practice of Marine Ecological Restoration, Research on Ecological Connectivity of Tropical Coastal Ecosystems, and Evaluation of Island Ecosystems in China. In the past five years scientists in the laboratory have published 248 papers, including 175 SCI papers, and obtained 15 patents.

The “Marine Biological Sample Library” has been built based on special projects such as Project 908 and the Project of “Global Change and Sea-Air Interactions”. The library preserves over 200,000 pieces of marine biological samples and specimens from the sea areas under the jurisdiction of China, the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. There are also more than 200 pieces of type specimens of new species and over 3,000 pieces of image specimens. It is a marine biological sample library that covers the widest sea areas in China and boasts the most comprehensive sample types with the greatest value in scientific research.