TED演讲:论生物多样性(2)

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that it seemed as though it exists on another planet.  简直就像降临到别的星球一样。

In fact, we live on a mostly unexplored planet.  事实上，我们就生活在一个很多地方皆未被研究的星球上。

The great majority of organisms on Earth remain unknown to science.  科学家对于地球上大多数的有机体都是一无所知的。

In the last 30 years, thanks to explorations in remote parts of the world and advances in technology,  过去30年，人们去到了一些较为边缘的地区,也得益于科技的进步，

biologists have, for example, added a full one-third of the known frog and other amphibian¹ species,  生物学家使已知的青蛙以及两栖类物种数增加了三分之一，

to bring the current total to 5,400,  现在，两栖类生物物种总数为5400种，

and more continue to pour in.  并且还不断有新的物种被发现。

Two new kinds of whales have been discovered, along with two new antelopes,  也发现了两种新的鲸鱼种类，以及两种新的羚羊，

dozens of monkey species and a new kind of elephant and even a distinct kind of gorilla².  还有几十个猴子的种类以及一种新的大象种类,甚至还有一种新发现的大猩猩！

At the extreme opposite end of the size scale, the class of marine³ bacteria,  而在生物体体型大小的另一端，我们发现了新的海洋细菌，

the Prochlorococci -- that will be on the final exam,although discovered only in 1988, are now recognized as likely the most abundant organisms on Earth,  原绿球藻，也许在你的期末考试出现过,虽说是1988年发现的，现在则被认为是地球上最繁盛的生物，

and moreover, responsible for a large part of the photosynthesis⁴ that occurs in the ocean.  这一生物为海洋里头发生的光合作用起到了很大的推动作用。

These bacteria were not uncovered sooner,  我们没能在更早的时候发现这些细菌，

because they are also among the smallest of all Earth's organisms so minute that they cannot be seen with conventional optical microscopy. 是因为它们也是地球上体型最小的生物之一,你用普通的光学仪器是难以看得到它们的。

Yet life in the sea may depend on these tiny creatures.  但海底的生物却必须依赖它们才能生存。

These examples are just the first glimpse of our ignorance of life on this planet.  这些都不过是一些例子，显示出我们对于地球上的生物是多么无知。

Consider the fungi⁵ -- including mushrooms, rusts⁶, molds and many disease-causing organisms.  再看看真菌，包括蘑菇、锈菌、霉菌以及其他携带病原体的真菌

60,000 species are known to science,  我们知道有6万种的真菌，

but more than 1.5 million have been estimated to exist.  但科学家估计，事实上有150万真菌存活于地球上。

Consider the nematode roundworm, the most abundant of all animals.  再看看线虫，它们是所有动物家族当中最为繁盛的。

Four out of five animals on Earth are nematode worms if all solid materials except nematode worms were to be eliminated, 地球上80%的动物都是线虫,假如地球上除了线虫以外所有的固态物质都消失，

you could still see the ghostly outline of most of it in nematode worms.  你还是可以从线虫身上看出曾经的地球痕迹。

About 16,000 species of nematode worms have been discovered and diagnosed by scientists; 大约16000种线虫动物,已经被科学家发现并进行研究；

there could be hundreds of thousands of them, even millions, still unknown.  而事实上，也许有数以千计甚至是数以百万计的我们还未曾知道。

This vast domain⁷ of hidden biodiversity is increased still further by the dark matter of the biological world of bacteria, 还有另外一个生物群体,它们通常不被关注，但其蕴含的生物多样性却更多，

which within just the last several years still were known from only about 6,000 species of bacteria worldwide.  单单是过去的几年,世界范围内就发现了6000例新的细菌物种。

But that number of bacteria species can be found in one gram of soil,  在一克的泥土里，就可以找出这一数目的细菌出来，

just a little handful of soil, in the 10 billion bacteria that would be there.  一剖泥土，里面就有一百亿的细菌。

It's been estimated that a single ton of soil-fertile soil contains approximately four million species of bacteria, all unknown.  有人估计，单单是一吨沃土当中就包含了近四百万种的细菌，并且我们对这些细菌一无所知。

So the question is: what are they all doing?  所以，我们要问：那些家伙到底在干嘛？

The fact is, we don't know.  答案是：我们根本不知道答案。

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