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科学美国人60秒 SSS African Penguins Pulled into an Ecological Trap

时间:2017-03-15 02:57:36

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(单词翻译)

 

Over millions of years, penguins2 have evolved a keen sense of where to find food. Once they’re old enough, they set off from the shores on which they hatched for the first time and swim long distances in search of tasty fish like anchovies3 and sardines4. But they don’t search directly for the fish themselves.

For example, when young endangered African penguins head out to sea, they look for areas with low surface temperatures and high chlorophyll. Because those conditions signal the presence of phytoplankton. And lots of phytoplankton means lots of zooplankton, which in turn means lots of their favorite fish. Well, that’s what it used to mean. 

Climate change plus overfishing have made the penguin1 feeding grounds a mirage5. The habitat is indeed plankton-rich—but now it’s fish-poor. Researchers call this kind of scenario6 an "ecological7 trap."

"It's a situation where you have a signal that previously8 pointed9 an animal towards good quality habitat. That habitat's been changed, usually by rapidly induced human pressures, usually anthropogenic change—and the signal stays, but the underlying10 quality in the environment deteriorates11."

University of Exeter zoologist12 Richard Sherley. He and his team used satellite imaging to track the dispersal of 54 recently fledged African penguins from eight sites along southern Africa. Historically, the birds benefitted from tons of fish off the coasts of Angola, Namibia and western South Africa, but now they're going hungry.

"I was really hoping we'd see them going east, and finding areas where the fish had shifted to…so I was quite surprised to be wrong, and unfortunately quite sad to be wrong. It ends up being quite a sad story for the penguins."

The researchers calculate that by falling into this ecological trap, African penguin populations on South Africa's Western Cape13 have declined by around 80 percent. The findings are in the journal Current Biology. [Richard B. Sherley et al., Metapopulation Tracking Juvenile14 Penguins Reveals an Ecosystem-wide Ecological Trap]

Some research groups are exploring the idea of translocating chicks to a place where they can't get trapped, like the Eastern Cape. But Sherley thinks that a longer-term solution means implementing15 regulations to create more sustainable fisheries, something that he says has public support. 

And as for the penguins?

"There's not necessarily yet in an extinction16 vortex. So it's not hopeless yet."

But time flies. Unlike penguins. 

—Jason G. Goldman


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1 penguin W3jzf     
n.企鹅
参考例句:
  • The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
  • He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。
2 penguins fc5bf5a50fd6b440a35d113f324c5e75     
n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中? 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹,企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
3 anchovies anchovies     
n. 鯷鱼,凤尾鱼
参考例句:
  • a pizza topped with cheese and anchovies 奶酪鳀鱼比萨饼
  • Pesto, mozzarella, parma ham, sun dried tomatoes, egg, anchovies. 核桃香蒜,马苏里拉,巴马火腿,干番茄,鸡蛋,咸鱼。
4 sardines sardines     
n. 沙丁鱼
参考例句:
  • The young of some kinds of herring are canned as sardines. 有些种类的鲱鱼幼鱼可制成罐头。
  • Sardines can be eaten fresh but are often preserved in tins. 沙丁鱼可以吃新鲜的,但常常是装听的。
5 mirage LRqzB     
n.海市蜃楼,幻景
参考例句:
  • Perhaps we are all just chasing a mirage.也许我们都只是在追逐一个幻想。
  • Western liberalism was always a mirage.西方自由主义永远是一座海市蜃楼。
6 scenario lZoxm     
n.剧本,脚本;概要
参考例句:
  • But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
  • This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。
7 ecological IrRxX     
adj.生态的,生态学的
参考例句:
  • The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
  • Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.
8 previously bkzzzC     
adv.以前,先前(地)
参考例句:
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。
9 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
10 underlying 5fyz8c     
adj.在下面的,含蓄的,潜在的
参考例句:
  • The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
  • This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。
11 deteriorates b30c21764ac9925504e84b9cba3f7902     
恶化,变坏( deteriorate的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • After a few years' planting, the quality of the potato crop deteriorates. 土豆种了几年之后就会退化。
  • Virus activity deteriorates in plasma stored at room temperature. 在室温下储藏的血浆中病毒活动逐渐衰退。
12 zoologist MfmwY     
n.动物学家
参考例句:
  • Charles darwin was a famous zoologist.查尔斯达尔文是一位著名的动物学家。
  • The zoologist had spent a long time living with monkeys.这位动物学家与猴子一起生活了很长时间。
13 cape ITEy6     
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风
参考例句:
  • I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
  • She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。
14 juvenile OkEy2     
n.青少年,少年读物;adj.青少年的,幼稚的
参考例句:
  • For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人,他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
  • Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。
15 implementing be68540dfa000a0fb38be40d32259215     
v.实现( implement的现在分词 );执行;贯彻;使生效
参考例句:
  • -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
  • He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句
16 extinction sPwzP     
n.熄灭,消亡,消灭,灭绝,绝种
参考例句:
  • The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
  • The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

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