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科学美国人60秒 SSS 鹿会改变森林的声学

时间:2019-12-10 07:46:12

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(单词翻译)

 

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

Thirty million white-tailed deer now live in North America. "That's a lotta deer." Megan Gall1, a sensory2 ecologist at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. In her Hudson Valley locale, "there was a recent estimate here that you could have somewhere between 20 and 40 deer per square mile."

These prolific3 grazers have been blamed for many things: munching4 on baby trees "and that's a big problem because they are going to prevent forest regeneration." They also change the structure of the forest understory, "which is no good for birds that live there, small rodents5 that live there." And they co??ntribute to the lyme disease problem as tick hosts.

To all that, we can now add a new accusation6: that deer are altering the very acoustics7 of the forest, by pruning8 trees and changing the way sounds — like bird calls — travel through the trees.

Gall and her team investigated plots of forest where deer graze, and others where they were excluded. In each thirty-by-thirty-foot plot, they placed a speaker at one end, playing white noise, tones or trills. And recorded it all with a microphone in the opposite corner.

Then, they used software to analyze9 the recorded sounds. They found that while there was no difference in the loudness of the captured sounds among plots, the recordings10 captured in the grazed-upon plots did have higher sound fidelity11 — meaning they were closer in quality to the original playback tracks.

Now on the face of it, that might sound like a good thing. But as Gall explains: "If your sound has better fidelity, it's gonna be able to be picked up by more individuals. And so if you're a territorial12 animal you might get into more fights. If you're worried about predators13, predators might have an easier time hearing you. And so higher fidelity isn't always better." The results are in the journal PLOS ONE.

And to be clear, the researchers aren't arguing for any specific intervention14 here. "Yeah, I mean the deer situation is a little bit of minefield and I don't know how much I want to weigh in on it." But the findings might give advocates for increased deer management a bit more ammunition15.

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.


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1 gall jhXxC     
v.使烦恼,使焦躁,难堪;n.磨难
参考例句:
  • It galled him to have to ask for a loan.必须向人借钱使他感到难堪。
  • No gall,no glory.没有磨难,何来荣耀。
2 sensory Azlwe     
adj.知觉的,感觉的,知觉器官的
参考例句:
  • Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
  • The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。
3 prolific fiUyF     
adj.丰富的,大量的;多产的,富有创造力的
参考例句:
  • She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家,写了很多小说和短篇故事。
  • The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。
4 munching 3bbbb661207569e6c6cb6a1390d74d06     
v.用力咀嚼(某物),大嚼( munch的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • He was munching an apple. 他在津津有味地嚼着苹果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Munching the apple as he was, he had an eye for all her movements. 他虽然啃着苹果,但却很留神地监视着她的每一个动作。 来自辞典例句
5 rodents 1ff5f0f12f2930e77fb620b1471a2124     
n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Rodents carry diseases and are generally regarded as pests. 啮齿目动物传播疾病,常被当作害虫对待。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Some wild rodents in Africa also harbor the virus. 在非洲,有些野生啮齿动物也是储毒者。 来自辞典例句
6 accusation GJpyf     
n.控告,指责,谴责
参考例句:
  • I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
  • She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。
7 acoustics kJ2y6     
n.声学,(复)音响效果,音响装置
参考例句:
  • The acoustics of the new concert hall are excellent.这座新音乐厅的音响效果极好。
  • The auditorium has comfortable seating and modern acoustics.礼堂里有舒适的座椅和现代化的音响设备。
8 pruning 6e4e50e38fdf94b800891c532bf2f5e7     
n.修枝,剪枝,修剪v.修剪(树木等)( prune的现在分词 );精简某事物,除去某事物多余的部分
参考例句:
  • In writing an essay one must do a lot of pruning. 写文章要下一番剪裁的工夫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • A sapling needs pruning, a child discipline. 小树要砍,小孩要管。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
9 analyze RwUzm     
vt.分析,解析 (=analyse)
参考例句:
  • We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
  • The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。
10 recordings 22f9946cd05973582e73e4e3c0239bb7     
n.记录( recording的名词复数 );录音;录像;唱片
参考例句:
  • a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
  • old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐
11 fidelity vk3xB     
n.忠诚,忠实;精确
参考例句:
  • There is nothing like a dog's fidelity.没有什么能比得上狗的忠诚。
  • His fidelity and industry brought him speedy promotion.他的尽职及勤奋使他很快地得到晋升。
12 territorial LImz4     
adj.领土的,领地的
参考例句:
  • The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
  • They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。
13 predators 48b965855934a5395e409c1112d94f63     
n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 );奴役他人者(尤指在财务或性关系方面)
参考例句:
  • birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
  • The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 intervention e5sxZ     
n.介入,干涉,干预
参考例句:
  • The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
  • Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。
15 ammunition GwVzz     
n.军火,弹药
参考例句:
  • A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
  • They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

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