SCIENCE IN THE NEWS -Tree Deaths in Western US Linked to Climate Change
科技新闻 — 美国西部树木死因与气候变化有关
And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week, we will tell about one explanation for many trees dying in the western United States. We will tell about a project to make electronic maps of soil in Africa. And, we tell how one kind of caterpillar can trick another insect.
这周，我们将揭秘美国西部大量树木死亡的原因、报道关于绘制非洲电子土壤分布图的项目及讲述某种毛虫如何欺骗另一种昆虫。
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VOICE ONE:
Scientists have found that trees are dying at an increasing rate in the western United States. The scientists say they believe the tree deaths were partly a result of warmer and drier weather conditions linked to climate change.
目前，科学家们已经发现美国西部树木死亡数量呈递增趋势。他们认为树木 死因部分是由于气候变暖干燥（气候变化）导致的。
A team of eleven researchers reported their findings last month in Science magazine. The researchers work for the United States Geological Survey, the Forest Service and several universities.
上个月， 11 位研究人员在《科学杂志》上公布了他们的发现。他们都在美国地质调查研究所、森林服务机构和一些大学工作。
They studied trees in seventy-six long-term forests in six American states and the Canadian province of British Columbia. The thirty-year study is said to be the largest ever investigation of North America's old growth forests.
他们研究了美国 6 个州和英国哥伦比亚的加拿大省 76 座年代久远的树林。这个持续 31 年的科学研究是有史以来针对北美古老树林生长最大的一次调查。
VOICE TWO:
The researchers say they were concerned by the findings. The trees they observed were dying two times as fast as trees were thirty years ago. Additionally, the increased death rate was higher than the rate of new tree growth.
研究人员称他们曾对调查结果感到很不安。他们所发现的树木死亡速度是过去 30 年的 2 倍。此外，树木的死亡率要高于新生树木的生长速度。
The findings are similar to those of other recent observations and studies, including one involving bark beetles. That study blamed the insect for the destruction of more than one million hectares of pine forest.
这些发现与其他的新近观察和研究的结果相似，包括涉及树虫。 调查报告中指责树虫破坏致死树木的数量超过 1,000,000 公顷的松树林。
VOICE ONE:
The new study found increasing death rates of several kinds of forests, like pine, fir and hemlock. The higher rates were observed among trees of different ages and sizes.
最新研究发现一些树种死亡率增加，如松树、枞树和铁山。调查发现生长周期和大小不同的树木死亡率较高。
The elevation of the forests was not considered important. Trees high in the mountains were dying at about the same rate as those closer to sea level.
然而，这些树木的死亡率的增高未曾受到重视。高山上的树木死亡率与靠近海平面的那些树木死亡率近乎一致。
The researchers investigated other possible causes of the tree deaths like insects, fires and air pollution. They also look at issues like operations to clear forests, and increasing competition among trees. Yet the researchers say none of these are as likely to blame for the tree deaths as climate change.
研究人员还调查了导致树木死亡的其他可能原因如虫害、火灾和空气污染。他们还发现了其他问题如树木砍伐和树木之间生存竞争。 然而，研究人员称这些原因并不能像气候变化一样可以导致树木死亡
VOICE TWO:
Nathan Stephenson was a lead writer of the report. He says temperatures have increased in the areas where forests are found. Since the nineteen seventies, temperatures have increased almost half a degree Celsius in each ten-year period.
内森·斯蒂芬森曾是这片报告的主笔人。他说树木生长环境温度已经上升了。自 19 世纪 70 年代，温度几乎每个 10 年上升了 0.5 摄氏度。
Mister Stephenson says summers are becoming longer and hotter in the western United States. This makes trees weaker and decreases their ability to survive insect attacks and forest fires.
斯蒂芬森先生称，现在美国西部的夏季变得更长了，天气变得更热了。这使得树木的生命更脆弱，削弱了树木逃脱虫害和火灾的能力
The researchers say the long-term effects of the increased death rates are hard to predict. However, they say, there could be fewer forests in the future.
研究人员称已增长的死亡率带来的长期影响目前无法预知。不过，将来森林的数量会变得更少。
VOICE ONE:
Forests are important to the environment because they take in carbon dioxide and release another gas -- oxygen. This process removes carbon from the atmosphere. However, carbon is released when trees die or burn. If trees take in less carbon dioxide, scientists say, it could increase the effects of climate change.
森林对于环境来说是很重要的，因为他们可以吸收二氧化碳，释放另一种气体 —— 氧气。这个过程可以清除大气中的碳元素。然而，当树木死亡或燃烧时，则会释放出碳元素。科学家称，如果树木吸收的二氧化碳量减少，则会加重气候变化带来的影响。
Some researchers say new measures may be needed to keep the forests alive. Mister Stephenson says one of the best answers is to reduce the amount of pollution that people produce.
一些研究人员表示需采取新的措施保护森林。斯蒂芬森先生说最佳答案之一就是减少人类制造的污染。
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VOICE TWO:
Poor soil keeps many farmers in Africa from growing good crops. Low soil fertility has slowed agricultural production in parts of the continent for years. The United Nations says that one-third of the people south of the Sahara Desert suffer from hunger. 在非洲，贫瘠的土壤使许多农民无法种植农作物。多年来，土壤的肥力偏低减缓了非洲部分地区的农业生产。联合国称撒哈拉沙漠以南的 1/3 人口遭受着饥荒。
But a newly announced project promises help for the situation. A not-for-profit agency is working toward developing soil maps and making them available on the Internet. The agency is called the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. It plans to describe the soil in forty-two nations in sub-Saharan Africa.
不过， 联合国最近公布的项目承诺会对非洲现状提供救援。热带农业国际中心，一个非盈利性组织，正努力开发电子式土壤地图，以供网民在线查询。该组织计划绘制 非洲撒哈拉以南地区的 42 个国家的土壤分布图。
VOICE ONE:
When the project is completed, farmers will be able to get information that will help them decide what to plant and how to care for their land. In the past, it often has been hard to get complete information about soil conditions. Maps for the purpose exist. But they are in paper form and often not widely available.
当这个项目完成时，农民们可以从中了解农作物种植的品种方面和如何照料他们的土地方面的信息。过去，农民们一直很难获取土壤状况的完整信息，而该地图则解决了这个难题。 但是地图是纸张的形式 ，目前并未得到广泛使用。
The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute in Kenya will supervise the project. Institute director Nteranya Sanginga says supervision, or management, of soil in sub-Saharan Africa must improve. He said the improvements are needed if the area is to reduce poverty and feed growing populations. He said the improvements also are needed to fight the effects of climate change.
肯尼亚热带土壤生物学和肥力研究所将监督这个项目。研究所主任 Nteranya Sanginga 说非洲撒哈拉以南地区的土壤的监督管理方面必须要改进。他提出，如果非洲要减少贫困和养活渐增的人口，改进是有必要的。这些改进对解决气候变化带来的影响也是有必要的
VOICE TWO:
Researchers from the African Soil Information Service will study earth samples and rate them. The researchers will also use satellite technology to create images showing the nutrients and wetness of the samples. The images also will show the amount of organic material in the soil.
非洲土壤信息服务中心的研究人员将会研究土壤样品并将它们按等级分类。研究人员还将使用卫星技术创建显示土壤样品湿度和养分的图片。图片还将显示土壤里面的有机质含量。
The researchers also will study chemical and physical qualities of the soil with a method called infrared spectroscopy. The method can quickly judge the soil's ability to hold water and take-in nutrients. Project information manager Peter Okoth says a majority of farmers may have the information on-line in three years.
研究人员还将采用 红外光谱学 研究土壤中的化学和物理成分。该方法可以快速判断出土壤锁水和吸收养分的能力。项目信息经理 Peter Okoth 称 ，三年内大多数农民可以在线了解土壤方面的信息
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa have given eighteen million dollars to collect the information. The money will be provided over four years. Project partners include the Earth Institute at Columbia University in the United States
比尔和梅林达盖茨基金会和非洲之声呼唤绿色革命共同投资了 180,000,000 美金用于搜集该方面信息。该笔资金的 提供将超过 4 年， . 项目的合作伙伴包括美国哥伦比亚大学的地球研究院。
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VOICE ONE:
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be treated like an important leader? A European butterfly species has found a way to make that wish come true.
你是否曾经想过被人当做重要领导人对待？欧洲的一种蝴蝶已经找到了实现这个梦想的方法。
Insect experts say ants communicate mainly through touch and chemical signaling. But scientists now believe that the leader of an ant community, the queen ant, makes sounds that set her apart from other ants. Because of the sounds, worker ants feed and protect the queen ant.
昆虫专家称蚂蚁主要是通过触觉和化学信号进行沟通的。但是现在科学家认为蚂蚁团队里面的领导者，蚁后通过发出可以将她和其他蚂蚁区分开的声音。由于这个声音，工蚁会喂养和保护蚁后。
VOICE TWO:
The scientists say they found that one kind of caterpillar has ways to reproduce a sound that the worker ants think is their queen. The caterpillars grow to become Maculinea rebeli, also known as the Rebel's Large Blue butterfly.
科学家称他们发现了有种毛虫会学蚁后发出的声音，让工蚁认为她是他们的蚁后。之后毛虫蜕变成 Maculinea rebeli ，著名的 Rebel 蓝色的大蝴蝶。
The caterpillars also release chemicals that trick the ants into bringing them to their communities, or colonies. Once inside, the caterpillars make the sounds of the queen ant. The ants feed and care for them during a period when they are inactive. After eleven to twelve months, the caterpillars form pupae and become butterflies.
这些毛虫还会释放出迷惑蚂蚁带他们回蚂蚁群落或聚居地的化学物质。一旦进入，毛虫们便发出蚁后的声音。当毛虫不能动弹时，那些工蚁便会在那段时期内喂养和照顾它们。 11-12 个月后，毛毛虫出蛹并蜕变成蝴蝶。
VOICE ONE:
New electronic technology made it possible for the scientists to record the queen and worker ant sounds. The sound the caterpillar makes was also recorded. When played back to the worker ants, they reacted the same way to the caterpillar sounds as they did to the queen ant sounds. They gathered around a device making the sounds and did not move for hours.
新式电子技术，使得科学家能够录制蚁后和工蚁的声音。毛虫发出的声音同样也被录了下来。当录音倒回工蚁那部分
The queen ant and the caterpillar sound very different to the human ear. However, scientists say similarities in what they called resonant frequency were found through sound tests.
蚁后和毛虫声音传到人类耳朵里是很不一样的。然而科学家称，通过声波测试，它们声音的共振频率很相似。
VOICE TWO:
An international team of researchers carried out the study. The researchers come from Britain's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the University of Oxford and Italy's University of Turin. The findings were reported last month in Science magazine.
一个国际组织的研究人员对此进行了调查。这些研究人员来自英国生态学和水文地理学研究中心、牛津大学和都灵的意大利大学。上个月， < 科学杂志 > 对此调查结果进行了报道。
Jeremy Thomas is a professor at the University of Oxford. He found that ants will rescue a caterpillar they believe to be the queen when their ant colony is threatened.
Jeremy Thomas 是牛津大学的教授。他发现当蚂蚁的群落遭受威胁时，工蚁们会拯救他们认为是蚁后的毛虫。
His research showed the worker ants would do this before protecting their young. The ants have even been observed using ant larvae to feed a caterpillar when food supplies are low.
他的研究表明工蚁在保护它们后代前会先保护被当作蚁后的毛虫。观察过程中发现，当食物短缺时，工蚁们会用蚂蚁幼虫去喂养毛虫。
VOICE ONE:
Francesca Barbero from the University of Turin was the lead writer of the report. She says the findings show that sounds are more important in the communication between ants than scientists had thought. The Rebel's Large Blue butterfly has become endangered because of changes to its environment.
Currently, it is only found in grassy areas within the mountains of Europe. The scientists believe their findings will help in designing new methods to protect the endangered insects. Scientists are also interested in discovering whether other species have developed ways to use a similar kind of trickery to survive.
目前，只在欧洲山区的绿地发现了这种蝴蝶。科学家相信他们的发现有助于研究保护濒临灭绝的 Rebel 蓝色大蝴蝶的方法。科学家们对探索其他物种是否已经找到使用类似欺骗手段生存很有兴趣。
来自都灵的意大利大学的 Francesca Barbero 曾是这篇研究报告的主笔人。她说调查结果表明蚂蚁之间的声音交流比科学家之前料想的更重要。由于生存环境的改变， Rebel 蓝色大蝴蝶已经处于濒临灭绝的状态。
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该帖于2009年2月25日被版主推荐为精华帖。
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