科学美国人60秒 SSS 2016-8-03

The Earth's temperature is rising. And as it does, springtime phenomena—like the first bloom of flowers—are getting earlier and earlier. But rising temperatures aren't the only factor. Urban light pollution is also quickening the coming of spring. "So temperature and light are really contributing to a double whammy of making everything earlier." Richard ffrench-Constant, an entomologist at the University of Exeter.

地球的温度正在上升，若真是这样，春季现象——花儿首次盛开的时间会越来越早。但不断升高的气温并不是唯一的因素。城市光污染也加快了春天到来的脚步。因此在温度和光线的双重打击下，导致让一切提前。理查德·弗伦奇恒，英国埃克塞特大学的昆虫学家。

He and his colleagues compiled 13 years of data from citizen scientists in the U.K., who tracked the first bud burst of four common trees. Turns out, light pollution—from streetlights in cities, and along roads—pushed bud burst a full week earlier. Way beyond what rising temperatures could achieve. This disruptive timing 1 can ripple 2 through the ecosystem 3.

他和他的同事们编写了来自公民科学家13年的数据，对四种常见的树木进行追踪，观察其第一次萌芽的时间，其实，光污染——城市路灯以及沿途公路上——导致发芽整整提前一个星期，不断上升的气温会带来什么深远结果。这种破坏性的时机可以对生态系统产生影响。

"The caterpillars 4 that feed on trees are trying to match the hatching of their eggs to the timing of bud burst. Because the caterpillars want to feed on the juiciest and least chemically protected leaves. And it's not just the caterpillars, of course, that are important. But the knock-on effect is on nesting birds, which are also trying to hatch their chicks at the same time that there's the maximum number of caterpillars." So earlier buds could ultimately affect the survival of birds, and beyond. The findings are in the Proceedings 5 of the Royal Society B. [Richard H. ffrench-Constant et al., Light pollution is associated with earlier tree budburst across the United Kingdom]

以树为食的毛毛虫正试图将自己的孵卵时间与发芽时间相匹配。因为毛毛虫要以最多汁、最少受化学物质保护的叶子为食。并且不仅仅毛毛虫是这样。当然，这一点很重要。但其连锁反应体现在筑巢鸟类上。它们和毛毛虫一样，也试图在同一时间孵化鸟蛋，这时候毛毛虫的数量最多。因此提前发芽可能影响鸟类的生存，甚至影响更加深远。该项研究结果发表在《皇家学会学报B辑》上。

The world's becoming increasingly urbanized, and light pollution is growing—which ffrench-Constant says could trick trees into budding earlier and earlier. But smarter lighting 6—like LEDs that dial down certain wavelengths—could help. "Perhaps the exciting thing is, if we understand more about how light affects this bud burst, we might be able to devise smarter sort of street lighting that has less red components 7, and therefore less early bud burst." Thus keeping springtime an actual springtime phenomenon.

世界越来越城市化，光污染的范围也越来越大。 ffrench-Constant 表示这可以欺骗树木更早提前发芽。但是智能灯光——如LED指示灯，调低某些波长，可以有所帮助。或许令人感到兴奋的是，如果我们对光线如何影响萌芽有更深刻的了解，我们也许能够设计出发出更少红光的智能路灯，这样使萌芽时间少提前一些，以此使春天出现实际的春天现象。