科学美国人60秒 SSS 海鸟羽毛能彰显海洋的脆弱性
时间:2019-02-13 作者:英语课 分类:2018年科学美国人2月
Seabird Feathers Reveal Less-Resilient Ocean
Today we have sophisticated buoys 1 packed with instruments, and robotic underwater drones. But a more than a century ago the seas were surveyed by different types of autonomous 2 data-gathering instruments. Which also happened to be alive:
今天,我们有精密的浮标装满仪器和机器人——水下无人机来水下作业。 但一个多世纪前,海洋由不同类型的自主数据收集工具进行了调查。这也发生了:
"We just call them sea otters 3 and white sharks and bluefin tuna." Kyle Van Houtan is director of science at the Monterey Bay Aquarium 4. And what he means is that marine 5 mammals and fish and seabirds concentrate unique chemical clues about the ocean and what lives in it, within their tissues. "In their bones, in their feathers, in their vertebrae, in their earwax."
“我们只是称他们为海獭、白鲨和蓝鳍金枪鱼。” Kyle Van Houtan是蒙特利湾水族馆的科学主任。他的意思是海洋哺乳动物、鱼类和海鸟集中在他们的组织内部,关于海洋和生活在海洋中的独特化学线索。“在他们的骨头、羽毛、椎骨的耳垢中。”
For his most recent study, Van Houtan needed to locate feathers from some long-dead birds."Let's see, so I'm just looking here, that was a Bulwer's petrel, from French Frigate 6 Shoals--I have the database open in front of me here…." Molly Hagemann, who describes herself as 'a librarian for dead animals' at Honolulu's Bishop 7 Museum, was able to help.
对于他最近的研究,Van Houtan需要找到一些长长的死鸟羽毛。“让我们看看,所以我只是在这里看,这是一个来自法国护卫舰Shoals的Bulwer的海燕——我的数据库在前面打开,我在这里......“。在檀香山的主教博物馆,Molly Hagemann自称为“死亡动物图书管理员”,能够提供帮助。
"So that one was collected in May 1891. And then we also had a brown noddy from 1895…"The scientists analyzed 8 the ratios of heavy to light nitrogen isotopes 9 in those old feathers, compared to ratios in modern-day specimens 10. And they found that Pacific seabirds of yore ate diets dominated by fish. But the birds of today were fishing farther down in the food web. And seemed to be eating nearly twice as much squid as their ancestors did—maybe due to the combined effects of commercial fishing and climate change. The details are in the journal Science Advances.
“所以那个是在1891年5月收集的。然后我们也从1895年开始出现褐色的结瘤。”科学家们分析了那些老羽毛中重氮氮同位素的比例,与现代标本中的比率相比。他们发现太平洋海鸟食物曾经以鱼为主。但今天的鸟儿正在食物网中更远的地方找寻食物。而且似乎要吃的东西几乎是其祖先的两倍——可能是由于商业捕鱼和气候变化的综合影响。详情请见《科学进展》杂志。
Now, nothing against consuming calamari. But: “KVH: It's a risky 11 business to depend on squid. Because squid go through these boom/bust cycles." So the shift in protein source could one day leave the birds hungry.But the bigger picture is that it appears food webs in the central Pacific have lost components 12 and become less complex over the last 130 years—meaning they're less resilient to changes.
现在,对消费鱿鱼没有什么反对声音。但是:“KVH:依靠鱿鱼是一件冒险的事情。因为鱿鱼经历了这些繁荣/萧条周期。”因此,蛋白质来源的转变有一天可能会让鸟类饥饿。但更大的情况是,似乎中太平洋地区的食物网,在过去的130年中已经失去了组成部分,并且变得不那么复杂。这意味着他们对变化的适应能力较差。
KVH: "It's more than just climate: It's all the noise we're adding to the ocean. All of the contaminants, the microplastic. It's a warming ocean. It's an ocean with more nutrients 13. It's an ocean with less oxygen."And it’s an ocean with less capacity to recover from all those insults.
KVH:“它不仅仅是气候:这是我们加入海洋的所有噪音,所有的污染物,微型弹性体,它是一个温暖的海洋,它是一个营养物质含量更高的海洋,它是一个氧气含量较少的海洋。” 这是一个能够从所有这些侮辱中恢复过来的海洋。
- The channel is marked by buoys. 航道有浮标表示。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- Often they mark the path with buoys. 他们常常用浮标作为航道的标志。 来自辞典例句
- They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
- This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。
- An attempt is being made to entice otters back to the river. 人们正试图把水獭引诱回河里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Otters are believed to have been on Earth for 90 million years. 水獭被认为存活在地球上已经9千多万年。 来自互联网
- The first time I saw seals was in an aquarium.我第一次看见海豹是在水族馆里。
- I'm going to the aquarium with my parents this Sunday.这个星期天,我要和父母一起到水族馆去。
- Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
- When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
- An enemy frigate bore down on the sloop.一艘敌驱逐舰向这只护航舰逼过来。
- I declare we could fight frigate.我敢说我们简直可以和一艘战舰交战。
- He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
- Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。
- The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程,因为对他来说,爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- the many isotopes of carbon 碳的诸多同位素
- Tritium is one of the mildest radioactive isotopes. 氚是最和缓的放射性同位素之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
- The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险,但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
- He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。
- the components of a machine 机器部件
- Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。