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Gophers versus¹ the Volcano 囊地鼠对抗火山大爆发

May 18th is the 37th anniversary of the massive explosion of Mount Saint Helens. But within days of the volcano erupting, the local ecosystem² started to bounce back. Thanks to some unassuming little animals that spend lots of time underground.

5月18日是圣海伦斯火山大爆发37周年纪念日。然而在火山爆发后几天内，当地的生态系统就开始迅速恢复。这还多亏了一些在地下呆了很长时间的毫不起眼的小动物。

“The pocket gophers were the ecological³ heroes of Mount Saint Helens.”

“囊地鼠是圣海伦斯山的生态英雄。”

Emory University paleontologist and geologist⁴ Anthony J. Martin.

安东尼·J·马丁是艾莫利大学的一名古生物学家和地质学家。

“You normally don’t hear those words put together, pocket gopher and hero. But they were…these small burrowing⁶ mammals were able to survive this massive, devastating⁷ volcanic⁸ eruption⁹.”

“通常人们不会听到这些词一起使用——囊地鼠和英雄。但它们确实是英雄……这些小型穴居哺乳动物能够经受住这次超大规模的、毁灭性的火山喷发并幸存下来。”

Just as numerous animals that live underground have survived catastrophes¹⁰ and predators¹¹ for hundreds of millions of years. As Martin discusses in his new book The Evolution Underground: Burrows¹², Bunkers, and the Marvelous Subterranean¹³ World Beneath Our Feet.

就像许多生活在地下的动物经受住了上亿年的大灾难和食肉动物的威胁生存下来了一样。正如马丁在他的新书《地下演变:地洞、洞穴和我们脚下神奇的地下世界》中探讨的那样。

“The reports I was reading about this, about how these researchers in helicopters are flying over the devastated¹⁴ landscape—just a few days later there were the burrow⁵ mounds¹⁵. Pop pop pop. Thinking about these gophers that were below the ground. And they survived that....

“我读到关于这方面的报道，关于研究人员乘坐直升机飞越这个满目疮痍的地区——然而仅仅几天后，这里就有了洞穴堆积。砰砰砰。想象一下这些在地下的囊地鼠。它们经受住大爆发幸存了下来……”

“So that to me was a golden opportunity to talk about that, as this incredible story of survival, but also renewal¹⁶. That these little burrowing mammals brought back that landscape. Because their burrows served first of all as refuge for any other small animals that were there. So other small mammals and other vertebrates, such as amphibians¹⁷ and reptiles¹⁸ that lived there, they were either in their own burrows or they were in pocket gopher burrows or other small mammal burrows in the area.

“所以对我来说，这是一个谈论它的绝佳时机——一个令人难以置信的幸存者的故事，一个重生的故事。这些小穴居哺乳动物复苏了那片土地。因为他们的洞穴首先成为了其他生活在那里的小动物的避难所。因此其他的小型哺乳动物和脊椎动物——比如在那里生活的两栖动物和爬行动物——它们要么生活在自己的洞穴里，要么生活在囊地鼠的洞穴或该地区其他小哺乳动物的洞穴里。

“The burrowing also brought up seeds. The seeds are already buried, so that caused plants to start sprouting¹⁹ in the area, where it wasn’t so much wind-blown seeds…then of course once other animals started coming back into the area, like elk²⁰, and they started dropping seeds through their feces and otherwise affecting the surface ecology, that then worked together to bring those ecosystems²¹ back to life. But the gophers were key in this. They really were essential for these ecosystems to be able to bounce back.”

“由于当地没有太多风来吹拂种子，因而掘穴还带回了那些已被埋在地下的种子，从而使该地区的植物得以开始萌芽……然后顺理成章的，一旦其他动物，比如麋鹿，开始回到该地区，它们开始通过粪便投撒种子并从其他方面影响地表生态系统。再然后所有生灵一起努力将该地区的生态系统恢复生机。但囊地鼠在其中起着关键作用。它们确实是这些生态系统能够迅速复苏的必要条件。”

You can hear an extended interview with Martin about his book in a Science Talk podcast posted on our website. And there’s a children’s book just about the gophers and Mount Saint Helens called Gopher to the Rescue by Terry Jennings. Finally, for general information about gophers and their effect on landscapes, check out the nature documentary Caddyshack.

你还可以收听本网站发布的一个对马丁先生就其新书所做的拓展采访。该采访发布于《科学脱口秀》广播。还有一本特里·詹尼斯的关于囊地鼠与圣海伦斯火山的儿童读物——《囊地鼠救援行动》。最后，要了解囊地鼠的基本资料以及它们对环境的影响，请参阅自然纪录片《Caddyshack》。