科学美国人60秒 SSS 非洲食蚁兽因炎热和干旱而处境艰难

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Jason Goldman.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是杰森·古德曼。

Got a minute?

有一分钟时间吗？

The aardvark is a rare animal—alphabetically, at least, where it's the first creature listed in English-language dictionaries.

非洲食蚁兽是种稀有动物，至少按字母排序来说是如此，因为它是英文词典中排在第一位的动物。

And they're usually rarely seen in their African home. But that's because they're nocturnal, solitary¹ and live in underground burrows².

在它们的非洲家园，人们通常很少见到它。但那是因为它们在夜间活动，独居且生活在地下洞穴里。

They're actually fairly common. And in recent years, they're being seen more frequently.

它们其实相当常见。近年来，它们的出现频率越来越高。

While that may be fortunate for tourists and wildlife enthusiasts³, it's not really good news for the aardvarks themselves.

虽然这对游客和野生动物爱好者来说可能是幸运的事情，但对非洲食蚁兽本身来说并不是什么好消息。

"Southern Africa is becoming gradually hotter and drier due to climate change, which is occurring there more rapidly than in other parts of the world.

“由于气候变化，非洲南部正变得越来越热，也越来越干燥，该地区气候变化的速度比世界其他地区都要快。

And I therefore chose to dedicate my Ph.D. to investigating how climate change affects the aardvark in the hottest and driest habitat in Africa

因此我读博士时，决定致力于研究气候变化如何影响非洲食蚁兽在非洲最热、最干燥的栖息地，

in which they occur, which is the Kalahari semi-desert."

也就是卡拉哈里半沙漠。”

Nora Weyer from South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand.

南非威特沃特斯兰德大学的诺拉·韦耶说到。

For more than three years, she and her team followed the activities of a dozen aardvarks in the Kalahari via tiny tracking units they implanted in the animals.

在三年多的时间里，她和团队利用他们植入非洲食蚁兽体内的微型追踪装置，追踪了卡拉哈里沙漠12只非洲食蚁兽的活动。

Aardvarks generally sleep during the heat of the day and emerge during the cooler nighttime hours to eat ants and termites⁴.

非洲食蚁兽一般在白天炎热的时候睡觉，在夜间凉爽的时候外出，以蚂蚁和白蚁为食。

But Weyer found that during a drought, they were likely to be active during the day.

但韦耶发现，在干旱时，它们很可能在白天活动。

The Kalahari is always arid⁵, but one summer a lack of rain caused a big vegetation die-off.

卡拉哈里沙漠总是干旱，但有一年夏天，由于缺少雨水，大片植被接连枯萎。

Ants and termites disappeared, which made aardvarks go hungry.

蚂蚁和白蚁消失了，导致非洲食蚁兽挨饿。

"Usually, the period of the year during which very little food is available is winter.

“通常，一年中食物稀少的时期是冬天。

So if you come out during a winter day, it's nice and warmish and not too hot."

所以，如果你在冬天外出，那天应该天气不错，很温暖，而且不会太热。”

During the cold, dry winter, a hungry aardvark has trouble regulating its body temperature to stay warm.

在寒冷干燥的冬天，饥饿的非洲食蚁兽很难调节体温来保暖。

The survival strategy they evolved is to become more active during the day, when it is warmer outside.

它们进化出的生存策略是，外面比较暖和的时候，增加白天的活动。

But Weyer's aardvarks were going hungry during the summer.

但是韦耶的非洲食蚁兽在夏天时却在挨饿。

Their strategy of being active during the day, which is a smart move during the winter, became a trap during the summer:

在白天活动这种策略在冬季是明智之举，但在夏天却成为了陷阱：

they faced hunger, heat stress and dehydration⁶.

它们面临饥饿、热应激反应和脱水。

The findings are in the journal Frontiers in Physiology⁷.

这项研究发表在《生理学前沿》期刊上。

"These energy-saving mechanisms⁸ that aardvarks showed were not always enough for them to save energy during droughts.

“非洲食蚁兽所展示的这些节能机制并不总是足以让它们在干旱期间节约能源。

And several aardvarks in our study, and also other aardvarks, died."

我们研究的几只非洲食蚁兽还有其它非洲食蚁兽都死了。”

Climate change is expected to bring more frequent droughts and heat waves to the Kalahari. And aardvarks might not be able to cope.

气候变化预计将给卡拉哈里沙漠带来更频繁的干旱和热浪。非洲食蚁兽可能无法应对。

Aardvarks are ecosystem⁹ engineers.

非洲食蚁兽是生态系统工程师。

Their burrows are used by warthogs, porcupines¹⁰, meerkats and even by endangered pangolins as shelter from heat and cold.

它们的洞穴被疣猪、豪猪、猫鼬甚至濒危的穿山甲用作避暑和避寒的场所。

If aardvarks can't survive a hotter, drier Kalahari, what does it mean for the rest of their ecological¹¹ community?

如果非洲食蚁兽不能在更热、更干燥的卡拉哈里沙漠生存，这对它们生态群落中的其他成员意味着什么？

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Jason Goldman.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是杰森·古德曼。

1 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

2 burrows   

n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• The intertidal beach unit contains some organism burrows. 潮间海滩单元含有一些生物潜穴。 来自辞典例句
• A mole burrows its way through the ground. 鼹鼠会在地下钻洞前进。 来自辞典例句

3 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册

4 termites   

n.白蚁( termite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Termites are principally tropical in distribution. 白蚁主要分布在热带地区。 来自辞典例句
• This spray will exterminate the termites. 这种喷剂能消灭白蚁。 来自辞典例句

5 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

6 dehydration   

n.脱水，干燥

参考例句：

• He died from severe dehydration.他死于严重脱水。
• The eyes are often retracted from dehydration.眼睛常因脱水而凹陷。

7 physiology   

n.生理学，生理机能

参考例句：

• He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。

8 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

10 porcupines   

n.豪猪，箭猪( porcupine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Porcupines use their spines to protect themselves. 豪猪用身上的刺毛来自卫。
• The59 victims so far include an elephant, dromedaries, monkeys and porcupines. 目前为止，死亡的动物包括大象、峰骆驼、子以及豪猪。 来自互联网

11 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.