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MennoSchilthuizen_2019X-_动物、虫子、植物如何在城市中演化_-
This is where I grew up. 这是我长大的地方。
A small village near the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. 鹿特丹市附近的小村子, 位在荷兰。
In the 1970s and 1980s, when I was a teenager, this area was still a quiet place. 七零和八零年代,我还是青少年时, 这个区域还十分安静。
It was full of farms and fields and swampland , and I spent my free time there, enjoying myself, painting oil paintings like this one, collecting wildflowers , bird-watching and also collecting insects. 满满都是农场、田野、沼泽地, 我有空就会去那里, 自己玩得很愉快, 画像这样的油画、 采集野花、赏鸟、 还捕集昆虫。
swampland:n.沼泽地; wildflowers:n.野花组合(由多种1-2年生草本花卉及多年生宿根花卉按照一定的配方混合组成); bird-watching:n.观察研究野鸟;
And this was one of my prized finds. 这是我最有价值的发现之一。
This is a very special beetle , an amazing beetle called an ant beetle. 这是一只非常特别的甲虫, 这种不可思议的甲虫叫做蚂蚁甲虫。
beetle:n.甲壳虫;adj.突出的;愁眉苦脸的;v.快速移动
And this is a kind of beetle that lives its entire life inside an ant's nest. 这种甲虫一生 都住在蚂蚁的巢穴中。
It has evolved to speak ant. 牠演化成会说蚂蚁语。
evolved:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;(evolve的过去分词和过去式)
It's using the same chemical signals, the same smells as the ants do, for communicating, and right now, this beetle is telling this worker ant , "Hey, I'm also a worker ant , 牠会使用和蚂蚁同样的化学讯号 及味道来沟通, 此时,这只甲虫在告诉这只工蚁: 「嘿,我也是工蚁,
chemical:n.化学制品,化学药品;adj.化学的; worker ant:n.工蚁;
I'm hungry, please feed me." 我饿了,请给我食物。」
And the ant complies , because the beetle is using the same chemicals . 蚂蚁也照做了, 因为这只甲虫使用同样的化学物质。
complies:遵从,依从,服从(comply的第三人称单数); chemicals:n.化学制品;化学品;(chemical的复数)
Over these millions of years, this beetle has evolved a way to live inside an ant society. 在这数百万年间, 这种甲虫演化出一种 能住在蚂蚁社会中的方式。
Over the years, when I was living in that village, 我住在那个村子里的那些年,
I collected 20,000 different beetles , and I built a collection of pinned beetles. 我捕集了两万种不同的甲虫, 我把甲虫钉起来,做成一系列收藏。
beetles:n.甲虫;v.快速移动;(beetle的第三人称单数和复数) pinned:v.固定;使不能动弹;按住;钳住;(pin的过去分词和过去式)
And this got me interested, at a very early age, in evolution . 这让我在非常小的时候 就对演化感到兴趣。
evolution:n.演变;进化;发展;渐进;
How do all those different forms, how does all this diversity come about? 各种形式,这么惊人的 多样性是怎么来的？
diversity:n.差异(性):多样性:多样化:
So I became an evolutionary biologist , like Charles Darwin. 所以我成为了演化生物学家, 和查尔斯·达尔文一样。
evolutionary:adj.进化的;发展的;渐进的; biologist:n.生物学家;
And like Charles Darwin, I also soon became frustrated by the fact that evolution is something that happened mostly in the past. 也和查尔斯·达尔文一样, 我很快就感到挫折, 因为演化大部分发生在过去。
frustrated:adj.失意的,挫败的;泄气的;v.挫败;阻挠;(frustrate的过去式和过去分词)
We study the patterns that we see today, trying to understand the evolution that took place in the past, but we can never actually see it taking place in real time . 我们研究现今所见的模式, 试图了解过去所发生的演化, 但我们永远无法看到 即时的演化发生。
real time:adj.实时的;接到指示立即执行的;
We cannot observe it. 我们无法观察演化。
observe:v.观察;看到;庆祝;监视;
As Darwin himself already said, "We see nothing of these slow changes in progress, until the hand of time has marked the lapse of ages." 达尔文自己已经说过: 「我们看不见这些缓慢的变化过程, 直到非常长的时间过后。?
lapse:n.(一时的)走神,判断错误;
Or do we? 或者其实我们看得见？
Over the past few decades, evolutionary biologists have come to realize that sometimes, evolution proceeds much faster and it can actually be observed , 在过去数十年间, 演化生物学家渐渐了解到,有时, 演化进行的速度快到
biologists:n.生物学家(biologist的复数); proceeds:v.继续做;行进;前往;(proceed的第三人称单数) observed:adj.观察的;观测的;v.观察;遵守;注意到(observe的过去分词形式);
especially when the environment changes drastically and the need to adapt is great. 特别是当环境剧烈改变时, 有很大的适应需求。
especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分; drastically:adv.彻底地;激烈地; adapt:vt.使适应;改编;vi.适应;
And of course, these days, great environmental changes are usually caused by us. 当然,如今, 很大的环境改变通常是人类造成的。
We mow , we irrigate , we plow , we build, we pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that change the climate. 我们刈草、灌溉、犁地、建造、 我们将温室气体排放到大气中, 改变了气候。
mow:v.修剪;割;刈;n.麦秆堆;谷堆;鬼脸 irrigate:vt.灌溉;冲洗;使清新;vi.灌溉;冲洗; plow:vi.[农机]犁; vt.[农机]犁; n.[农机]犁; pump:n.抽水机;泵;打气筒;v.用泵输送;涌出;奔流;快速摇动; greenhouse:n.温室;暖房; atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格;
We release exotic plants and animals in places where they didn't live before, and we harvest fish and trees and game for our food and other needs. 我们将外来植物和动物放到 它们以前没有待过的地方, 我们为了饱食以及其他需求
release:v.释放;发射;让与;允许发表;n.释放;发布;让与; exotic:adj.异国的;外来的;异国情调的;
And all these environmental changes reach their epicenter in cities. 在城市中的环境改变最显着。
epicenter:n.震中;中心;
Cities form a completely new habitat that we have created. 城市形成了全新的栖息地, 都是由我们所创造。
habitat:n.[生态]栖息地,产地;
And we clothe it in brick and concrete and glass and steel, which are impervious surfaces that plants can only root in with the greatest difficulty. 我们用砖块、混凝土、玻璃、 钢铁将它们覆盖起来, 这些都是无法渗透的表面, 植物极难扎根。
concrete:n.混凝土;adj.混凝土制的;确实的,具体的;vt.用混凝土覆盖 impervious:adj.不受影响的,无动于衷的;不能渗透的;
Also in cities, we find the greatest concentrations of chemical pollution, of artificial light and noise. 此外,城市里有 最高浓度的化学物质污染、 最严重的人工光害以及噪音。
concentrations:n.关注点;[土壤]浓聚物(concentration的复数); artificial:adj.人造的;仿造的;虚伪的;非原产地的;武断的;
And we find wild mixtures of plants and animals from all over the world that live in the city, because they have escaped from the gardening and aquarium and pet trade. 我们发现来自世界各地的 植物及动物在城市里狂野混杂, 因为它们逃离了花园、 水族馆、宠物贸易。
mixtures:n.[化学]混合物(mixture的复数);配合料; aquarium:n.水族馆;养鱼池;玻璃缸;
And what does a species do when it lives in a completely changed environment? 当某个物种生活的环境 完全改变了,会如何？
species:n.[生物]物种;种类;
Well, many, of course, go, sadly, extinct . 当然,不幸的是, 许多物种会因此绝种。
extinct:adj.灭绝的,绝种的;熄灭的;vt.使熄灭;
But the ones that don't go extinct, they adapt in spectacular ways. 但没有绝种的那些物种 会以很惊人的方式适应。
spectacular:adj.壮观的;壮丽的;令人惊叹的;n.壮观的场面;精彩的表演;
Biologists these days are beginning to realize that cities are today's pressure cookers of evolution. 现今的生物学家开始了解到 城市是现代的演化压力锅。
These are places where wild animals and plants are evolving under our eyes very rapidly to suit these new, urban conditions. 在这些地方,野生动物和植物 会在我们眼前以非常快的速度演化, 以配合新的都市条件。
evolving:v.(使)逐渐形成,逐渐演变;进化形成;(evolve的现在分词) urban:adj.城市的;都市的;城镇的;都市音乐的;
Exactly like the ant beetle did millions of years ago, when it moved inside an ant colony . 这就和数百万年前 蚂蚁甲虫所做的一样, 搬入到蚂蚁聚居地去。
colony:n.殖民地;移民队;
We now find animals and plants that have moved inside the human colony and are adapting to our cities. 现在,我们发现动物和植物 搬入了人类聚居地, 且开始适应我们的城市。
adapting:v.使适应,使适合;适应;改编;改写;(adapt的现在分词)
And in doing so, we're also beginning to realize that evolution can actually proceed very fast. 从这当中,我们也开始了解, 演化其实可以进行得非常快速。
It does not always take the long lapse of ages; it can happen under our very eyes. 不见得要经过很久的时间; 有可能就在我们眼前发生。
This, for example, is the white-footed mouse. 比如,这是白脚老鼠。
This is a native mammal from the area around New York, and more than 400 years ago, before the city was built, this mouse lived everywhere. 是来自纽约地区的原生哺乳类动物, 在四百多年前,尚未建造城市时, 这种老鼠无所不在。
native:adj.本国的;土著的;天然的;与生俱来的;天赋的;n.本地人;土产;当地居民; mammal:n.哺乳动物;
But these days, they are stuck in little islands of green, the city's parks, surrounded by a sea of tarmac and traffic. 但现今,牠们被困在 小小的绿色岛屿上, 也就是城市里的公园, 被大片的柏油与街道所环绕。
tarmac:n.柏油碎石路面;铺有柏油碎石的飞机跑道;
A bit like a modern-day version of Darwin's finches on the Galapagos. 有点像是在加拉巴哥各个邻近的小岛上
modern-day:adj.当代的;今日的; finches:n.雀科鸣鸟;雀类;
And like Darwin's finches, the mice in each separate park have started evolving, have started to become different from each other. 也像达尔文雀, 在每个独立公园中的老鼠 都已经开始分别演化, 开始变得和彼此不同。
And this is my colleague , Jason Munshi-South, from Fordham University, who is studying this process . 这是我在福坦莫大学的同事 杰森·蒙西少斯, 他在研究这个过程。
colleague:n.同事,同僚; process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
He is studying the DNA of the white-footed mice in New York City's parks, and trying to understand how they are beginning to evolve in that archipelago of islands. 他研究纽约市各个公园中的 白脚老鼠的 DNA, 并试图了解牠们如何 在那些像群岛的公园中分开演化。
archipelago:n.群岛,列岛;多岛的海区;
And he's using a kind of DNA fingerprinting , and he says, "If somebody gives me a mouse, doesn't tell me where it's from, just by looking at its DNA, 他使用某种 DNA 指纹分析, 他说:「如果给我一只老鼠, 不要告诉我牠来自何处, 光是去看牠的 DNA,
fingerprinting:n.指纹识别;v.取…的指印;辨出(fingerprint的ing形式);
I can tell exactly from which park it comes." 我就能准确辨识出 牠来自哪一个公园。」
That's how different they have become. 牠们的差异现在就有这么大。
And Jason has also discovered that those changes, these evolutionary changes, are not random , they mean something. 杰森也发现,那些改变,那些演化改变, 并不是随机的,是有意义的。
random:adj.[数]随机的;任意的;胡乱的;n.随意;adv.胡乱地;
For example, in Central Park, we find that the mice have evolved genes that allow them to deal with very fatty food. 比如,在中央公园, 我们发现老鼠演化出一种基因, 让牠们可以消化非常油腻的食物。
genes:n.基因;(gene的复数) fatty:adj.脂肪的;肥胖的;多脂肪的;脂肪过多的;n.胖子;
Human food. 人类的食物。
Twenty-five million people visit Central Park each year. 每年有两千五百万人造访中央公园。
It's the most heavily visited park in North America . 是北美最多人参观的公园。
North America:n.北美洲;
And those people leave behind snack food and peanuts and junk food , and the mice have started feeding on that, and it's a completely different diet than what they're used to, and over the years, they have evolved to suit this very fatty, very human diet. 那些人会留下零嘴、 花生、垃圾食物, 老鼠就开始吃那些东西, 和牠们过去习惯的饮食截然不同, 这些年来,牠们已经演化到能适应 非常油腻、非常人类的饮食。
leave behind:留下,丢下 snack:n.点心;小吃;快餐;易办到的事;v.吃点心(或快餐、小吃); peanuts:花生(peanut的复数) junk food:垃圾食物;华而不实的东西;
And this is another city slicker animal. 这是另一种时髦的城市动物。
city slicker:n.时髦或世故的城市人;
This is the European garden snail . 这是欧洲庭园蜗牛, 非常常见的蜗牛,
snail:n.蜗牛;迟钝的人;vi.缓慢移动;vt.缓慢移动;
A very common snail, it comes in all kinds of color variations , ranging from pale yellow to dark brown. 有各种颜色变化, 有各种颜色变化, 从淡黄色到深褐色都有。
variations:n.变奏曲,变更;[生物]变种(variation的复数形式);
And those colors are completely determined by the snail's DNA. 那些颜色完全是由 蜗牛的 DNA 来决定。
determined:adj.决定了的:v.决定;(determine的过去分词和过去式)
And those colors also determine the heat management of the snail that lives inside that shell . 那些颜色也决定了住在壳内的蜗牛对高温的调节方式。
management:n.管理;管理人员;管理部门;操纵;经营手段; shell:n.壳;炮弹;壳层;骨架;v.脱壳;剥壳;采集贝壳;用壳体包被;short.shewill;
For example, a snail that sits in the sunlight , in the bright sun, if it has a pale yellow shell, it doesn't heat up as much as a snail that sits inside a dark brown shell. 比如,当蜗牛处在非常强的日光下, 如果牠的壳是淡黄色,就不会 如果牠的壳是淡黄色,就不会 像深褐色壳中的蜗牛增温那么多。
sunlight:n.日光;
Just like when you're sitting in a white car, you stay cooler than when you're sitting inside a black car. 就像你坐在白色汽车中 会比较坐在黑色汽车中更凉爽。
Now there is a phenomenon called the urban heat islands, which means that in the center of a big city, the temperature can be several degrees higher than outside of the big city. 有一种现象叫做都市热岛, 意思就是,在大城市的中心, 温度可能会比大城市外 还要高上几度。
phenomenon:n.现象;杰出的人;非凡的人(或事物);
That has to do with the fact that you have these concentrations of millions of people, and all their activities and their machineries, they generate heat. 原因是因为有数百万人 集中在城市里, 还有他们的各种活动 和他们的机器,都会产生热。
generate:v.产生;引起;
Also, the wind is blocked by the tall buildings, and all the steel and brick and concrete absorb the solar heat and they radiate it out at night. 此外,风也会被高耸的建筑阻挡, 各种钢铁、磗块、混凝土都会吸收太阳热, 在晚上时释放出来。
absorb:v.吸收;使并入;吞并;同化;理解;吸收;耗费;承受; radiate:vt.辐射; vi.辐射; adj.辐射状的,有射线的;
So you get this bubble of hot air in the center of a big city, and my students and I figured that maybe those garden snails , with their variable shells , are adapting to the urban heat islands. 所以一大团热空气 会包在大城市的中心。 我学生和我认为也许那些有各种不同背壳的庭园蜗牛 是在适应都市热岛。
bubble:n.泡;气泡;肥皂泡;一点感情;v.起泡;冒泡;洋溢着(某种感情); snails:n.[无脊椎]蜗牛; v.使成蜗纹; variable:n.变量;可变因素;可变情况;adj.多变的;易变的;变化无常的;可更改的; shells:n.壳;壳状物;炮弹;v.炮击;给…去壳(shell的第三人称单数和复数)
Maybe in the center of a city, we find that the shell color is evolving in a direction to reduce overheating of the snails. 也许,在城市中心, 我们会发现蜗牛壳颜色朝着 避免让蜗牛过度受热的方向演化。
overheating:n.[热]过热;v.[热]过热(overheat的ing形式);
And to study this, we started a citizen-science project. 为了研究这个现象, 我们展开了一个公民科学计画。
We built a free smartphone app, which allowed people all over the Netherlands to take pictures of snails in their garden, in their street, also in the countryside, and upload them to a citizen science web platform . 我们开发了一个免费的手机程式, 让荷兰各地的使用者 可以拍摄他们花园里、 街上,以及乡间的蜗牛, 再将这些照片上传到 一个公民科学网平台上。
smartphone:n.智能手机; upload:v.上传; platform:n.平台; v.把…放在台上[放在高处;
And over a year, we got 10,000 pictures of snails that had been photographed in the Netherlands, and when we started analyzing the results, we found that indeed, our suspicions were confirmed. 一年多来,我们得到了一万张 在荷兰拍摄的蜗牛照片, 当我们开始分析这些结果, 我们发现,的确, 我们的假设得到了确认。
analyzing:adj.分析的;v.分析(analyze的现在分词); suspicions:n.怀疑;感觉;看法;猜疑;不放心;(suspicion的复数)
In the center of the urban heat islands, we find that the snails have evolved more yellow, more lighter-colored shells. 在都市热岛的中心, 我们发现蜗牛演化出
Now the city snail and the Manhattan mouse are just two examples of a growing list of animals and plants that have evolved to suit this new habitat, this city habitat that we have created. 城市蜗牛和曼哈顿老鼠 只是两个例子, 还有越来越多的动物和植物 演化以适应新的栖息地, 我们创造出的城市栖息地。
And in a book that I've written about this subject, the subject of urban evolution, 我针对都市演化 这个主题写了一本书,
I give many more examples. 书中有更多例子。
For example, weeds that have evolved seeds that are better at germinating on the pavement . 比如,野草已经演化出 更能在人行道上发芽的种子。
weeds:n.野草(weed的复数形式); v.清除(weed的第三人称单数形式); germinating:n.发芽;adj.发芽的;v.使发芽(germinate的ing形式); pavement:n.路面;人行道;石板铺的地面;
Grasshoppers that have evolved a song that has a higher pitch when they live close to noisy traffic. 住在接近吵闹交通地区的蚱蜢 也已经演化出音调更高的鸣叫。
Grasshoppers:n.草蜢; v.像蚱蜢似地跳; pitch:v.抛:用力扔:针对:触地:n.场地:程度:力度:推销的话:纵摇:
Mosquitoes that have evolved to feed on the blood of human commuters inside metro stations. 蚊子演化成在地铁站内 以人类通勤者的血液为食。
Mosquitoes:n.蚊子(mosquito的复数); commuters:n.通勤者;每日往返上班者(commuter的复数); metro:地铁
And even the common city pigeon that has evolved ways to detox themselves from heavy-metal pollution by putting it in their feathers. 就连常见的城市鸽子, 也演化出重金属污染的解毒方式, 将之导入羽毛中。
pigeon:n.[鸟]鸽子;(非正式)易受骗的人;(非正式)责任; detox:n.戒瘾病房;戒瘾诊所;adj.用以解毒的;用以去毒的;vt.使戒去毒瘾(或酒瘾); heavy-metal:重金属;
Biologists like myself, all over the world, are becoming interested in this fascinating process of urban evolution. 全世界像我这样的生物学家 开始对于都市演化 这个迷人过程感到兴趣。
fascinating:adj.极有吸引力的;迷人的;v.深深吸引;迷住;(fascinate的现在分词)
We are realizing that we're really at a unique event in the history of life on earth. 我们了解到,我们目前身处于 地球生命历史上 一个独一无二的事件中。
unique:adj.独特的,稀罕的;[数]唯一的;n.独一无二的人或物;
A completely new ecosystem that is evolving and adapting to a habitat that we have created. 一个全新的生态系统, 演化并适应了我们 创造出来的栖息地。
ecosystem:n.生态系统;
And not just academics -- we're also beginning to enlist the millions of pairs of hands and ears and eyes that are present in the city. 不只是学术圈—— 我们也开始招募城市中的 数百万双手、耳朵、眼睛。
academics:n.学术水平;学术知识;专业学者; enlist:vi.支持;从军;应募;赞助;vt.使入伍;征募;谋取…的赞助或帮助;
Citizen scientists, schoolchildren -- together with them, we are building a global observation network which allows us to watch this process of urban evolution taking place in real time. 公民科学家、学童—— 我们携手合作建造全球的观察网路, 让我们可以即时观看这个都市演化的过程发生。
schoolchildren:n.学童;(schoolchild的复数) global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的; observation:n.观察;观测;监视;(尤指据所见、所闻、所读而作的)评论;
And at the same time , this also makes it clear to people that evolution is not just some abstract thing that you need to travel to the Galapagos to study, or that you need to be a paleontologist to understand what it is. 同时,这也能让大家清楚知道, 演化不是要跑到加拉巴哥群岛 才能研究的抽象主题, 你也不需要成为古生物学者 才能了解演化。
at the same time:同时;另一方面;与此同时; abstract:n.摘要; adj.抽象的; vt.摘要; vi.做摘要; paleontologist:n.古生物学家;古生物学者;
It's a very ordinary biological process that's taking place all the time, everywhere. 它是个非常平凡的生物过程, 时时刻刻在各处发生。
biological:adj.生物学的;生物的;与生命过程有关的;加酶的;n.[药]生物制品;
In your backyard , in the street where you live, right outside of this theater. 在你的后院,在你住的那条街上, 就在这间剧院外面。
backyard:n.后院;后庭;
But there is, of course, a flip side to my enthusiasm . 但,当然,我的热情也有另一面。
flip side:反面; enthusiasm:n.热心,热忱,热情;
When I go back to the village where I grew up, 当我回到我长大的村子时,
I no longer find those fields and swamps that I knew from my youth. 我找不到我年轻时 认识的那些田野和沼泽了。
swamps:n.[地理]沼泽; vt.使陷入沼泽; vi.陷入沼泽;
The village has now been absorbed by the growing conglomeration of Rotterdam, and instead, I find shopping malls and I find suburbs and bus lanes . 这个村子现在被鹿特丹 不断成长的企業集团给吸收, 我找到的是购物中心、 郊区和公车专用道。
absorbed:adj.被…吸引住; v.吸收(液体、气体等); (absorb的过去分词和过去式) conglomeration:n.聚集(物);团块;凝聚;混合物; suburbs:n.郊外(suburb的复数); lanes:n.线路,跑道(lane复数形式);
And many of the animals and plants that I was so accustomed to have disappeared , including perhaps that ant beetle. 我以前熟知的动物和植物消失了, 可能也包括蚂蚁甲虫。
accustomed to:习惯于; disappeared:adj.消失的;消失了的;v.消失,失踪;(disappear的过去式和过去分词)
But I take comfort in the fact that the children growing up in that village today may no longer be experiencing that traditional nature that I grew up with, but they're surrounded by a new type of nature, a new type of ecosystem, that, to them, might be just as exciting as the old type was to me. 但让我欣慰的是,现今在那个村子里长大的孩子 可能无法体验到陪我长大的传统大自然, 但他们的周围全是新型的大自然, 新型的生态系统, 他们可能也会感到兴奋, 正如我为当年的大自然兴奋那样。
traditional:传统的,惯例的,
They are living in a new, modern-day Galapagos. 如今他们住在现代的加拉巴哥群岛。
And by teaming up with citizen scientists and with evolutionary biologists like myself, they might become the Darwins of the 21st century, studying urban evolution. 透过和公民科学家 以及我这样的演化生物学家合作, 他们有可能会变成 二十一世纪的达尔文, 研究都市演化。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）