俄亥俄州在21年里失去了三分之一的蝴蝶——而且它可能并不是唯一的

俄亥俄州在21年里失去了三分之一的蝴蝶——而且它可能并不是唯一的

Even for people who aren't big fans of insects in general, it's hard to deny the appeal of butterflies. They tend to be colorful, graceful and charming, flitting serenely among flowers as they provide valuable pollination services.

即使對一般不喜歡昆蟲的人來說，蝴蝶的魅力也不容否認(rèn)。它們色彩斑斕，優(yōu)雅迷人，在花朵間安詳?shù)仫w舞，提供著寶貴的授粉服務(wù)。

Photo: Andrew Cannizzaro/Flickr

Yet the popularity of butterflies still hasn't spared them from the potential extinction event currently threatening insects around the world. The decline of migratory monarch butterflies is well-known, but many other butterfly species are also among the estimated 40% of insect populations now in decline, a trend widely attributed to habitat loss, pesticides and climate change.

然而，蝴蝶的流行并沒有使它們免于目前威脅世界各地昆蟲的潛在滅絕事件。遷徙帝王蝶數(shù)量的減少是眾所周知的，但目前估計有40%的昆蟲種群數(shù)量在減少，這一趨勢被廣泛歸因于棲息地的喪失、殺蟲劑和氣候變化。

Scientists are still hindered by a shortage of historical data, though, inspiring some entomologists and ecologists to pore over whatever long-term records do exist, hoping for any insight into what's happening today. That recently led a team of researchers to Ohio, where trained volunteers have spent the past two decades counting butterflies for "the most extensive, systematic insect survey in North America," as the researchers describe it in a new study.

盡管如此，科學(xué)家們?nèi)匀皇艿綒v史數(shù)據(jù)缺乏的阻礙，這促使一些昆蟲學(xué)家和生態(tài)學(xué)家仔細(xì)研究任何長期存在的記錄，希望能對今天發(fā)生的事情有所了解。最近，一組研究人員前往俄亥俄州，那里訓(xùn)練有素的志愿者在過去20年里一直在為“北美最廣泛、系統(tǒng)的昆蟲調(diào)查”統(tǒng)計蝴蝶數(shù)量，研究人員在一項新研究中這樣描述這項調(diào)查。

Although this study is limited to one group of insects in one U.S. state, its relevance extends beyond just butterflies in Ohio. It provides a baseline to inform research on butterflies elsewhere, as well as the broader plight of other insects that face a similar mix of threats. Plus, by casting such a wide net, it shows this is not only a problem for species that are already endangered.

雖然這項研究僅限于美國某一州的一組昆蟲，但它的相關(guān)性不僅僅局限于俄亥俄州的蝴蝶。它為其他地方的蝴蝶研究以及其他面臨類似威脅的昆蟲面臨的更廣泛的困境提供了一個基準(zhǔn)。此外，通過如此廣泛的撒網(wǎng)，表明這不僅是瀕危物種面臨的問題。

The butterfly crash is widespread across Ohio, but population trends also vary widely from species to species. Butterflies with more northern distributions and fewer annual generations are suffering the steepest declines, the researchers found, noting those species are adapted to cooler climates and might face an especially bleak future as Ohio warms up due to climate change. Some species are stable or increasing, yet even their fortunes seem heavily influenced by human activities.

蝴蝶的滅絕在俄亥俄州是很普遍的，但是不同物種的蝴蝶數(shù)量也有很大的不同。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，北方分布更廣、年代更少的蝴蝶正遭受著最急劇的數(shù)量下降。他們指出，這些蝴蝶適應(yīng)較冷的氣候，隨著俄亥俄州因氣候變化而變暖，它們可能面臨一個特別暗淡的未來。有些物種是穩(wěn)定的或不斷增長的，但即使是它們的命運似乎也深受人類活動的影響。

These findings are bad enough on their own. Butterflies not only help pollinate many native plants, but both adults and caterpillars are also key food sources for birds, amphibians, mammals and even other insects. On top of what it tells us about butterflies, however, the study also sheds light on the larger insect crisis. That's because, as Wepprich explains, the prominence and popularity of butterflies make them useful proxies to study what's going on with insects in general.

這些發(fā)現(xiàn)本身就已經(jīng)足夠糟糕了。蝴蝶不僅幫助許多本土植物授粉，而且成蟲和毛蟲也是鳥類、兩棲動物、哺乳動物甚至其他昆蟲的主要食物來源。然而，除了告訴我們關(guān)于蝴蝶的信息，這項研究還揭示了更大的昆蟲危機。這是因為，正如Wepprich所解釋的那樣，蝴蝶的重要性和受歡迎程度使它們成為研究昆蟲總體狀況的有用代理。

This study also stands out because of its wide scope. Long-term studies of butterfly abundance often focus on individual species, Wepprich says, especially rare or iconic ones thought to be at risk of collapse. That's how we know eastern North American monarchs have declined by more than 85% over the past two decades, for example, and that western North American monarchs have fallen by more than 95%. In this study, however, citizen scientists helped reveal a much broader butterfly crisis.

這項研究也因為其范圍廣泛而引人注目。Wepprich說，對蝴蝶數(shù)量的長期研究通常集中在單個物種上，尤其是那些被認(rèn)為瀕臨滅絕的稀有或標(biāo)志性物種。這就是為什么我們知道北美東部的帝王蝶在過去20年里減少了85%以上，而北美西部的帝王蝶減少了95%以上。然而，在這項研究中，民間科學(xué)家?guī)椭沂玖艘粋€更廣泛的蝴蝶危機。

The hackberry emperor butterfly, pictured here at Ellis Lake Wetlands in Ohio, is named after the hackberry trees where it lays its eggs. (Photo: Andrew Cannizzaro/Flickr)

That may be discouraging, but it also illustrates how everyone can help protect butterflies and other insects. This 21-year dataset only exists thanks to citizen scientists who volunteered their time to monitor butterflies, and their findings suggest the insects' fates are closely linked to what humans are doing in their habitats. And while none of us can solve the problem on our own, we can do things like help monitor insect populations, avoid insecticides and grow plants that support beneficial insects.

這可能令人沮喪，但它也說明了每個人都可以幫助保護蝴蝶和其他昆蟲。這個21年的數(shù)據(jù)集的存在，多虧了公民科學(xué)家們自愿花時間來監(jiān)測蝴蝶，他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)表明，蝴蝶的命運與人類在它們棲息地的活動密切相關(guān)。雖然我們沒有人能獨自解決這個問題，但我們可以做一些事情，比如幫助監(jiān)測昆蟲的數(shù)量，避免使用殺蟲劑，種植支持益蟲的植物。