氣候變化正將大黃蜂推向滅絕的邊緣

氣候變化正將大黃蜂推向滅絕的邊緣

Climate change could deliver a fatal blow to the humble bumblebee.

氣候變化可能對不起眼的大黃蜂造成致命打擊。

Paired with other existing threats to the 250-plus species of bumblebee, new research has shown that climate change will result in extreme losses for many populations as they can’t adapt fast enough to ever-increasing temperatures.

與現(xiàn)存的250多種大黃蜂面臨的其他威脅相比，新的研究表明，氣候變化將導(dǎo)致許多種群的極端損失，因為它們無法足夠快地適應(yīng)不斷上升的溫度。

Tom Hale

The new study, reported in the journal Science this week, found that the likelihood of a bumblebee population surviving in any given place in Europe and North America has declined by 30 percent since the 1970s. According to the researchers, this rate of loss is “consistent with a mass extinction.”

本周發(fā)表在《科學(xué)》雜志上的這項新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，自上世紀(jì)70年代以來，歐洲和北美任何地方的大黃蜂種群存活的可能性下降了30%。根據(jù)研究人員的說法，這種消失的速度“與大規(guī)模滅絕是一致的”。

“We were surprised by how much climate change has already caused bumblebee declines,” study co-author Dr Tim Newbold, from the UCL Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research, said in a statement.

來自倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院生物多樣性與環(huán)境研究中心的研究合著者蒂姆·紐博爾德博士在一份聲明中說:“氣候變化已經(jīng)導(dǎo)致大黃蜂數(shù)量減少，這讓我們很驚訝。”

“Our findings suggest that much larger declines are likely if climate change accelerates in the coming years, showing that we need substantial efforts to reduce climate change if we are to preserve bumblebee diversity.”

“我們的研究結(jié)果表明，如果未來幾年氣候變化加速，蜜蜂數(shù)量的下降幅度可能會更大。這表明，如果我們要保護(hù)大黃蜂的多樣性，就需要大量的努力來減少氣候變化。”

The researchers examined data on 66 species of bumblebee across North America and Europe between 1900 and 2015. The data was then paired with information on temperature changes and different species’ tolerance to changing temperatures. This framework revealed one clear trend: populations are disappearing much faster in areas where temperatures have risen higher.

研究人員調(diào)查了北美和歐洲1900年至2015年間66種大黃蜂的數(shù)據(jù)。然后將數(shù)據(jù)與溫度變化和不同物種對溫度變化的耐受性的信息配對。這個框架揭示了一個明顯的趨勢:在氣溫升高的地區(qū)，大黃蜂消失的速度要快得多。

“Using our new measurement of climate change, we were able to predict changes both for individual species and for whole communities of bumblebees with a surprisingly high accuracy,” Peter Soroye, first author and ecologist from the University of Ottowa, explained in a statement.

“利用我們對氣候變化的新測量，我們能夠預(yù)測單個物種和整個大黃蜂群落的變化，準(zhǔn)確度高得驚人，”奧托瓦大學(xué)的第一作者和生態(tài)學(xué)家彼得·索羅耶在一份聲明中解釋說。

In simple terms, parts of Central Europe have seen increasingly more frequent extreme warm years. The research shows that the rise in temperature is clearly correlated with declines in bees in certain pockets of Central Europe, most notably in Slovenia. By contrast, Italy’s temperature has remained relatively stable, as has the number of bees in the country.

簡單地說，中歐的部分地區(qū)經(jīng)歷了越來越頻繁的極端暖年。研究表明，氣溫上升與中歐某些地區(qū)蜜蜂數(shù)量下降明顯相關(guān)，尤其是在斯洛文尼亞。相比之下，意大利的氣溫相對穩(wěn)定，該國的蜜蜂數(shù)量也相對穩(wěn)定。

Climate change is not the only threat to bumblebees. Declines in bumblebee populations have been shown to be linked to an array of causes, namely the reckless use of pesticides, disease, and the destruction of habitat.

氣候變化并不是大黃蜂面臨的唯一威脅。大黃蜂數(shù)量的下降被證明與一系列的原因有關(guān)，即不顧后果的使用殺蟲劑、疾病和棲息地的破壞。

Of course, this isn’t good news for us either. Over a third of the world's food crops rely on animal pollinators to reproduce. Effectively, one out of every three bites of fruit and veg we eat exists because of animal pollinators such as butterflies, birds, bats, beetles, and – last but not least – bees.

當(dāng)然，這對我們來說也不是好消息。世界上超過三分之一的糧食作物依靠動物傳粉來繁殖。事實上，我們吃的每三口水果和蔬菜中就有一口是動物傳粉者，比如蝴蝶、鳥類、蝙蝠、甲蟲，還有——最后但并非最不重要的——蜜蜂。

If unmitigated climate change manages to take out some of our planet's chief pollinators, the global food system will be put in serious danger.

如果完全的氣候變化能夠消滅我們星球上的一些主要傳粉者，那么全球糧食系統(tǒng)將面臨嚴(yán)重的危險。