氣候變化惹的禍：白毛動(dòng)物恐將滅絕

北極狐、白鼬的一身白毛非常美麗，但這些白毛并不是為了好看，而是為了融入環(huán)境、躲避敵人的攻擊。然而，近年來(lái)由于氣候變暖，冰雪覆蓋期縮短，本應(yīng)和冰雪融為一體的白毛反而在無(wú)雪的暖冬變得格外顯眼，更容易被捕食者發(fā)覺(jué)，白毛動(dòng)物數(shù)量也因此急劇下降?？茖W(xué)家警告說(shuō)，未來(lái)白毛動(dòng)物可能會(huì)徹底消失。

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White-furred animals are in danger of dying out because climate change is causing a fall in snow cover, leaving them exposed and vulnerable, a new study suggests.

一項(xiàng)新研究指出，白毛動(dòng)物正面臨滅絕的危險(xiǎn)，因?yàn)闅夂蜃兓瘜?dǎo)致冰雪覆蓋范圍減少，從而讓白毛動(dòng)物難以藏身、易受攻擊。

Scientists in Poland have been following the worrying case of the white-coated weasel, which sheds its tawny covering in the winter for a milky coat allowing it to blend effortlessly into its icy environment.

波蘭的科學(xué)家們一直在跟蹤調(diào)查白鼬這種令人擔(dān)憂的狀況。白鼬在冬天會(huì)褪去黃褐色的皮毛，長(zhǎng)出雪白皮毛，以便輕松地融入冰雪環(huán)境中。

But researchers have discovered that between 1997 and 2007 the number of days with permanent snow cover in Bia?owie?a Forest, Poland, halved, from 80 to 40.

但是研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，1997年至2007年間，波蘭比亞沃維耶扎原始森林被長(zhǎng)期冰雪覆蓋的時(shí)間從80天縮短到了40天。

It means that the little creatures are being caught out in a completely unsuitable environment, where they are easy prey for predators like foxes and crows.

這意味著這種小動(dòng)物將和環(huán)境格格不入，容易成為狐貍和烏鴉等捕食者的獵物。

The team at the Polish Academy of Sciences found that on days when there was little winter snow cover, the number of white-coated weasels they managed to capture fell to as low as 20 percent of the total, suggesting the rest had been killed.

波蘭科學(xué)院的研究團(tuán)隊(duì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，在冰雪覆蓋范圍很小的日子里，他們能捕捉到的白鼬的數(shù)量下降到了獵物總數(shù)的20%，這意味著另外那部分白鼬都已被殺死。

Previously they would have been dominant, because their coats would have given them a survival advantage.

先前捕獲的獵物基本都是白鼬，因?yàn)樗鼈兊陌酌o自己帶來(lái)了生存優(yōu)勢(shì)。

The problem is likely to affect other white-furred mammals and birds living in areas vulnerable to climate change such as the Arctic fox as the snow cover increasingly gives way to a landscape of greens and browns.

在一些容易受氣候變化影響的地區(qū)，那里的其他白毛哺乳動(dòng)物和鳥(niǎo)類很可能也被這個(gè)問(wèn)題困擾，比如北極狐，因?yàn)樵絹?lái)越多本應(yīng)被冰雪覆蓋的地方露出了綠草和黃土地。

Scientists have recorded 21 mammal and bird species which turn white in the winter to hide themselves in snowy landscapes including the mountain hare, the Siberian hamster, the collared lemming, the white-tailed jackrabbit and the willow ptarmigan bird.

科學(xué)家記錄了皮毛會(huì)在冬天變白以在冰天雪地里藏身的21種哺乳動(dòng)物和鳥(niǎo)類，包括雪兔、西伯利亞倉(cāng)鼠、環(huán)頸旅鼠、白尾長(zhǎng)耳大野兔和柳雷鳥(niǎo)。

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Author Dr Karol Zub, told The Telegraph: “Definitely the same rules apply to all seasonally moulting mammals and birds.

研究報(bào)告的作者卡羅爾·祖布博士告訴《每日電訊報(bào)》說(shuō)：“同樣的規(guī)律肯定適用于所有季節(jié)性換毛的哺乳動(dòng)物和鳥(niǎo)類。”

“According to studies on showshoe hares during periods when hares are colour mismatched weekly survival probability decreases by 3.3 - 6.5 percent. This seems not to be a big effect, but the cumulative effect over winter can seriously influence mortality of the species.

“根據(jù)對(duì)白靴兔的研究，當(dāng)白靴兔的顏色不能融入環(huán)境時(shí)，它們單周的生存幾率下降了3.3%-6.5%。這聽(tīng)起來(lái)似乎影響不大，但是整個(gè)冬天的累積效應(yīng)將會(huì)嚴(yán)重影響這類物種的生存。”

“It is very probable that in the near future white weasels and stoats will disappear completely from many areas of Northern Europe and North America.

“在不遠(yuǎn)的未來(lái)，北歐和北美許多地區(qū)的白鼬很可能將完全消失。”

"They will either be replaced by brown morphs or they will evolve and moult later in the season, being only partly white for a relatively short period.”

“它們要么被棕色的變種鼬取代，要么進(jìn)化成更晚?yè)Q毛、白毛期相對(duì)更短的白鼬，而且在白毛期時(shí)，身上也只有部分白毛。”

Researchers also carried out tests using toys of brown and white-coated weasels to see if the colours were actually making a difference to predators.

研究人員還用黃鼬和白鼬玩具做了測(cè)試，看顏色是否對(duì)捕食者有影響。

When they set up camera traps they found dozens of animals, such as foxes, wolves and birds of prey had approached the white toys, but none had shown interest in the brown versions.

研究人員布好相機(jī)陷阱后，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)狐貍、狼和食肉鳥(niǎo)等數(shù)十種動(dòng)物都接近過(guò)白色玩具，但沒(méi)有動(dòng)物對(duì)棕色玩具表現(xiàn)出興趣。

The authors say both findings suggest that the decrease in white-coated weasels is due to an increase in detection by predators in a less snowy environment.

作者稱，這兩項(xiàng)研究都表明，白鼬數(shù)量下降緣于在冰雪覆蓋減少的環(huán)境中捕食者更容易發(fā)覺(jué)白鼬的存在。

The researchers are hopeful the animals will learn to adapt, but say they cannot rule out the animals vanishing entirely.

研究人員希望白鼬能學(xué)會(huì)適應(yīng)環(huán)境，但也指出不能排除這種動(dòng)物就此滅絕的可能性。

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Weasels that do not change colour in the winter, are more likely to survive to pass on their brown-coated genes, increasing the numbers of the darker species.

那些在冬天不會(huì)變色的鼬鼠更可能生存下去，進(jìn)而把褐毛基因傳遞給下一代，導(dǎo)致黃鼬數(shù)量增加。

Dr Zub added: “We should not underestimate the power of natural selection. We hope that along with future climate warming, autumn temperatures will also increase, providing an additional signal to the weasels to delay their moult.

祖布博士補(bǔ)充道：“我們不應(yīng)低估自然選擇的力量。我們希望在未來(lái)氣候變暖的過(guò)程中，秋季氣溫也會(huì)隨之升高，能夠向鼬鼠額外傳遞延遲換毛的信號(hào)。”

The research was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

該研究發(fā)表在《科學(xué)報(bào)告》期刊上。