危机|《小飞虫有大作用》：飞虫数量剧降，给人类敲响警钟

原创 2017-10-25 从余启 我与我们的世界我与我们的世界

欢迎打开“我与我们的世界”，从此，让我们一起“纵览世界之风云变幻、洞察社会之脉搏律动、感受个体之生活命运、挖掘自然之点滴奥妙”。

我与我们的世界，既是一个“奋斗”的世界，也是一个“思考”的世界。奋而不思则罔，思而不奋则殆。这个世界，你大，它就大；你小，它就小。

欢迎通过上方公众号名称打开公众号“查看历史消息”来挖掘往期文章，因为，每期都能让你“走近”不一样的世界、带给你不一样的精彩。

本期导读：昆虫，在分类学上属于昆虫纲，是世界上最繁盛的动物，已发现超过100万种。其中单鞘翅目中所含的种数就比其它所有动物界中的种数还多。

昆虫的构造有异于脊椎动物，它们的身体并没有内骨骼的支持，外裹一层由几丁质构成的壳，这层壳会分节以利于运动，犹如骑士的甲胄。昆虫有脂肪体，成分类似脊椎动物的脂肪组织，但作用不同，主要为代谢功能，类似脊椎动物的肝。

昆虫扮演着很非常重要的角色。虫媒花需要得到昆虫的帮助，才能传播花粉。而蜜蜂采集的蜂蜜，也是人们喜欢的食品之一。在东南亚和南美的一些地方，昆虫本身就是当地人的食品。

但昆虫也可能对人类产生威胁，如蝗虫和白蚁。而有一些昆虫，例如蚊子，还是疾病的传播者。有一些昆虫能借由毒液或叮咬对人类造成伤害，例如虎头蜂在有人入侵地盘时会以螫针注入毒液等。

Alarm over decline in flying insects

飞行类昆虫数量骤减，给人类敲响警钟

It's known as the windscreen phenomenon. When you stop your car after a drive, there seem to be far fewer squashed insects than there used to be.

大家都知道，汽车挡风玻璃上会有一种现象，开车行驶一段路停车时，能在挡风玻璃上看到很多被撞得粉身碎骨的各种飞虫，不过，现在这种现象比以前要少得多。

Scientists have long suspected that insects are in dramatic decline, but new evidence confirms this.

科学家们很长时间以来都在怀疑，昆虫数量在急剧减少，而且，最新证据证明了这确实是事实。

Research at more than 60 protected areas in Germany suggests flying insects have declined by more than 75% over almost 30 years.

针对德国60多个保护区的一项研究显示，近30多年间，飞行类昆虫的数量减少了超过75%。

And the causes are unknown.

而且，具体是什么原因，暂时还不太清楚。

"This confirms what everybody's been having as a gut feeling - the windscreen phenomenon where you squash fewer bugs as the decades go by," said Caspar Hallmann of Radboud University in The Netherlands.

“这就进一步确认了人们日常的感觉，过去几十年间，撞到挡风玻璃上的飞虫变少了”，荷兰内梅亨大学的卡斯帕·赫尔曼这样说到。

"This is the first study that looked into the total biomass of flying insects and it confirms our worries.''

“这是针对飞行类昆虫总生物量所进行的首次研究，并证明了我们的担忧是正确的。”

The study is based on measurements of the biomass of all insects trapped at 63 nature protection areas in Germany over 27 years since 1989.

该项研究的结果，基于自1989年以来27年间针对德国63个自然保护区取样点捕获到的全部飞虫的生物总量的测算。

The data includes thousands of different insects, such as bees, butterflies and moths.

统计数据中包括数千种不同类型的飞虫，如蜂类、蝴蝶、飞蛾等。

Scientists say the dramatic decline was seen regardless of habitat, land use and the weather, leaving them at a loss to explain what was behind it.

科学家们介绍说，不管是栖息地类型、土地使用情况怎样、天气状况如何，飞虫数量都有大量减少，这就让他们纳闷，究竟是什么原因导致了这样的现象。

They stressed the importance of adopting measures known to be beneficial for insects, including strips of flowers around farmland and minimising the effects of intensive agriculture.

科学家们表示，采取对飞虫有利的措施很是重要，比如农田周围增加花圃数量，以使农业生产太密集所带来的影响最小化。

And they said there was an urgent need to uncover the causes and extent of the decline in all airborne insects.

科学家们还指出，需要找出原因所在，并确认所有飞行类昆虫数量减少的程度，这个任务很紧迫。

"We don't know exactly what the causes are,'' said Hans de Kroon, also of Radboud University, who supervised the research.

“我们不知道具体是什么原因导致这样”，该项研究负责人同时也是荷兰内梅亨大学汉斯·德·科隆博士这样说到。

''This study shows how important it is to have good monitoring programmes and we need more research right now to look into those causes - so, that has really high priority.''

“这项研究显示了提高监测质量的重要性，我们现在需要进行更多研究，来找到那些原因，因此，这些工作真的非常重要。”

The finding was even more worrying given that it was happening in nature reserves, which are meant to protect insects and other living species, the researchers said.

研究人员表示，鉴于研究数据是从为保护昆虫和其他物种而设立的自然保护区里取得的，因此研究结果也就更令人担心。

''In the modern agricultural landscape, for insects it's a hostile environment, it's a desert, if not worse,'' said Dr de Kroon.

“现代化的农田，对昆虫来说，是一个非常不利的环境，说得好听一点的话，对昆虫来说，简直就是荒漠”，科隆博士这样说到。

''And the decline there has been well documented. The big surprise is that it is also happening in adjacent nature reserves.''

“而且，相关数据都有完好的记录。令人吃惊的是，与农田相邻的自然保护区里，昆虫数量也竟然大量减少。”

The loss of insects has far-reaching consequences for entire ecosystems.

飞行类昆虫数量下降，会对整个生态系统带来深远影响。

Insects provide a food source for many birds, amphibians, bats and reptiles, while plants rely on insects for pollination.

飞虫是很多鸟类、两栖类动物、蝙蝠以及爬行类等动物的食物来源，而植物也需要靠飞虫来授粉。

The decline is more severe than found in previous studies.

这次研究所发现的飞虫数量减少程度，要比以前相关研究中所发现的要严重得多。

A survey of insects at four sites in the UK between 1973 and 2002 found losses at one of the four sites only.

1973至2002年间针对英国四个区域的昆虫调查显示，四个区域中只有一个区域中昆虫数量发生减少。

Dr Lynn Dicks, from the University of East Anglia, UK, who is not connected with the study, said the paper provides new evidence for "an alarming decline" that many entomologists have suspected for some time.

英国东英格利亚大学林恩·迪克斯博士，尽管没有参与该项研究，不过也表示，该研究提供了新的证据，给人们“敲响了警钟”，昆虫数量自减少，这也是很多昆虫学者很长时间以来一直所担心的。

"If total flying insect biomass is genuinely declining at this rate (around 6% per year), it is extremely concerning," she said.

“若飞行类昆虫生物量总量真的按照这个速度继续下降的话，大概每年约为6%，那么，情况就极其令人担忧”，迪克斯博士这样说到。

"Flying insects have really important ecological functions, for which their numbers matter a lot."

“飞行类昆虫具有非常重要的生态功能，这也是为什么它们的数量是如此重要的原因所在。”