野生動(dòng)物第六次滅絕正在加速

The sixth mass extinction of life on Earth is unfolding more quickly than feared, scientists have warned.

科學(xué)家們警告稱，全球野生動(dòng)物“第六次大滅絕”的速度比預(yù)期的還要快。

More than 30 percent of animals with a backbone - fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals - are declining in both range and population, according to the first comprehensive analysis of these trends.

對(duì)動(dòng)物滅絕趨勢(shì)的首個(gè)全面分析結(jié)果顯示，超過30%的脊椎動(dòng)物，例如魚類、鳥類、兩棲動(dòng)物、爬行動(dòng)物以及哺乳動(dòng)物等，它們的種類和數(shù)量都在減少。

"This is the case of a biological annihilation occurring globally," said Stanford professor Rodolfo Dirzo, co-author of a study published last Monday in the peer-reviewed US journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

這一研究結(jié)果近日在同行評(píng)審期刊《美國(guó)國(guó)家科學(xué)院院刊》上發(fā)表，該報(bào)告的合著者斯坦福大學(xué)教授魯?shù)婪?bull;狄爾佐說：“這就是全球性生物大滅絕的現(xiàn)狀。”

Around a decade ago, experts feared that a new planetary wipeout of species was looming.

專家們?cè)诖蠹s十年前就預(yù)料到新一階段的全球性生物大滅絕即將到來。

Today, most agree that it is underway - but the new study suggests that the die-out is already ratcheting up a gear.

現(xiàn)在多數(shù)專家都一致認(rèn)為生物滅絕已經(jīng)開始，但是新的研究表明，生物滅絕已經(jīng)加快了速度。

It provides much-needed data about the threat to wildlife, mapping the dwindling ranges and populations of 27,600 species. For 177 mammals, researchers combed through data covering the period 1900 to 2015.

研究中提供了威脅野生物種的重要數(shù)據(jù)，繪制出了27600種生物種類和數(shù)量下降的分布圖。其中，研究人員專門針對(duì)177種哺乳動(dòng)梳理出了1900年至2015年間的數(shù)據(jù)。

The mammal species that were monitored have lost at least a third of their original habitat, the researchers found.

研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們所觀測(cè)的這些哺乳動(dòng)物已經(jīng)失去了至少三分之一的原始棲息地。

Forty percent of them - including rhinos, orangutans, gorillas and many big cats - are surviving on 20 percent or less of the land they once roamed.

包括犀牛、猩猩、大猩猩以及大型貓科動(dòng)物等在內(nèi)的40%的哺乳動(dòng)物，現(xiàn)在的活動(dòng)區(qū)域僅為它們?cè)袟⒌氐?0%或者更小。

The loss of biodiversity has recently accelerated.

生物多樣性的減少最近也加速了。

"Several species of mammals that were relatively safe one or two decades ago are now endangered," including cheetahs, lions and giraffes, the study showed.

研究顯示，包括獵豹、獅子以及長(zhǎng)頸鹿在內(nèi)的數(shù)種哺乳動(dòng)物“在一二十年前還相對(duì)安全，然而現(xiàn)在處于瀕危狀態(tài)。”

Globally, the mass die-off - deemed to be the sixth in the last half-billion years - is the worst since three-quarters of life on Earth, including the non-avian dinosaurs, were wiped out 66 million years ago by a giant meteor impact.

6600萬年前，由于一顆巨大隕石撞擊地球，包括非鳥翼類恐龍?jiān)趦?nèi)，地球上四分之三的生物都遭到滅絕。這次全球性生物滅絕被認(rèn)為是五億年以來第六次生物大滅絕，而且是自恐龍滅絕以來最嚴(yán)重的。

There is no mystery as to why: our own ever-expanding species - which has more than doubled in number since 1960 to 7.4 billion - is eating, crowding and polluting its planetary cohabitants out of existence.

引發(fā)生物大滅絕的原因顯而易見：人類不斷繁衍壯大，人口達(dá)到74億，相比1960年不止翻了一番。人們以動(dòng)物為食，并把動(dòng)物們擠出家園，同時(shí)還污染環(huán)境，讓動(dòng)物們無法生存。

By comparison, there are as few as 20,000 lions left in the wild, less than 7,000 cheetahs, 500 to 1,000 giant pandas and about 250 Sumatran rhinoceros.

相比之下，在野外生活的獅子只剩下20000只，獵豹只有不到7000只，大熊貓只剩下500到1000只，蘇門答臘犀牛也只有250頭左右。

The main drivers of wildlife decline are habitat loss, overconsumption, pollution, invasive species, disease, as well as poaching in the case of tigers, elephants, rhinos and other large animals prized for their body parts.

野生動(dòng)物減少的主要原因有：失去棲息地、人類過度消耗、環(huán)境污染、物種入侵、感染疾病以及偷獵活動(dòng)(因?yàn)槔匣?、大象、犀牛以及其他大型?dòng)物的一些身體部位價(jià)值連城)。

Climate change is poised to become a major threat in the coming decades, with some animals - most famously polar bears - already in decline due to rising temperatures and changing weather patterns.

氣候變化在未來的幾十年將成為生物滅絕的主要威脅因素。由于氣溫升高，天氣模式變化，一些動(dòng)物——比如最著名的北極熊——已經(jīng)減少。

"The massive loss of populations and species reflects our lack of empathy to all the wild species that have been our companions since our origins," said lead author Gerardo Ceballos of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

“野生動(dòng)物自古是人類的朋友，從數(shù)量和物種的大幅下降可以看出，我們?nèi)鄙賹?duì)這些動(dòng)物的憐憫之情，”墨西哥國(guó)立自治大學(xué)的首席作者熱拉爾多•塞巴洛斯說。

Beyond any moral imperative, there are practical reasons to rue the eclipse of animals, whether megafauna or smaller and less "charismatic" creatures, the researchers said.

研究人員們說，無論是巨型動(dòng)物、小型動(dòng)物還是那些不太“有魅力”的動(dòng)物，我們對(duì)它們的滅絕懊悔不僅僅是出于道德責(zé)任，還有更實(shí)際的原因。

The vanishing of a top-level carnivore or herbivore can have a cascading effect down the food chain, disrupting entire ecosystems.

頂級(jí)肉食動(dòng)物和食草動(dòng)物如果消失，那么就會(huì)對(duì)下層的食物鏈產(chǎn)生級(jí)聯(lián)效應(yīng)，進(jìn)而摧毀整個(gè)生態(tài)系統(tǒng)。

Other species directly provide "services" to humans, such as honeybees that pollinate crops or birds that ensure pest control.

其他物種還直接“服務(wù)”于人類，比如蜜蜂給莊稼傳授花粉，小鳥吃害蟲。

Previous studies show that ecosystems under stress, while resilient, have a breaking point - rapid change can lead to collapse.

既有的研究表明，在壓力下的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)，即使有自我恢復(fù)能力，它也是有極限的。物種急劇的變化能讓生態(tài)系統(tǒng)徹底崩潰。