地球的后人類氣候下，這些物種將能繁衍生息

地球的后人類氣候下，這些物種將能繁衍生息

By now you would have read all about how climate change is going to be very, very bad for the world and every species on it.

到目前為止，你應該已經(jīng)讀了很多關于氣候變化將如何對每個物種造成不利影響的文章。

But it turns out there's one family of creatures that might thrive as temperatures go up and the oceans acidify - squids.

但事實證明，隨著氣溫上升和海洋酸化，有一類生物可能會更加茁壯——魷魚。

New research has found the cephalopods might one day rule the oceans - completely at odds with what scientists expected.

最新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，頭足類動物可能有一天會統(tǒng)治海洋——這與科學家們的預期完全不符。

"Their blood is highly sensitive to changes in acidity, so we expected that future ocean acidification would negatively affect their aerobic performance," said Blake Spady of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Queensland.

昆士蘭詹姆斯庫克大學—ARC珊瑚礁研究卓越中心的布萊克·斯帕蒂說:“海洋生物的血液對酸度變化非常敏感，所以我們預計未來的海洋酸化將對它們的有氧性能會產(chǎn)生負面影響。”

They already "live on the edge of their environmental oxygen limitations due to their energy-taxing swimming technique", so were expected to struggle as climate change messed up their ocean habitat.

“由于游這項技能本身需要消耗大量能量，海洋生物其實已經(jīng)生活在環(huán)境缺氧的邊緣”，因此，隨著氣候變化對生活環(huán)境的影響，它們將面臨更艱難的生存環(huán)境。

The ocean absorbs much of the carbon (CO2) humans pump into the atmosphere, which is good for curbing the greenhouse effect but bad for most creatures who have to live in it. When carbon dissolves in the ocean it forms carbonic acid, making it harder for aquatic creatures to breathe and build shells.

海洋吸收了人類向大氣中排放的大量二氧化碳，這有利于抑制溫室效應，但對大多數(shù)必須生活在其中的生物卻不利。當碳在海洋中溶解時，會形成碳酸，使水生生物難以呼吸和生成外殼。

But when researchers simulated the kinds of conditions expected at the end of this century under current global warming predictions, they got a surprise. The two species they tested - two-toned pygmy squid and bigfin reef squid - did just fine.

但當研究人員模擬了在當前全球變暖環(huán)境下，預計本世紀末會出現(xiàn)的各種情況時，他們驚喜的發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們測試的兩個物種——雙色侏儒魷魚和大鰭礁魷魚——表現(xiàn)得很好。

"We found that these two species of tropical squid are unaffected in their aerobic performance and recovery after exhaustive exercise by the highest projected end-of-century CO2 levels," said Dr Spady.

Spady博士說:“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，這兩種熱帶魷魚的有氧運動能力和運動后的恢復，不受高二氧化碳的影響。”

Photo: Getty

And if squids are unaffected but other species - both predator and prey - struggle, that's good news. For squids, anyway.

如果魷魚不受影響，這是個好消息，雖然其他物種——包括捕食者和獵物——都在掙扎。不管怎樣，至少對魷魚來說是好的。

"We think that squid have a high capacity to adapt to environmental changes due to their short lifespans, fast growth rates, large populations, and high rate of population increase," said Dr Spady.

Spady博士說:“我們認為魷魚壽命短、生長速度快、數(shù)量多、數(shù)量增長快，因此它們有很強的適應環(huán)境變化的能力。”

Scientists began noticing squids and other cephalopod species, such as octopuses, seemed to be doing better than other species in adapting to climate change.

科學家們開始注意魷魚和其他頭足類動物，比如章魚，在適應氣候變化方面似乎也比其他物種做得更好。

Dr Spady is now wondering what other species might have something to gain from climate change.

Spady博士想知道是否有其他物種從氣候變化中得到了什么。

"We are likely to see certain species as being well-suited to succeed in our rapidly changing oceans, and these species of squid may be among them."

“我們很可能會看到，某些物種非常適合在瞬息萬變的海洋中取得成功，這些魷魚可能就是其中之一。”

"The thing that is emerging with most certainty is that it's going to be a very different world," he said.

他說:“現(xiàn)在最確定的是，這將是一個完全不同的世界。”

The research was published in journal Conservation Physiology.

這項研究發(fā)表在《保護生理學》雜志上。