天下”最老最大“生物”潘多“颤杨群接近灭亡(双语) ...

One of the largest organisms in the world, a Utah forest of genetically identical trees, is slowly being devoured by deer.

天下上最大的生物之一——犹他州的一片基因完全雷同的树林，正渐渐被鹿啃光。

The Pando quaking aspen colony, also known as the "Trembling Giant," has likely survived for thousands of years. But about 80 percent of it is in a perilous state, according to a new paper published today (Oct. 17) in the journal PLOS One.

这个“潘多”颤杨群(也被称为“发抖的伟人”)大概已生计了数千年。但17日揭橥在美国《科学公共藏书楼·综合》杂志上的一篇最新论文称，其约莫80%的树木处于伤害当中。

The trembling giant, weighing 13 million lbs. (5.9 million kilograms) and covering 106 acres ( square kilometers) of Utah’s Fishlake National Forest, consists of over 47,000 genetically identical stems that grow from a single underground parent clone.

这个“发抖的伟人”位于犹他州鱼湖国家丛林公园，重约1300万磅(约590万千克)，占地约106英亩(0.42平方千米)。它由一个地下无性生殖根系上长出的4.7万株基因如出一辙的树干构成。

In this new study, a group of researchers measured the health of various parts of the forest, such as by counting the number of living versus dead trees, counting the number of new stems and tracking the feces of animals that dropped in for a bite. They found that the biggest obstacle to the strongest indicator of the forest’s health — whether new sprouts could survive — was mule deer.

在这项最新研讨中，几个研讨人员权衡了树林差别部位的安康情况，好比数一数活树与死树的数目和新长出树干的数目并追踪啃树植物的排泄物。他们发明，树林安康情况最有份量的目标就是新芽可否存活，而它的最大停滞是骡鹿。

It’s natural that the older stems are dying off, lead author Paul Rogers, the director of the Western Aspen Alliance and adjunct associate professor at Utah State University,told Live Science. What’s unnatural is that new stems aren’t growing, he said. For the past couple of decades, mule deer and cattle have been eating all the new stems that sprout from the underground mama aspen. In most areas, there’s no "young or middle-aged trees at all," he said. So the forest, to use human terms, is made up "entirely of very elderly senior citizens," Rogers said.

论文第一作者、美国西部颤杨同盟负责人、犹他州立大学兼任副教授保罗·罗杰斯在接管美国兴趣科学网页采访时称，老树枯槁死是自然而然的。他说，违背自然规律的是，新树干长不出来。在曩昔几十年里，骡鹿和牛不断在吃掉从地下颤杨母根上抽芽的全部新树苗。他说，大多数区域没有“中青年树”。罗杰斯示意，用拟人词语来讲，这片树林“完全由老年人”构成。

Rogers and his team also compared aerial photographs of the area that spanned 72 years and found that the aspen forest has been thinning. Back in 1939, the tree crowns all touched, but starting in the 1970s, "you see a lot of spaces between the trees," he said. This means that the old trees are dying and new ones aren’t coming in to fill in the gaps.

罗杰斯和他的团队还对照了该区域72年来的航拍照片，发明这片颤杨林日趋稠密。他说，在1939年时，树冠连成一片，但从上世纪70年月可以，“能够看到树与树之间有很大清闲”。这就是说，老树渐渐枯死，而新树没有长出来弥补空白。

Part of the problem is that game such as mule deer do not have natural predators in the area anymore. In the early 1900s, humans killed off most natural predators, such as wolves and grizzly bears, Rogers said. Now, most of the grounds in Pando are set aside for recreational uses like camping, where the browsers are protected from hunting. "The deer know that very early on, and they find it a safe harbor."

成绩的部份关键在于，该区域的骡鹿等植物不再有天敌。罗杰斯说，在20世纪初，人类杀死了它们的大多数天敌，好比狼和灰熊。如今，“潘多”的大部份空中被用于休闲流动，好比野营，啃食嫩枝的植物是遭到爱护不得猎杀的。罗杰斯说：“骡鹿很早就晓得这一点，它们发明那里很宁静。”

But really, "Pando is failing because of human decisions," Rogers said. "Humans control wild animals, particularly wild-game species like deer and elk."

不外，“潘多的失利，是因为人类的定夺，”罗杰斯说。“人类节制着野生植物，特别是像鹿和麋鹿如此的野生植物。”

There is one part of the trembling giant that is thriving. This area was fenced in around 2013 and within five years, thousands of stems — some 12 to 15 feet (3.6 to 4.5 m) tall — have been growing per acre, Rogers said. Here, the fence seems to be working. Half of the area that the aspen clone takes up is unfenced and easily accessible by the mule deer and cattle. Around 30 percent of the area is fenced in with an 8-foot-tall (2.4 meters) fence, Rogers said. But "the fence is not doing its job, so it’s also in a poor state," he said. "Somehow, the animals are still getting in — it’s a bit of a mystery to us," he said. He thinks the mule deer (not the cattle) are jumping it.

不外，“发抖的伟人”有一部份闹热畅旺。罗杰斯说，这块区域在2013年阁下被圈起来，五年内均匀每英亩长出了数千株树木，高约12到15英尺(3.6米到4.5米)。在那里，围栏好像施展着感化。这个颤杨根系所及的区域有一半没有围栏爱护，很轻易有骡鹿和牛进入。罗杰斯说，约莫有30%的区域用8英尺高(2.4米)的围栏围着，但他示意:“围栏没有施展感化，于是仍旧很蹩脚。”不知怎样的，植物们照样能够进来——这对我们来讲大概有点神奇。”他认为骡鹿(不是牛)跳过了围栏。

"We need to help control the animals — both deer and cattle — and give Pando a break so that it can recover," Rogers said. This can be done by culling their numbers, restricting them with properly working fences or keeping them moving out of the area, as predators traditionally did, he said.

罗杰斯说：“我们需求辅助节制这些植物——不管是鹿照样牛——让‘潘多’有机遇喘口吻以便复兴。” 他说，这能够通过削减它们的数目，用符合的围栏限定它们的流动，大概像古老的捕食者那样，让它们阔别这个区域来实现。

"We’re not talking about just the tree, but we’re talking about all the plants and animals dependent on it," Rogers said. "We can’t manage wildlife and forest independently, we have to manage them in concert and in coordination with each other."

罗杰斯示意，“我们所评论的不只是树，而是全部依靠于树生计的动植物。”“我们没法自力经管野生植物和丛林，我们必需和谐分歧。”

And the approaches that work to protect Pando could be extended to aspens around the world, he said.

而且他说，爱护潘多的这片树林的方式能够在全天下发扬。