密歇根新闻广播 气候变化让某些动物既获益又受害

We talk a lot about how people can adapt to climate change, and scientists have found that some animals are changing their behavior, too. The ability to change rapidly because of environmental changes is called behavioral flexibility¹.

Erik Beever is a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. He says that a diverse number of species across the animal kingdom are exhibiting behavioral flexibility.

“It may be within a smaller group, it may be some species in a particular family but not other species in a particular family. Within a given species, it may be some populations in some parts of their geographic² range, but not in other parts of their range,” he says.

Beever says birds, mammals and invertebrates³ are doing many different kinds of things to adapt.

“We used an approach to essentially⁴ comprehensively and exhaustively review published literature to find what are the contexts in which species are exhibiting this behavioral flexibility to accommodate environmental change and contemporary climate change,” he says.

“And we found that the changes included changes in timing⁵ of reproduction, timing in migration⁶, feeding behaviors, habitats, how they regulate their own temperature, how they avoid predators⁷, and things of that nature.”

Beever says there are limits to animals’ ability to adapt, simply because certain environmental conditions or physiological⁸ characteristics are impossible to overcome.

So what does this mean for the animal kingdom?

“I think the bigger picture is that we have a pretty nuanced story in terms of species’ response to contemporary climate change and of the near and longer-term consequences of that," he says. "There was a perspective some years ago that species will be either climate change winners or climate change losers. And the more research that comes out, the more that we're finding that species in parts of their range are winners and in other parts of their range they're losers. And in some years they're winners and in other years they're losers."

1 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

2 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 invertebrates   

n.无脊椎动物( invertebrate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Insects and worms are all invertebrates. 昆虫和蠕虫都是无脊椎动物。 来自辞典例句
• In the earthworm and many other invertebrates, these excretory structures are called nephridia. 在蚯蚓和许多其它无脊椎动物中，这些排泄结构称为肾管。 来自辞典例句

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

6 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

7 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 physiological   

adj.生理学的，生理学上的

参考例句：

• He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。