科学美国人60秒 SSS 为何鸟儿容易撞上建筑物?

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Jason Goldman.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是杰森·古德曼。

About a billion birds die from flying into buildings each year in North America.

北美每年约有10亿只鸟因撞上建筑物而死亡。

Suspicions have been that birds may perceive the open areas behind glass as safe passageways.

人们一直怀疑鸟类可能是将玻璃后面的开放区域当成了安全通道。

Or they may mistake the reflected foliage¹ for the real thing.

或者它们可能是误将被反射的植物当成了真植物。

Researchers would like to reduce collisions,

研究人员希望减少撞击，

which requires a solid understanding about what makes a bird more or less likely to die by smacking² into a building in the first place.

这首先需要对鸟儿为何或多或少地容易撞上建筑物而死亡有充分的理解。

"There was, and still is, relatively³ little known at a broad scale. Most studies are at one small study site."

“我们的广泛理解，过去乃至现在都相对较少。大多数研究都在一个小的研究地点进行。”

Jared Elmore, a graduate student in natural resource ecology and management at Oklahoma State University.

俄克拉荷马州立大学的自然资源生态与管理学研究生贾里德·埃尔莫尔说到。

He and his colleagues used a previously⁴ created data set of building collisions for birds at 40 sites throughout Mexico, Canada and the U.S.

他同事使用了之前创立的鸟类撞击建筑物的数据库，这些建筑物分布在墨西哥、加拿大和美国的40个地点。

The first finding was obvious: bigger buildings with more glass kill more birds. But the details were more noteworthy.

第一个发现是显而易见的：建筑物越大、玻璃越多，杀死的鸟儿就越多。但细节更值得注意。

"We found that life history predicted collisions.

“我们发现生活史预测了撞击情况。

Migrants, insectivores and woodland-inhabiting species collided more than their counterparts."

悠久、食虫动物和栖居于林地的鸟类，撞击次数要多于同类。”

Most migratory⁵ species travel at night, when lights near buildings can distract or disorient them.

大多数候鸟在夜间飞行，那时建筑物附近的灯光会分散它们的注意力或使它们迷失方向。

And Elmore thinks that insect-eating birds might be attracted to buildings because their insect prey⁶ is attracted to the lights.

埃尔莫尔认为，食虫鸟被吸引到建筑物，可能是因为昆虫猎物被灯光所吸引。

He suspects that woodland species get fooled by the reflections of trees and shrubs⁷ in the windows.

他怀疑林地鸟类被窗户上的树木和灌木的倒影所欺骗。

The results are in the journal Conservation Biology.

这项研究发表在《保护生物学》期刊上。

By understanding which birds are more likely to collide with buildings,

通过了解哪些鸟类更容易撞上建筑物，

researchers can perhaps determine the best way to modify buildings, or their lighting⁸, to help prevent such accidents.

研究人员或许可以确定改造建筑物或灯光的最佳方法，以帮助防止此类事故的发生。

And by knowing risks, along with migration⁹ timing¹⁰ and behavior,

通过了解迁徙时机和行为以及风险，

building managers can better anticipate when birds are at their greatest danger—and modify lighting strategies accordingly.

建筑管理者可以更好地预测鸟类何时处于最大危险，并相应地修改照明策略。

Elmore's next project will use radar¹¹ to help predict bird migrations¹².

埃尔莫尔的下一个项目将使用雷达来帮助预测鸟类迁徙。

"I think that would maybe go a long way in terms of providing information to people, to the public, to building managers,

“我认为，这在向人们、公众、建筑管理者提供信息方面可能大有帮助，

on when they can get the most bang for their buck¹³ in terms of lights-out policies."

可以告诉他们如何设置熄灯政策才能获得最大回报方面。”

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Jason Goldman.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是杰森·古德曼。

1 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

2 smacking   

活泼的，发出响声的，精力充沛的

参考例句：

• He gave both of the children a good smacking. 他把两个孩子都狠揍了一顿。
• She inclined her cheek,and John gave it a smacking kiss. 她把头低下，约翰在她的脸上响亮的一吻。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 migratory   

n.候鸟，迁移

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• This does not negate the idea of migratory aptitude.这并没有否定迁移能力这一概念。

6 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

7 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

8 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

9 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。

10 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。

11 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

12 migrations   

n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It foundered during the turmoils accompanying the Great Migrations. 它在随着民族大迁徙而出现的混乱中崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Birds also have built-in timepieces which send them off on fall and spring migrations. 鸟类也有天生的时间感应器指导它们秋春迁移。 来自互联网

13 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。