VOA健康报道2022--种植本地植物以支持当地环境、野生动物

Plant Native Plants to Support Local Environment, Wildlife

Earth Day is April 22. Every year, people around the world observe the day by helping¹ to care for the environment. They carry out all kinds of activities in an effort to better the planet's health.

One way to support this goal is to grow plants native to your area. This helps wildlife like birds and insects that evolved alongside native plants. For many of these animals, plant pollen² is their food.

Native pollinators often cannot recognize non-native plants as food. This means they do not collect the pollen or spread plants' seeds.

Planting non-native species creates so-called "food deserts" for pollinators including bees, birds, bats, butterflies and more.

Doug Tallamy is a professor of entomology at the University of Delaware. Entomology is the study of insects. He found that non-native plant species can harm the natural food chain, which can lead to a collapse³ of the environment.

"Plant choice matters," he said. "The plants we choose to landscape our properties (with) should be determined⁴ by how much life can live there."

Humans depend strongly on insects. Without them, we would have no flowering plants, which would harm the food web that supports important animals. Birds, for example, depend on plants for food and spread their seeds while keeping the populations of harmful insects down.

Insects support plants that provide oxygen, clean our water, capture carbon and add nutrients⁵ to the soil. That builds topsoil and prevents flooding. Without insects, the biosphere⁶ – the living parts of the Earth – would rot because of the loss of insect decomposers. Humans simply could not survive that, Tallamy said.

In addition to providing food and habitat for insects and other wildlife, native plants are able to grow easily and do not require much care. That means less watering and less fertilizing⁷. The situation is a win-win for gardeners and pollinators.

Words in This Story

evolve - v. to change or develop slowly often into a better, more complex, or more advanced state : to develop by a process of evolution

pollen - n. the very fine usually yellow dust that is produced by a plant and that is carried to other plants of the same kind usually by wind or insects so that the plants can produce seeds

determine - v. to be the cause of or reason for (something)

rot - v. to slowly decay or cause (something) to decay

habitat - n. the place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives or grows

win-win - adj. providing a good result for everyone involved

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 biosphere   

n.生命层，生物圈

参考例句：

• The entire biosphere was becoming more transparent.整个生物圈越来越透明。
• The impact of modern technology on the biosphere is evident worldwide.现代技术对生物圈的影响在全世界是明显的。

7 fertilizing   

v.施肥( fertilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Sometimes the preliminary step must be taken of reducing weed population before fertilizing. 有时候，在施肥之前，必须采取减少杂草密度的预备性步骤。 来自辞典例句
• The self fertilizing garden can also be planted in raised beds. 自我施肥的菜园也可以在苗圃床中种植。 来自互联网