2007年VOA标准英语-Researchers Find Large-Scale Death of Coral in

By Chad Bouchard
Jakarta
23 April 2007

Scientists have discovered that an earthquake two years ago in Indonesia lifted hundreds of kilometers of sea floor out of the water, causing the largest death of coral reefs ever recorded. As Chad Bouchard reports from Jakarta, this is only one of several threats facing Indonesia's fragile marine² ecosystems³.

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Researcher examines uplifted coral on west coast of Simeulue, Indonesia (file Mar 2007)

During a recent survey of Indonesia's Simeulue Island, off the northwest coast of Sumatra, scientists discovered that an earthquake in 2005 had lifted part of the sea floor by more than a meter. The upheaval⁴ killed off a massive ring of coral along the island's shores.

Andrew Baird is a scientist with the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence⁵ for Coral Reef Studies. He says the effects of the earthquake were totally unexpected.

"I thought I was ready for what we saw, but the scale of the uplift was quite incredible," he said. "You know every day, every site we went to, there was more reef which had been completely thrust out of the water. The entire perimeter⁶ of an island - about 400 kilometers of reef - had been thrust out of the water, literally⁷ overnight."

The 2005 temblor also killed nearly 1,000 people on the nearby island of Nias. It struck just three months after Indian Ocean tsunami⁸, which hit the day after Christmas 2004 and left 230,000 people dead or missing from Indonesia to eastern Africa.

Massive die-offs caused by earthquakes like the one that hit Simeulue happen about once a century, and Baird says researchers are just beginning to understand earthquakes' effects on marine environments.

But there are also other threats bearing down on Indonesia's coral reefs, which amount to 17 percent of the world's total. The reefs measure about 51,000 square kilometers - enough to cover the islands of Hawaii more than three times. They provide critical breeding and nursery habitat for much of the region's marine species.

Stuart Campbell is coordinator⁹ of the Indonesia Marine Program of the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society, which also took part in the Simeulue survey.

Campbell says the exposed coral and evidence on nearby islands revealed a wide-scale infestation¹⁰ of Crown of Thorns starfish.

The same starfish have decimated parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Campbell says scientists think human factors such as river pollution and runoff due to deforestation are responsible for the starfishes' spread.

"What they've shown in the Great Barrier Reef is that they think that plumes¹¹, sort of dirty water essentially¹², is contributing to their (the starfishes') dispersal, and maybe because they're better able to reproduce in poor-quality water, and then once they reproduce, they can just island-hop essentially, with the currents," he said.

Researchers say 82 percent of the country's coral is also at risk from pollution and destructive fishing practices, such as underwater explosions and the use of cyanide to stun¹³ live fish and seafood¹⁴.

"We saw signs where people have previously¹⁵ bombed, used cyanide, and we also witnessed the Crown of Thorns starfish invasion. So it's a sort of a multiple-pronged attack on these reefs," he said.

The use of bombs and cyanide for fishing has been illegal in Indonesia for more than 20 years. But local authorities say they don't have the resources to protect the archipelago's sprawling¹⁶ marine habitats.

Uplifted coral on west coast of Simeulue (file Mar 2007)

Andrew Baird says in the area surrounding Simeulue Island, a lack of funds for marine police patrols makes enforcing the regulations difficult.

"The problem is petrol…the price of petrol has trebled in the wake of these natural disasters," he said. " It's $200 to do a loop of the islands, which doesn't sound much to us, but that's a month's wages for these guys."

But Riza Damanik of the Indonesian environmental group WALHI says money for the police is not the problem.

"The problem is not the quantity of the police, or the boats. Our government can do (anything) if they want. It's just like political will from them," he said.

Damanik says the assault on coral reefs is damaging the country's capacity to produce fish, even as an increasing population drives up the domestic demand for fish. Government statistics indicate Indonesia takes out 200,000 more tons of fish than its waters can replenish¹⁷ each year.

Riza is calling for Indonesia to create a special department to focus more on protecting its marine resources.

"Too many things pushed by the government. Mining and forestry¹⁸ and blah blah blah. But they forget we are an archipelago state. But our future is in the sea. Our life is in the sea," Riza said.

Members of the survey team say in spite of the damage they have documented at Simeulue, reef species are already returning. Since the earthquake two years ago, new corals have attached to remaining underwater reef and have grown to a few centimeters wide.

Scientists say the evidence indicates that if the police and conservationists can stop the recurrent threats, the reefs will recover.

1 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

2 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

4 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

5 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

6 perimeter   

n.周边，周长，周界

参考例句：

• The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
• Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

9 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

10 infestation   

n.侵扰，蔓延

参考例句：

• The premises were treated for cockroach infestation.因蟑螂成灾，这些房屋集中进行了灭蟑活动。
• Parts of California are suffering from an infestation of oriental fruit flies.加利福尼亚的部分地区正遭受东方果蝇的大肆侵袭。

11 plumes   

羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物

参考例句：

• The dancer wore a headdress of pink ostrich plumes. 那位舞蹈演员戴着粉色鸵鸟毛制作的头饰。
• The plumes on her bonnet barely moved as she nodded. 她点点头，那帽子的羽毛在一个劲儿颤动。

12 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。

13 stun   

vt.打昏，使昏迷，使震惊，使惊叹

参考例句：

• When they told me she had gone missing I was totally stunned.他们告诉我她不见了时，我当时完全惊呆了。
• Sam stood his ground and got a blow that stunned him.萨姆站在原地，被一下打昏了。

14 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

15 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。

16 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

17 replenish   

vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满

参考例句：

• I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
• We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。

18 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。