科學家揭示光污染導致“昆蟲末日”

科學家揭示光污染導致“昆蟲末日”

Insects, which pollinate flowers and break down waste, are crucial.

昆蟲為花朵授粉并分解廢物，是至關重要的。

Although researchers have warned before about the negative effects of climate change and habitat loss, they are now blaming a new culprit for the worldwide decline of bugs — light pollution.

盡管研究人員以前曾就氣候變化和棲息地喪失的負面影響發(fā)出過警告，但現(xiàn)在他們將全球昆蟲數(shù)量下降歸咎于一個新的罪魁禍首——光污染。

A group of entomologists reviewed about 200 studies and research papers to examine how light pollution is contributing to what’s been called the “insect apocalypse.” Their findings were published last week in Biological Conservation.

一組昆蟲學家回顧了約200項研究和研究論文，以研究光污染是如何導致所謂的“昆蟲啟示錄”的。他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)發(fā)表在上周的《生物保護》雜志上。

A previous study in April in the same journal looked at agriculture and habitat destruction as series threats to insects, claiming that more than 40 percent of insect species face potential extinction in the coming decades.

今年4月發(fā)表在同一份期刊上的一項研究將農(nóng)業(yè)和棲息地的破壞視為對昆蟲的一系列威脅，稱在未來幾十年里，超過40%的昆蟲物種面臨滅絕的危險。

“It’s frustrating,” author Brett Seymoure, a postdoctoral fellow at the Living Earth Collaborative at St. Louis’ Washington University, told Gizmodo. “We’re saying, look, light pollution is also a huge driver, especially with nocturnal insects.”

“這很令人沮喪，”作者Brett Seymoure告訴Gizmodo，他是圣路易斯華盛頓大學地球生命研究所的博士后。“我們說，看，光污染也是一個巨大的驅動因素，尤其是夜間活動的昆蟲。”

Seymoure said a number of different fixes could address the problem, including light timers, covers to lessen light pollution and bulbs that don’t mimic daytime light.

Seymoure說，一些不同的解決方案可以解決這個問題，包括燈光定時器，減少光污染的蓋子和不模擬白天光線的燈泡。

Still, the reseachers’ work reportedly notes that lights can impact how bug species move, search for food, reproduce, grow and hide from predators.

盡管如此，據(jù)報道，研究人員的工作指出，光線可以影響昆蟲的移動、尋找食物、繁殖、生長和躲避捕食者。

“If we lose these insects, you’re also gone,” Seymoure said. “It’s over.”

“如果我們失去了這些昆蟲，你也就完了，”Seymoure說。“這是結束了。”

The scientist said he plans to examine light pollution’s impact on butterflies next.

這位科學家說，他下一步計劃研究光污染對蝴蝶的影響。