科學家冒著生命危險，收集應對氣候變化的種子

科學家冒著生命危險，收集應對氣候變化的種子

Braving perils from blood-sucking leeches to tigers and using transport as basic as elephants, scientists have journeyed like “Indiana Jones” to remote locations to collect wild cousins of crop seeds in a project to help tackle climate change.

從吸血的水蛭到老虎，再到像大象一樣基本的交通工具，科學家們冒著危險，像《奪寶奇兵》(Indiana Jones)一樣長途跋涉到偏遠地區(qū)，收集農作物種子的野生近親，以幫助應對氣候變化。

A report released on Tuesday presented the results of a six-year quest to collect thousands of wild seeds that could play an important role in feeding a rising global population at a time when global warming is jeopardizing crop production.

周二發(fā)布的一份報告展示了一項歷時6年的研究的結果，這項研究收集了數千顆野生種子，這些種子在全球變暖危及農作物生產之際，對養(yǎng)活不斷增長的全球人口可能起到重要作用。

Traveling by foot, four-wheel drive, canoe, horse and even elephant to reach remote corners of the world, more than 100 scientists secured 4,644 seed samples of 371 wild relatives – many endangered – of 28 globally important crops.

100多名科學家通過徒步、四輪驅動、獨木舟、馬匹甚至大象等方式前往世界的偏遠角落，從全球28種重要農作物的371種野生親緣(其中許多瀕臨滅絕)中獲取了4644份種子樣本。

“The expeditions were not a walk in the park. They were perilous at times and physically demanding, with heat, dust, sweat and danger from wild animals – from blood-sucking leeches to tigers,” said Hannes Dempewolf, senior scientist and the head of global initiatives at the Crop Trust.

“探險不是在公園里散步。他們有時很危險，體力上也很吃力，有熱、灰塵、汗水，還有來自野生動物——從吸血的水蛭到老虎——的危險。”農作物信托基金的高級科學家和全球項目負責人漢內斯·德姆佩沃爾夫(Hannes Dempewolf)說。

“The stories these seed collectors brought back from the field often resemble scenes from an Indiana Jones movie.”

“這些種子收集者從地里帶回的故事，常常類似于印第安納瓊斯(Indiana Jones)電影里的場景。”

The project, managed by the Crop Trust in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens and Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) and with Norwegian funding, is the most ambitious coordinated global effort yet to collect and conserve crops’ wild relatives.

該項目由作物信托基金與皇家植物園和英國皇家植物園的千年種子銀行(MSB)合作管理，并得到挪威的資助，是迄今為止收集和保護農作物野生親緣關系的最雄心勃勃的全球協(xié)調努力。

Scientists that took part in the seed quest came from 25 countries in four continents.

參與種子探索的科學家來自四大洲的25個國家。

The sturdier cousins of widely grown crops have evolved to survive harsh conditions such as low rainfall, flooding, temperature extremes and poor soils and offer a largely untapped source of diversity for climate-proofing crops.

這些廣泛種植的作物的近親已經進化到可以在惡劣的條件下生存，比如少雨、洪水、極端的溫度和貧瘠的土壤，并為氣候防護作物提供了一個很大程度上尚未開發(fā)的多樣性資源。

Crops have been threatened by extinction due to rampant deforestation, climate change, urban sprawl and conflict and losing this diversity could endanger global food security.

由于濫伐森林、氣候變化、城市擴張和沖突，農作物受到滅絕的威脅，而失去這種多樣性可能危及全球糧食安全。

“Bananas are a great example of a crop that is potentially threatened because of increasing incidents of disease and we’ve been through this before,” said project manager Chris Cockel.

項目經理Chris Cockel說:“香蕉是一個很好的例子，它是一種作物，由于疾病事件的增加而受到潛在威脅，我們以前就經歷過這種情況。”

“In the post-war period the banana (that) people were familiar with was virtually wiped out by a disease that is now making inroads again. So it’s important to use the seed material…to breed back in the lost genetic traits that will help to make bananas more resistant to that particular disease.”

“在戰(zhàn)后時期，人們所熟悉的香蕉實際上被一種疾病消滅了，而這種疾病現在又卷土重來。因此，利用種子材料進行繁殖是很重要的，這將有助于香蕉恢復失去的基因特性，使香蕉對這種疾病更有抵抗力。”

Food supplies are under severe threat, according to a United Nations report, given the number of animal and plant species fast disappearing as the world grapples with how to feed a soaring population.

根據聯合國的一份報告，由于世界正在努力解決如何養(yǎng)活不斷增長的人口，動植物物種的數量正在迅速消失，糧食供應正面臨嚴重威脅。

At the same time people are relying on fewer species for food, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, leaving production susceptible to shocks like pests or disease, droughts and other extreme weather linked to climate change.

與此同時，根據聯合國糧農組織(U.N. food and Agriculture Organization)的數據，人們對糧食的依賴正在減少，這使得糧食生產容易受到蟲害、干旱和其他與氣候變化有關的極端天氣的沖擊。