To survive climate change, plants can't just get up and move

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To survive climate change, plants can't just get up and move

Transcript¹

As the climate gets hotter, plants may need to grow in new locations to survive. But the animals that help spread the seeds are disappearing.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Climate change is putting plants in a tough spot. Many are growing in places that won't be suitable as temperatures get hotter. And they can't exactly uproot² and head elsewhere, right? Their seeds can move. But that's getting harder to do because the animals that help spread their seeds are disappearing.

NPR's Lauren Sommer reports.

LAUREN SOMMER, BYLINE³: Understanding climate change means studying some tough questions. Ecologist Evan Fricke's specialty⁴ is knowing, when an animal eats a piece of fruit, how long it takes to come out the other end.

EVAN FRICKE: There's always this poop angle to my research - you know, Ph.D. in bird poop, basically.

SOMMER: Why is that important to climate change? - because of the deal that's been struck between animals and plants. Plants need to spread their seeds, but they can't really move. So they put them inside delicious fruits that animals eat. The animals get a snack, and plant seeds get a ride.

FRICKE: It hangs out in that digestive tract⁵ for minutes to hours for most plant species and then gets deposited somewhere else.

SOMMER: Birds might take seeds just a few feet. An elephant can take a seed miles. There's even some thought that some fruits are constipating so the seeds get an even longer ride inside the animal. And right now is a crucial time for seeds to move. Climate change is making ecosystems⁷ hotter or drier - no longer a good fit for the plants that grow there.

FRICKE: The areas that are suitable for growth, survival, reproduction are basically moving. And so the plants need to, quote-unquote, "migrate" to keep up with the changing climate.

SOMMER: But just when plants need them, birds and animals are declining due to hunting, habitat loss and extinction⁸. As a researcher at the University of Maryland and Rice University, Fricke and other colleagues wanted to find out how that would affect plants globally. In a paper out in the journal Science, they found there's a 60% decline in the ability of plants to move with climate change.

FRICKE: If they're unable to do that, that means that certain plants might disappear from our forests and other ecosystems.

SOMMER: Fricke says this is already playing out because larger animals, which move seeds farther, have declined the most. In an ecosystem⁶, one change can have cascading⁹ impacts.

FRICKE: It highlights that there's this tight link between the biodiversity crisis and the climate crisis.

SOMMER: That complex relationship is on the cutting edge of research, says Noelle Beckman, an ecologist at Utah State University who wasn't involved in the study. With climate change, plants can't be studied in a vacuum.

NOELLE BECKMAN: They're experiencing all these different changes, from climate change to their seed dispersers being potentially hunted out or lost to habitat loss.

SOMMER: That has some scientists looking at ways to help plants move. It's known as assisted migration¹⁰ - basically planting seedlings¹¹ in places that will be better for them in the future climate. But at the very least, Beckman says, this research shows that conservation shouldn't just be about protecting the things in an ecosystem, but the relationships between them.

Lauren Sommer, NPR News.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 uproot   

v.连根拔起，拔除；根除，灭绝；赶出家园，被迫移开

参考例句：

• The family decided to uproot themselves and emigrate to Australia.他们全家决定离开故土，移居澳大利亚。
• The trunk of an elephant is powerful enough to uproot trees.大象的长鼻强壮得足以将树木连根拔起。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

5 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

6 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

7 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

8 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

9 cascading   

流注( cascade的现在分词 )； 大量落下； 大量垂悬； 梯流

参考例句：

• First of all, cascading menus are to be avoided at all costs. 首先，无论如何都要避免使用级联菜单。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Her sounds began cascading gently. 他的声音开始缓缓地低落下来。

10 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。

11 seedlings   

n.刚出芽的幼苗( seedling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ninety-five per cent of the new seedlings have survived. 新栽的树苗95%都已成活。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In such wet weather we must prevent the seedlings from rotting. 这样的阴雨天要防止烂秧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》