科学美国人60秒 SSS 五彩缤纷的珊瑚战胜白化

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Christopher Intagliata.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是克里斯托弗·因塔格里塔。

Warmer oceans are putting stress on corals—and causing many of them to turn white, or bleach¹.

温度日益升高的海洋正在给珊瑚带来压力，导致许多珊瑚变白或白化。

But some corals under stress are instead becoming strangely colorful, turning brilliant neon pink, yellow, purple or blue.

但有些珊瑚在压力下反而不可思议地变得更加五彩缤纷，呈现出明亮的荧光粉、荧光黄、荧光紫或荧光蓝。

"They give this very vibrant² coloration, which really blows you away."

“它们呈现出非常鲜艳的颜色，这真令人大吃一惊。”

Jorg Wiedenmann heads the University of Southampton's Coral Reef Laboratory in the U.K.

英国南安普敦大学珊瑚礁实验室的负责人J?rg Wiedenmann说到。

He said he was seeing photos and reports of these brightly colored corals—but no one knew what was happening.

他说他看到了这些颜色鲜艳的珊瑚的照片和报道，但没人知道原因。

So his lab experimentally bleached³ corals to find out.

因此，他的实验室实验性地让珊瑚白化，以此来寻找答案。

First, though, it's important to understand that corals aren't really a single organism.

但首先，重要的是要了解珊瑚并不是单一生物体。

They're a symbiotic⁴ duo, a partnership⁵, between an algae⁶ and a coral.

珊瑚是共生体，是海藻和珊瑚虫之间的合作关系。

"So it's two completely different organisms working together to create something which they couldn't achieve by themselves."

“珊瑚是两种完全不同的生物在一起工作，产生它们自己无法实现的东西。”

The algae live inside the coral, where they get shelter and nutrients⁷, and the corals reap the benefits of photosynthesis⁸.

海藻生长在珊瑚中，从其中获得庇护和养分，珊瑚虫则获得光合作用的好处。

But when the scientists exposed corals to warmer water, they watched as the corals' symbiotic partners—the algae—slowly abandoned the coral skeleton.

但当科学家让珊瑚暴露在更温暖的水中时，他们观察到珊瑚的共生伙伴海藻慢慢地离开了珊瑚遗骸。

Usually, that's what results in bleaching⁹.

通常，这会导致珊瑚白化。

But in some cases, without the photosynthetic¹⁰ algae there to absorb incoming light, more of the light was bouncing around inside the coral's tissue—

但在某些情况下，没有发生光合作用的海藻会在那里吸收入的光线，这使更多光线在珊瑚组织内部跳跃，

and the researchers observed the corals producing neon pigments¹¹ in response.

研究人员观察到珊瑚的反应是产生了荧光色素。

The pigments seem to be a natural sunscreen. And those colorful areas appeared to attract the algae back.

这些色素似乎是天然的防晒霜。而那些五颜六色的区域似乎将海藻吸引了回来。

"The pink-colored areas repopulated faster with symbionts.

“粉色区域共生体的重新繁殖速度更快。

And the symbiont algae had a higher photosynthetic efficiency, which could be taken as an indicator¹² of better health."

共生海藻的光合作用效率也更高，这可以被视为健康状况更好的指标。”

The results are in the journal Current Biology.

这项研究发表在《当代生物学》期刊上。

Wiedenmann says the flashy neon colors only appear with mild levels of stress. Too hot, and the corals can't cope.

Wiedenmann表示，只有压力水平处于温和程度时，珊瑚才会呈现闪亮的荧光色。水压太高会令珊瑚无法承受。

But if you do happen to see corals flashing neon colors, it's a good sign they're fighting back—and fighting to be noticed by their algae partners.

但如果你碰巧看到珊瑚闪烁着荧光，那是个好迹象，这表明它们正在反击，争取获得洗澡伙伴的注意。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。

1 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？

2 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

3 bleached   

漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的

参考例句：

• His hair was bleached by the sun . 他的头发被太阳晒得发白。
• The sun has bleached her yellow skirt. 阳光把她的黄裙子晒得褪色了。

4 symbiotic   

adj.共栖的，共生的

参考例句：

• Racing has always had a symbiotic relationship with betting.赛马总是与赌博相挂钩。
• Engineering completely new symbiotic relationship is obviously not an imminent possibility.筹划完全新的共生关系显然是可能性不大。

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

7 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》

8 photosynthesis   

n.光合作用

参考例句：

• In apple trees photosynthesis occurs almost exclusively in the leaves.苹果树的光合作用几乎只发生在叶内。
• Chloroplasts are the structures in which photosynthesis happens.叶绿体就是光合作用发生的地方。

9 bleaching   

漂白法，漂白

参考例句：

• Moderately weathered rock showed more intense bleaching and fissuring in the feldspars. 中等风化岩石则是指长石有更为强烈的变白现象和裂纹现象。
• Bleaching effects are very strong and show on air photos. 退色效应非常强烈，并且反映在航空象片上。

10 photosynthetic   

adj.光合的，促进光合作用的

参考例句：

• In some plants photosynthetic products are stored in the form polyfructosans. 在有些植物中，光合作用产物是以多聚果糖的形式储藏。
• Chlorotic or necrotic lesions were evidence of decreased photosynthetic tissues. 缺绿的或坏死的侵蚀斑便是减少了光合组织的证据。

11 pigments   

n.（粉状）颜料( pigment的名词复数 )；天然色素

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls. 古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。 来自辞典例句
• The original white lead pigments have oxidized and turned black. 最初的白色铅质颜料氧化后变成了黑色。 来自辞典例句

12 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。