VOA标准英语2010年-Coral Reefs Breed New Species, Fossil

"When we lose reefs, we lose basically the cradles of evolution in the oceans." – Wolfgang Kiessling

A new study out this week highlights the role that coral reefs play in evolution, adding another reason to preserve these delicate, diverse, and often beautiful ecosystems¹.

Many of the world's coral reefs are threatened by ocean acidification and pollution, among other things.

Wolfgang Kiessling of Berlin's Natural History Museum says that concerns ecologists because of the vital role reefs play in ocean ecosystems.

"They're really important to marine² ecology because they host thousands of fish, for example," he said. "This is where the young fish grow up. And they host millions of species of invertebrates³, and so they are ecologically really key to tropical marine ecosystems."

Julie Bedford, NOAA
Reef in Fiji with great diversity of coral species

The conventional view has been that reefs attract a diverse population – in part because they have lots of nooks and crannies where fish can hide from predators⁴ – but that they aren't necessarily places where new species evolve.

Kiessling began to doubt this when he looked at the evolutionary⁵ record following the mass extinction⁶ 65 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs⁷. That event signaled a slowdown in the creation of new species.

"We see that evolution slowed a bit, and this was basically – that was my guess – because so many reefs were killed as well. So it took a long time for diversity to build up again in the aftermath."

Using a vast, online catalog called the Paleobiology Database, Kiessling and his colleagues analyzed⁸ the occurrence of hundreds of thousands of new species as documented by researchers around the world.

"And we found that 50 percent more than we would expect by chance did first occur in reefs," he said.

Kiessling, who is also a professor at Germany's Humboldt University, said in an interview that he was surprised to find that this idea of the reef as a cradle of evolution even applies to species not known as reef-dwellers. They may evolve in the reef environment, then migrate elsewhere.

"So species get generated, like even clams⁹ and snails¹⁰, crabs¹¹, and so on, and then, when they, later in their evolutionary history, they move out of the reefs, and then they export diversity, basically, to other areas."

All of which, he says, suggests that there's more reason than ever to safeguard ocean reefs.

"The biggest outcome of our study is how really important reefs are for evolutionary processes, not just for ecology. So when we lose reefs, we lose basically the cradles of evolution in the oceans in the long run."

Wolfgang Kiessling describes his research in a paper published in the journal Science.
 

1 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

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 invertebrates   

n.无脊椎动物( invertebrate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Insects and worms are all invertebrates. 昆虫和蠕虫都是无脊椎动物。 来自辞典例句
• In the earthworm and many other invertebrates, these excretory structures are called nephridia. 在蚯蚓和许多其它无脊椎动物中，这些排泄结构称为肾管。 来自辞典例句

4 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

6 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。

7 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 clams   

n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The restaurant's specialities are fried clams. 这个餐厅的特色菜是炸蚌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We dug clams in the flats et low tide. 退潮时我们在浅滩挖蛤蜊。 来自辞典例句

10 snails   

n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think I'll try the snails for lunch—I'm feeling adventurous today. 我想我午餐要尝一下蜗牛——我今天很想冒险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most snails have shells on their backs. 大多数蜗牛背上有壳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》