2016-07-01 Humans make rainforest more flammable 人类活动使热带雨林更易燃

文字稿

研究人员说，人类活动使亚马逊雨林变得更易燃。这是由一项关于巴西亚马逊地区的研究所得出的结论之一，该结论表明即使是被保护的丛林也会受到影响。这项调查的成果已在《自然》期刊上发布。请听 Victoria Gill 的报道。

(sound) The sound of burning rainforest. This is from footage captured by researchers in the Eastern Amazon. Their two-year study found that even selective logging in protected forests opened up the canopy enough to dry out the undergrowth and make it catch fire more easily.

To measure the impact of human activity on the rainforest, the team counted 2,000 species of trees, insects and birds, comparing biodiversity with the amount of forest cover, and you can hear the difference.

While a pristine undisturbed rainforest sounds like this (sound), far fewer species contribute to the chorus when the forest is degraded (sound).

This large-scale study showed that areas with 80% forest cover lost up to half their biodiversity.

词汇表

footage 一段影片，片段
selective logging 选择性伐木
canopy 树冠（层）
undergrowth 林下植物，指丛林下层的灌木
biodiversity 生物多样性
pristine 未被破坏（或砍伐）的，原始的
chorus 合唱

测验

请听报道并回答下列问题。

1. Why even protected areas are at increased risk of forest fires?

2. What does two bursts of the forest sound in the report show about biodiversity?

3. True or false? This study showed that areas with two-thirds forest cover lost up to 50% of their biodiversity.

4. Which word in the text describes animals with similar characteristics to each other?

答案

1. Why are even protected areas at increased risk of forest fires?
Because it opens up the canopy enough to dry out the undergrowth, which makes it more likely to catch fire.

2. What do the clips of forest sound in the report tell us about biodiversity?
In one clip you can hear lots of birds and insects and in the other you hear less noise made by birds and insects – a reduction in biodiversity.

3. True or false? This study showed that areas that had lost two-thirds of their forest cover lost up to 50% of their biodiversity.
False. Two thirds would be approximately 67% of the forest cover and, according to the report, areas with 80% forest cover lost up to half their biodiversity.

4. Which word in the text describes animals with similar characteristics to each other?
Species.