每日英語跟讀 Ep.854: About nature - Nature crisis: ’Insect apocalypse’ more complicated than thought 自然危機：「昆蟲啟示錄」比想像中更複雜

Previous research indicated an alarming decline in numbers in all parts of world, with losses of up to 25% per decade. This new study, the largest carried out to date, says the picture is more complex and varied.

過去的研究指出，全球各地（的昆蟲）數量令人憂心地下降，每10年至少減少25％。這份迄今最大的新研究卻表明，情況其實更加複雜與多變。

Land-dwelling insects are definitely declining the authors say, while bugs living in freshwater are increasing. The overall picture is complex - even in close geographical areas, some insects can be doing well next door to members of the same species who are struggling.

研究報告作者群指出，陸棲昆蟲正在減少，棲息於水中的蟲則在增加。總體情況是複雜的，即使是在相近的地理區域，有些昆蟲可以活得很好，隔壁區域的同種昆蟲，卻必須奮力存活。

Ann Swengel, one of the authors on the paper has spent more than 30 years studying butterflies in parts of the US. "We’ve seen so much decline, including on many protected sites. But we’ve also observed some sites where butterflies are continuing to do well," she said. "It takes lots of years and lots of data to understand both the failures and the successes, species by species and site by site."

論文作者之一安‧斯文格，已研究美國部分地區的蝴蝶超過30年。「我們已經看到（昆蟲）大量減少，包括在許多保護區裡。但我們也觀察到某些保護區中的蝴蝶持續活得很好」，她說。「要了解失敗與成功、不同物種、不同地點之間的關係，需要花費多年時間與大量資料」。

Deserted Thai beaches lure rare turtles to build nests 人跡罕至的泰國海灘吸引稀有龜類築巢

Thailand has found the largest number of nests of rare leatherback sea turtles in two decades on beaches bereft of tourists because of the coronavirus pandemic, environmentalists say.

生態學家表示，由於冠狀病毒全球大流行，泰國海灘少了遊客，卻迎來大量稀有的棱皮龜築巢，數量創20年新高。

The 11 turtle nests authorities have found since last November were the highest number in 20 years, said Kongkiat Kittiwatanawong, the director of the Phuket Marine Biological Center.

普吉島海洋生物中心主任貢吉亞特表示，當局自去年11月以來發現11個海龜巢，為20年之最。

"This is a very good sign for us because many areas for spawning have been destroyed by humans," he told Reuters. No such nests had been found for the previous five years.

他告訴路透：「我們覺得這是非常好的跡象，因為許多產卵地都遭到人類破壞。」 過去5年完全沒有發現海龜巢。

"If we compare to the year before, we didn’t have this many spawn, because turtles have a high risk of getting killed by fishing gear and humans disturbing the beach."

「如果和1年之前比較，那時的蛋沒這麼多，因為當時海龜面臨高風險，或被漁具糾纏致死，或在海灘上遭人類侵擾。」

Leatherbacks are the world’s largest sea turtles. They are considered endangered in Thailand, and listed as a vulnerable species globally by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

棱皮龜是全世界最大的海龜。牠們在泰國被視為瀕危動物， 也被「國際自然保育聯盟」列為全球易危物種。

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1371916 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1372165