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Based on the sheer number of ants that have invaded my home this summer, it seems hard to believe.
今年夏天造訪我家螞蟻的數量似乎有點令人難以置信。
But a new study finds that the number of invertebrates—which include any animal without a spine—has fallen by nearly half over the past 35 years—the same period of time in which the human population has doubled.
但一項新的研究發現無脊椎動物在過去35年的數量下降了近一半,而同期人類的數量翻了一番。
The estimate appears in the journalScience.
這是發表在《科學》期刊上的估測。
When we think of extinction, we usually picture large, charismatic creatures, like the saber-toothed tiger, the wooly mammoth or the even the dodo bird.
當我們想到滅絕,我們通常想象大型,那些有魅力的生物,比如劍齒虎,毛茸茸的猛犸象或者渡渡鳥。
Over the past 500 years, more than 300 species of vertebrates like these have disappeared.
但在過去的500年中,超過300種脊椎動物已經從地球上消失。
But what about critters that fly…or crawl…under our radar?
但在我們觀察下的小飛行生物…爬行動物們如何?
Butterflies, beetles, spiders, slugs and worms are all in the midst of decline.
蝴蝶、甲蟲、蜘蛛、蛞蝓和蟲子的數量都在下降。
Much of that die-off is due to habitat loss.
這些物種大部分的消亡是由于棲息地的喪失。
In the U.K., for example, scientists have recorded a 30 to 60 percent decrease in areas inhabited by common insects, including bees and wasps.
以英國為例,科學家們已經記錄包括蜜蜂和黃蜂等常見昆蟲在內地區物種30-60%的減少。
While fewer flying pests might seem a plus, insects also perform functions that are key to human survival, like pollinating crops and recycling nutrients.
雖然更少的飛行害蟲看起來還是在增加,昆蟲仍然在人類生存方面扮演著至關重要的角色,比如作物授粉和回收養分。
So crowding out our invertebrate allies could turn out to be a real buzzkill.
所以排擠我們的無脊椎動物盟友們可能真會成為令人掃興的事情。
