Four-Laws-of-Ecology中英对照

FourLawsofEcology1Inbroadoutline,thereareenvironmentalcycleswhichgovernthebehaviorofthethreegreatglobalsystems:theair,thewater,andthesoil.Withineachofthemlivemanythousandsofdifferentspeciesoflivingthings.Eachspeciesissuitedtoitsparticularenvironmentalniche,andeach,throughitslifeprocesses,affectsthephysicalandchemicalpropertiesofitsimmediateenvironment.1概括来讲,地球的三大系统—空气、水和土壤的行为由环境循环所决定。每个系统中都生活着成千上万个不同物种的生物,每个物种都有与之相适宜的独特的环境生位,并且每一物种,在其整个生命历程中,都影响着它的周边环境的物理和化学特性。2Eachlivingspeciesisalsolinkedtomanyothers.Theselinksarebewilderingintheirvarietyandmarvelousintheirintricatedetail.Ananimal,suchasadeer,maydependonplantsforfood;theplantsdependontheactionofsoilbacteriafortheirnutrients;thebacteriainturnliveontheorganicwastesdroppedbytheanimalonthesoil.Atthesametime.thedeerisfoodforthemountainlion.Insectsmayliveonthejuicesofplantsorgatherpollenfromtheirflowers.Otherinsectssuckbloodfromanimals.Bacteriamayliveontheinternaltissuesofanimalsandplants.Fungidegradethebodiesofdeadplantsandanimals.Allthis,manytimesmultipliedandorganizedspeciesbyspeciesinintricate,preciserelationships,makesupthevastnetworkoflifeontheearth.2每个生物物种也与许多其他的物种相联系。1.这些联系的多样性令人迷惑不解,其错综复杂的细节令人惊叹不已。某一动物,如一只鹿,可能依靠植物来获取食物;植物依靠土壤细菌的活动来获取其营养;相应地,细菌以陆地上的动物排泄出来的有机废物为生。同时,鹿是美洲狮的食物。昆虫可能以植物的汁液为生,或者从其花朵里采集花粉。其他的昆虫则吸吮动物的血液。细菌可能以动物和植物的内部组织为生。真菌分解死亡的植物和动物的躯体。所有这一切,由各个物种通过复杂而严密的关系多次繁殖和组织,构成了地球上巨大的生命之网。3Thesciencethatstudiestheserelationshipsandtheprocesseslinkingeachlivingthingtothephysicalandchemicalenvironmentisecology.ItisthescienceofplanetaryhousekeepingFortheenvironmentis,sotospeak,thehousecreatedontheearthbylivingthingsforlivingthings.ItisayoungscienceandmuchofwhatitteacheshasbeenlearnedfromonlysmallsegmentsofthewholenetworkoflifeontheearthEcologyhasnotyetexplicitlydevelopthekindofcohesive,simplifyinggeneralizationsexemplifiedby,say,thelawsofphysics.Neverthelessthereareanumbergeneralizationsthatarealreadyevidentinwhatwenowknowabouttheecosphereandthatcanbeorganizedintoakindofinformalsetoflawsofecology.Thesearedescribedinwhatfollows3研究这些关系以及把每种生物与物理和化学环境相联系的过程的科学是生态学。它是行星家政科学。2.因为环境,可以说,是地球上由生物创造并为生物所用的家园。这是一门年轻的科学,而且它所讲述的大部分内容都是从地球整个生命之网的仅仅一小部分上所得来的。生态学还没有明确形成,比如说,像物理学定律那样联系紧密的、简化的一般法则。不过,在我们现在对生态圈的认识方面,有许多一般法则已经显而易见,它们可以组成一套通俗的“生态学法则”。这些法则表述如下。TheFirstLawofEcology:EverythingIsConnectedtoEverythingElse生态学的第一条法则每一个事物都与其他事物相关4Someoftheevidencethatleadstothisgeneralizationhasalreadybeendiscussed.Itreflectstheexistenceoftheelaboratenetworkofinterconnectionsintheecosphere:amongdifferentlivingorganisms,andbetweenpopulations,species,andindividualorganismsandtheirphysicochemicalsurroundings4得出这条一般法则的一些证据已经讨论过了。它反映了生态圈中存在着相互联系的复杂网络:这个网络存在于不同的生物体中,存在于种群、物种和个体生物与其物理化学环境之间5Thesinglefactthatanecosystemconsistsofmultipleinterconnectedparts,whichactononeanother,hassomesurprisingconsequences.Ourabilitytopicturethebehaviorofsuchsystemshasbeenhelpedconsiderablybythedevelopment,evenmorerecentthanecology,ofthescienceofcybernetics.Weowethebasicconcept,andtheworditself,totheinventivemindofthelateNorbertwiener.5一个生态系统由很多相互联系的部分组成,它们相互作用,仅仅这个事实就产生了一些令人惊奇的结果。控制论这一学科的发展极大地提高了我们描述这类系统行为的能力,而它的发展甚至比生态学还晚3我们把这一基本概念以及这个回本身的产生都归功于已故的诸伯特·威纳的有创造力的头脑6ThewordcyberneticsderivesfromtheGreekwordforhelmsman;itisconcernedwithcyclesofeventsthatsteer,orgovern,thebehaviorofasystem.Thehelmsmanispartofasystemthatalsoincludesthecompass,therudder,andtheship.Iftheshipveersoffthechosencompasscourse,thechangeshowsupinthemovementofthecompassneedleObservedandinterpretedbythehelmsmanthiseventdeterminesasubsequentone:thehelmsmanturnstherudder,whichswingstheshipbacktoitsoriginalcourse.Whenthishappens,thecompassneedlereturnstoitsoriginal,oncoursepositionandthecycleiscomplete.Ifthehelmsmanturnstheruddertoofarinresponsetoasmalldeflectionofthecompassneedle,theexcessswingoftheshipshowsupinthecompasswhichsignalsthehelmsmantocorrecthisoverreactionbyanoppositemovement.Thustheoperationofthiscyclestabilizesthecourseoftheship.6控制论一词源于希腊语中的“舵手”一词:它与操纵或控制某一系统行为的事件发生的周期有关。舵手是某一系统的一部分,这个系统还包括罗盘、船舵和船。若船偏离了罗盘所指示的航向,这一变化会在罗盘指针的移动上显示出来。当舵手观察并了解到这个事件后,便决定了一个随之而来的事件:舵手转动船舵,船舵使船拐回其原来的航向。发生这一情况之后,罗盘指针就会转回到其原来的航向位置上,这个周期随即完成。如果罗盘指针只是稍有偏离,而舵手又因此把舵转得过猛,船的过分偏航会在罗盘上显示出来—这就提醒舵手把舵往回打以纠正他的过度行为。这样,这个周期的运作就使船的航向稳定了下来。7Inquiteasimilarway,stabilizingcyberneticrelationsarebuiltintoanecologicalcycle.Consider,forexample,thefreshwaterecologicalcycle:fish-organicwaste-bacteriaofdecayinorganicproducts-algae-fish.Supposethatduetounusuallywarmsummerweatherthereisarapidgrowthofalgae.Thisdepletesthesupplyofinorganicnutrientssothattwosectorsofthecycle,algaeandnutrients,areoutofbalance,butinoppositedirections.Theoperationoftheecologicalcycle,likethatoftheship,soonbringsthesituationbackintobalance.Fortheexcessinalgaeincreasestheeasewithwhichfishcanfeedonthem;thisreducesthealgalpopulation,increasesfishwasteproduction,andeventuallyleadstoanincreasedlevelofnutrientswhenthewastedecays.Thus,thelevelsofalgaeandnutrientstendtoreturntotheiroriginalbalancedposition.7与之非常相似的是,一个生态循环里也有起稳定作用的控制论关系。以淡水的生态循环为例:鱼一有机废物—腐败细菌—无机物—藻类一鱼。假如由于夏季天气异常炎热,藻类迅速生长。这使得无机营养物的供应得以耗尽,结果这个循环中的两