是什么加快了春天到來的腳步？

The Earth's temperature is rising. And as it does， springtime phenomena — like the first bloom of flowers — are getting earlier and earlier. But rising temperatures aren't the only factor. Urban light pollution is also quickening the coming of spring. "So temperature and light are really contributing to a double whammy of making everything earlier." Richard Ffrench-Constant， an entomologist at the University of Exeter.

He and his colleagues compiled 13 years of data from citizen scientists in the U.K.， who tracked the first bud burst of four common trees. Turns out， light pollution — from streetlights in cities， and along roads — pushed bud burst a full week earlier. Way beyond what rising temperatures could achieve. This disruptive timing can ripple through the ecosystem.

"The caterpillars that feed on trees are trying to match the hatching of their eggs to the timing of bud burst. Because the caterpillars want to feed on the juiciest and least chemically protected leaves. And it's not just the caterpillars， of course， that are important. But the knock-on effect is on nesting birds， which are also trying to hatch their chicks at the same time that there's the maximum number of caterpillars." So earlier buds could ultimately affect the survival of birds， and beyond. The findings are in The Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The world's becoming increasingly urbanized， and light pollution is growing — which Ffrench-Constant says could trick trees into budding earlier and earlier. But smarter lighting — like LEDs that dial down certain wavelengths — could help. "Perhaps the exciting thing is， if we understand more about how light affects this bud burst， we might be able to devise smarter sort of street lighting that has less red components， and therefore less early bud burst." Thus keeping springtime an actual springtime phenomenon.

地球溫度正在上升。因此，花兒首次盛開等春季現(xiàn)象的出現(xiàn)時(shí)間會(huì)越來越早。但是，不斷升高的氣溫并不是唯一的影響因素。城市光污染同樣加快了春天到來的腳步?！耙虼?，在溫度和光線的雙重沖擊下，一切都提早到來?！崩聿榈隆べM(fèi)倫奇·康斯坦特是英國(guó)?？巳卮髮W(xué)的昆蟲學(xué)家。

他和他的同事對(duì)英國(guó)科學(xué)家統(tǒng)計(jì)了13年的數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行編制，這些科學(xué)家對(duì)四種常見樹木進(jìn)行追蹤，觀察它們第一次萌芽的時(shí)間。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，城市及道路兩邊的路燈造成的光污染，會(huì)使樹木的發(fā)芽時(shí)間提前整整一個(gè)星期。這種影響比溫度上升造成的影響要更顯著。這種破壞性的時(shí)機(jī)會(huì)對(duì)生態(tài)系統(tǒng)造成影響。

“以樹木為食的毛毛蟲正試圖將自己的孵卵時(shí)間與樹木的發(fā)芽時(shí)間相匹配。因?yàn)槊x要以最多汁、最少受化學(xué)物質(zhì)保護(hù)的樹葉為食。不僅毛毛蟲是這樣，當(dāng)然，這一點(diǎn)很重要。這種連鎖反應(yīng)體現(xiàn)在筑巢鳥類身上，它們?cè)噲D在毛毛蟲數(shù)量最多的時(shí)候孵化鳥蛋。”因此，提前發(fā)芽最終可能會(huì)影響鳥類的生存，甚至產(chǎn)生更加深遠(yuǎn)的影響。該項(xiàng)研究結(jié)果發(fā)表在《英國(guó)皇家學(xué)會(huì)學(xué)報(bào)B》上。

世界越來越城市化，光污染的范圍也在逐漸擴(kuò)大，費(fèi)倫奇·康斯坦特表示這種情況會(huì)欺騙樹木，使其發(fā)芽的時(shí)間越來越早。但是LED這樣的智能燈光會(huì)調(diào)低特定的波長(zhǎng)，這可能會(huì)有所幫助?！耙苍S令人感到興奮的是，如果我們對(duì)燈光如何影響發(fā)芽有更多了解，我們也許能設(shè)計(jì)出發(fā)出更少紅光的智能路燈，這樣就可以使發(fā)芽時(shí)間少提前一些。”進(jìn)而讓春天呈現(xiàn)出實(shí)際的春天現(xiàn)象。

【詞匯積累】

factor n. 因素，要素

track v. 記錄（研究）……的行為（發(fā)展）

ecosystem n. 生態(tài)系統(tǒng)

knock-on adj. 使產(chǎn)生連鎖反應(yīng)的

urbanize v. 使城市化，使都市化