Scared grasshoppers leave their mark in the Earth 恐懼的蚱蜢在泥土裡留下影響

Scared grasshoppers leave their mark in the Earth
恐懼的蚱蜢在泥土裡留下影響
2012-07-18◎魏國金

Grasshoppers who die frightened leave their mark in the Earth in a way that more mellow ones do not, US and Israeli researchers said.
驚恐而死的蚱蜢會以一種方式在泥土留下牠們的影響，而較平和而死的蚱蜢則不會，美國與以色列的研究人員指出。

"So, indeed this sounds a little bit weird," lead author Dr Hawlena said in an audio interview posted on the journal Science’s website.
「所以，這聽起來確實有一點怪異，」首要作者豪連納在「科學」期刊網站所刊出的語音訪問上說。

Dr Hawlena, a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, along with colleagues at Yale University devised a test to measure the legacy of grasshoppers who were scared by spiders.
耶路撒冷的希伯來大學研究員豪連納博士與耶魯大學的同僚設計一種測試，以測量被蜘蛛嚇壞的蚱蜢遺留下的東西。

They placed cages in areas of natural vegetation and allowed some grasshoppers to be alone while others were placed in cages with a spider.
他們在自然的植被區域置放籠子，讓一些蚱蜢獨處，而其他則與蜘蛛共處籠內。

They glued the mouths of the spiders shut in order to make sure that the grasshoppers experienced pure fear but were not actually killed by the predators.
他們將蜘蛛的口黏閉，以確定蚱蜢經驗到純粹的恐懼，而非被掠食者真的殺害。

When the grasshoppers died, Dr Hawlena took their bodies back to the lab and deposited them in soil.
當蚱蜢死後，豪連納博士將屍體帶回實驗室，再埋入土內。

He found that the body composition of the frightened grasshoppers was changed--their carbon to nitrogen ratio was about four percent higher than their calmer peers.
他發現備受驚嚇的蚱蜢，其遺體構成發生改變─牠們的碳氮比要比死亡時相對平靜的蚱蜢高出4%。

But that rather tiny difference caused plant matter to decay much more slowly than it did in comparison tests using grasshoppers who died more peacefully.
然而這相當微小的差別造成植物物質的腐爛速度遠較利用平靜死亡者進行的對照測試為慢。

Dr Hawlena said the findings shed light not only on how predators and prey influence the makeup of the soil, but how stresses invoked by drought and extreme heat might have lasting effects on crops and growth cycles.（AFP）
豪連納博士指出，這項發現不僅說明掠食者與被捕食者如何影響土壤的構成，同時也解釋乾旱與極度高溫所引發的壓力，如何可能對作物與成長週期產生持久效應。（法新社）

新聞辭典

leave one’s mark（on, upon）︰片語，留下印記，引申為留下深刻影響。例句︰The British colonization left a mark on India.（英國的殖民對印度留下深遠影響。）

deposit︰動詞，使沉積、放下、儲存（金錢）。例句︰A taxi deposited me in front of the museum.（計程車讓我在博物館前下車。）

shed light on︰片語，闡明、說明清楚。例句︰Experts hope the plane’s flight recorders will shed light on the cause of the crash.（專家希望這架飛機的飛行紀錄將說明墜機原因。）