物种多样性的决定因素.docVIP

物種多樣性的決定因素 What Determines Species Diversity 伊莉莎白?潘尼西ELIZABETH PENNISI） 陸地上和海洋各的植物、動物和微生物促世界去運行一切，將陽光轉換成能源提供能量給其他生命體在無機體和有機體當中進行碳及氮循環、以及修補地貌。 Countless species of plants, animals, and microbes fill every crack and crevice on land and in the sea. They make the world go round, converting sunlight to energy that fuels the rest of life, cycling carbon and nitrogen between inorganic and organic forms, and modifying the landscape. 在地區以及族群中，有上百種的生物存在著。舉例而言，高緯度地區，熱帶地區是個性的。生物學家們都無不致力於了解其中的關鍵性原因所在。當人類的干擾、掠奪者和被掠奪者之間的關係以及其他的食物網為前提之下，環境與富有生命性的有機體間的相互作用以及有機體本身當中的相互作用皆在促進亦或是抑制多樣性當中扮演關鍵性的角色。但是，的確，除了這些因素之外，其他關於物種多樣性及建立物種間協調性仍是ㄧ個謎。 In some places and some groups, hundreds of species exist, whereas in others, very few have evolved; the tropics, for example, are a complex paradise compared to higher latitudes. Biologists are striving to understand why. The interplay between environment and living organisms and between the organisms themselves play key roles in encouraging or discouraging diversity, as do human disturbances, predator-prey relationships, and other food web connections. But exactly how these and other forces work together to shape diversity is largely a mystery.　 挑戰是令人怯步的。基本資料舉例而言，我們都不知道究竟在地球上的動植物種到底有多少，此外，研究人員們更不可能去預測多少數目和幾種種類的有機體構成微生物世界。由於生物演化很多階段並且持續了上百萬年以上，那些正在進行徹底調查生物演化、演化限制以及生物多樣性的研究人員也缺乏標準的生物演化時間表的輔助。除此之外，生物歷經變異歷程幾乎與其科種相近的生物所歷經的一樣多。對於為什麼基因改變將會演變成新品種他們對於物種形成的影響仍然不是那麼清楚。 The challenge is daunting. Baseline data are poor, for example: We don’t yet know how many plant and animal species there are on Earth, and researchers can’t even begin to predict the numbers and kinds of organisms that make up the microbial world. Researchers probing the evolution of, and limits to, diversity also lack a standardized time scale because evolution takes place over periods lasting from days to millions of years. Moreover, there can be almost as much variation within a species as between two closely related ones. Nor is it clear what genetic changes will res