英语科普小知识 热的地区更容易招引害虫.docVIP

Higher temperatures in cities can be a key driver of insect pest outbreaks on trees in urban areas, according to research published March 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Emily Meineke from North Carolina State University and colleagues from other institutions. The researchers found that a scale insect that exclusively feeds on oak trees was 13 times more abundant on willow oaks in the hottest parts of the city of Raleigh, North Carolina than in cooler areas of the same city, even when other factors, like natural enemies that would kill the insects, were similar in both areas. In a second experiment, they found scale insects collected from trees in hot areas had higher survival rates in hot greenhouses than in cool ones. However, insects originally from cooler urban areas remained low in number in both hot and cool greenhouses. The researchers found no differences in the rates of reproduction of insects in any of these groups. Thus, they suggest that the differences in abundance may be a result of differences in survival rather than a higher reproductive capacity. ? Urbanization of an area changes the species that dwell in it. Previous studies have analyzed these effects in terms of loss of resources or changes to habitat, but this is the first research to focus on the effects of heat islands created in cities. Meineke explains that, Urban warming can lead to higher insect pest abundance, a result of pest?acclimation（适应环境）?or adaptation to higher temperatures. ? The study concludes that since current urban warming is similar in magnitude to the higher temperatures predicted by global warming in the next fifty years, their results may indicate potential changes in pest abundance as natural forests also grow warmer. 城市气温较高，可以对市区的树木虫害爆发的关键驱动力，根据研究发表在3月27日开放存取期刊PLOS ONE由Emily Meineke的北卡罗来纳州立大学和其他机构的同事。研究人员发现，介壳虫，专门吃栎树是13倍以上丰富的柳栎，北卡罗莱纳州罗利市的最热的部分比在较冷区域同一城市，甚至当其他因素，如天敌可以杀死昆虫，在这两个领域相似。在第二个实验中，他们发现比在阴凉的树木在炎热的地方收集到的介壳虫在炎热的温室有更高的生存率。然而，最初是从冷却器市区的昆虫数量仍然偏低在冷热大棚。研究人员