野生动物第六次灭绝正在加速
'Sixth extinction' of world's wildlife faster than feared
The sixth mass extinction of life on Earth is unfolding more quickly than feared, scientists have warned.
科学家们警告称,全球野生动物"第六次大灭绝"的速度比预期的还要快.
More than 30 percent of animals with a backbone - fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals - are declining in both range and population, according to the first comprehensive analysis of these trends.
对动物灭绝趋势的首个全面分析结果显示,超过30%的脊椎动物,例如鱼类、鸟类、两栖动物、爬行动物以及哺乳动物等,它们的种类和数量都在减少.
"This is the case of a biological annihilation occurring globally," said Stanford professor Rodolfo Dirzo, co-author of a study published last Monday in the peer-reviewed US journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
这一研究结果近日在同行评审期刊《美国国家科学院院刊》上发表,该报告的合著者斯坦福大学教授鲁道夫•狄尔佐说："这就是全球性生物大灭绝的现状."
Around a decade ago, experts feared that a new planetary wipeout of species was looming.
专家们在大约十年前就预料到新一阶段的全球性生物大灭绝即将到来.
Today, most agree that it is underway - but the new study suggests that the die-out is already ratcheting up a gear.
现在多数专家都一致认为生物灭绝已经开始,但是新的研究表明,生物灭绝已经加快了速度.
It provides much-needed data about the threat to wildlife, mapping the dwindling ranges and populations of 27,600 species. For 177 mammals, researchers combed through data covering the period 1900 to 2015.
研究中提供了威胁野生物种的重要数据,绘制出了27600种生物种类和数量下降的分布图.其中,研究人员专门针对177种哺乳动梳理出了1900年至2015年间的数据.
The mammal species that were monitored have lost at least a third of their original habitat, the researchers found.
研究人员发现,他们所观测的这些哺乳动物已经失去了至少三分之一的原始栖息地.
Forty percent of them - including rhinos, orangutans, gorillas and many big cats - are surviving on 20 percent or less of the land they once roamed.
包括犀牛、猩猩、大猩猩以及大型猫科动物等在内的40%的哺乳动物,现在的活动区域仅为它们原有栖息地的20%或者更小.
The loss of biodiversity has recently accelerated.
生物多样性的减少最近也加速了.
"Several species of mammals that were relatively safe one or two decades ago are now endangered," including cheetahs, lions and giraffes, the study showed.
研究显示,包括猎豹、狮子以及长颈鹿在内的数种哺乳动物"在一二十年前还相对安全,然而现在处于濒危状态."
