Nalini Nadkarni explores canopy worlds

翻译人员: Bin Xie 校对人员: Xiaoqiao Xie

Trees are wonderful arenas for discovery

树木是一片有趣的值得探索的领域

because of their tall stature, their complex structure,

因为树木挺拔，结构也复杂

the biodiversity they foster and their quiet beauty.

它们培育了生物多样性，它们宁静又美丽

I used to climb trees for fun all the time

我过去常常以爬树为乐

and now, as a grown-up, I have made my profession understanding trees

现在长大了，我从事的专业是去了解树木

and forests, through the medium of science.

和树林，通过科学的方法

The most mysterious part of forests is the upper tree canopy.

树林最神秘的地方是树的树冠部分

And Dr. Terry Erwin, in 1983,

在1983年，特里.欧文

called the canopy, "the last biotic frontier."

称林冠为“最后的生物防线”

I'd like to take you all on a journey up to the forest canopy,

我会带你们进入到森林的林冠

and share with you what canopy researchers are asking

与你们分享林冠研究人员在探索的东西

and also how they're communicating with other people outside of science.

以及他们是如何与这个领域外的人交流的

Let's start our journey on the forest floor

让我们从树林底层开始

of one of my study sites in Costa Rica.

这是我在哥斯达黎加的一个研究基地

Because of the overhanging leaves and branches,

由于树叶和树枝四处展开

you'll notice that the understory is very dark,

你会发现下层植被很暗

it's very still.

也很安静

And what I'd like to do is take you up to the canopy,

我想要做的是带你们到林冠部分

not by putting all of you into ropes and harnesses,

不用绳索和吊带把你们带上去

but rather showing you a very short clip

而是给你们看一个短片

from a National Geographic film called "Heroes of the High Frontier."

来自国家地理频道的短片叫：雨林林冠的探险家

This was filmed in Monteverde, Costa Rica

这是在哥斯达黎加的蒙特威尔特（一个森林保护区）拍摄的

and I think it gives us the best impression of what it's like

我觉得这可以让我们更好的经历

to climb a giant strangler fig.

爬上巨大勒颈无花果树（一种热带树种）的感觉

(Music)

音乐

(Growling)

吼叫声

(Rustling)

沙沙声

So what you'll see up there is that it's really like the atmosphere of an open field,

你可以看到的是林的上端的确很像一块开阔的场地

and there are tremendous numbers of plants and animals that have adapted

有很多植物和动物

to make their way and their life in the canopy.

适应了林冠的生活，并一直生活在那里

Common groups, like the sloth here, have clear adaptations

有相同特征的动物，如树獭，可以很容易适应

for forest canopies, hanging on with their very strong claws.

林冠的生活，用强有力的爪子抓住树不放

But I'd like to describe to you a more subtle kind of diversity

但我想告诉你们一种不易察觉的生物多样性

and tell you about the ants.

那就是蚂蚁

There are 10,000 species of ants that taxonomists --

世上有1万种蚂蚁

people who describe and name animals -- have named.

被描述动物并给动物取名的分类学者取名

4,000 of those ants live exclusively in the forest canopy.

其中4千种蚂蚁只生活在林冠中

One of the reasons I tell you about ants

我拿蚂蚁举例的其中一个原因是

is because of my husband, who is in fact an ant taxonomist

我的丈夫其实是一位蚂蚁分类学者

and when we got married, he promised to name an ant after me, which he did --

我们结婚后，他许诺我用我的名字给一种蚂蚁取名

Procryptocerus nalini, a canopy ant.

Procyptocerus nalini, 一种林冠蚂蚁

We've had two children, August Andrew and Erika

我们有两个孩子，奥格斯特安德鲁和埃丽卡

and actually, he named ants after them.

其实他也用他们的名字给蚂蚁取了名

So we may be the only family that has an ant named after each one of us.

我们可能是唯一一个用自己的名字给蚂蚁取名的家庭

But my passion -- in addition to Jack and my children --

但我关注的，除了杰克和我的孩子

are the plants, the so-called epiphytes,

是这些植物，所谓的附生植物

those plants that grow up on trees.

这些植物长在树上

They don't have roots that go into trunks nor to the forest floor.

它们没有长在树枝上或丛林地表的根

But rather, it is their leaves that are adapted

但他们的叶子能够

to intercept the dissolved nutrients that come to them in the form of mist and fog.

截留以薄雾形式出现的已溶解的营养物

These plants occur in great diversity,

这些植物的种类很多

over 28,000 species around the world.

世界上大约有两万八千种

They grow in tropical forests like this one

它们生长在这样的热带丛林里

and they also grow in temperate rainforests, that we find in Washington state.

它们也生长在温带雨林里，我们在华盛顿州可以发现这些

These epiphytes are mainly dominated by the mosses.

这些附生植物大多是藓类

One thing I want to point out is that underneath these live epiphytes,

有一件事我要说明的是在这些活的附生植物下面

as they die and decompose, they actually construct an arboreal soil,

当这些植物死去并分解，它们变成了树上的土壤

both in the temperate zone and in the tropics.

温带和热带地区都有这种现象

And these mosses, generated by decomposing,

这些由分解而产生的藓类大多数

are like peat moss in your garden.

是和你们院子里的泥苔藓一样

They have a tremendous capacity for holding on to nutrients and water.

它们有很强的能力锁住营养和水分

One of the surprising things I discovered

我发现一件很奇怪的事

is that, if you pull back with me on those mats of epiphytes,

如果我们回去看这些苔藓群

what you'll find underneath them are connections, networks

在它们下面我们可以找到一些联系和网络

of what we call canopy roots.

我们称之为林冠的根

These are not epiphyte roots:

这些不是附生植物的根

these are roots that emerge from the trunk and branch of the host trees themselves.

这些是主体树的树干和树枝的根

And so those epiphytes are actually paying the landlord a bit of rent

所以那些附生植物其实是在支付地主（主体树）租金

in exchange for being supported high above the forest floor.

以便能够生活在丛林地表高处

I was interested, and my canopy researcher colleagues have been interested

我和我的同事都感兴趣的是

in the dynamics of the canopy plants that live in the forest.

林冠植物生活在丛林里的动态过程

We've done stripping experiments

我们做了剥离实验

where we've removed mats of epiphytes

我们剥去了苔藓群

and looked at the rates of recolonization.

然后观察苔藓重新长出来的速度

We had predicted that they would grow back very quickly

我们估计它们会长得很快

and that they would come in encroaching from the side.

并且它们会先从边上长出来

What we found, however, was that they took an extremely long time --

但我们最后发现，其实它们花了相当长的时间

over 20 years -- to regenerate,

20多年才长出来

starting from the bottom and growing up.

从底部慢慢生长

And even now, after 25 years,

甚至到现在，25年后

they're not up there, they have not recolonized completely.

它们没有长到那里，没有完全覆盖树表

And I use this little image to say

我用这张小图想说的是

this is what happens to mosses.

藓类就是这样

If it's gone, it's gone,

如果它们消失了，它们就没了

and if you're really lucky you might get something growing back from the bottom.

如果你足够幸运，你可能让它们从底部重新长出来

(Laughter)

笑

So, recolonization is really very slow.

所以，重新覆盖真的是非常慢

These canopy communities are fragile.

这些林冠系统是很脆弱的

Well, when we look out, you and I, over that canopy

那么，当我们一起俯瞰

of the intact primary forest,

这个保护完好的主要丛林的林冠

what we see is this enormous carpet of carbon.

我们看到大量的碳化物

One of the challenges that canopy researchers are attacking today

如今林冠研究者面临的一个挑战是

is trying to understand the amount of carbon that is being sequestered.

尝试了解林冠所吸收的碳化物量

We know it's a lot,

我们知道有很多

but we do not yet know the answers to how much,

但我们还不知道到底有多少

and by what processes, carbon is being taken out of the atmosphere,

又是通过什么途径这些碳化物被环境中吸收

held in its biomass, and moving on through the ecosystem.

储存在藓类上，然后到整个生态系统

So I hope I've showed you that canopy-dwellers

所以我想我应该像你们展示了林冠上生活的生物

are not just insignificant bits of green up high in the canopy

并不仅仅是微不足道的的一点林冠高处的绿色

that Tarzan and Jane were interested in,

那是泰山和珍妮感兴趣的

but rather that they foster biodiversity

而且他们培育了生物多样性

contribute to ecosystem nutrient cycles,

帮助生态系统的营养循环

and they also help to keep our global climate stable.

他们也有益于全球气候的稳定

Up in the canopy, if you were sitting next to me

在林冠高处，如果你与我坐在一起

and you turned around from those primary forest ecosystems,

如是你朝四周看一下那些主要的森林生态系统

you would also see scenes like this.

你也会看到这样的情景

Scenes of forest destruction, forest harvesting

森林破坏，森林砍伐

and forest fragmentation,

大片森林被分块

thereby making that intact tapestry of the canopy

于是保存完好的林冠也

unable to function in the marvelous ways that it has

无法发挥它所具有的伟大作用

when it is not disturbed by humans.

就像当它没有受到人类的影响时

I've also looked out on urban places like this

我也观察了这样的城市地区

and thought about people who are disassociated from trees in their lives.

并思考着那些一生中与树木不太接触的人

People who grew up in a place like this

那些生活在这种地区的人

did not have the opportunity to climb trees and form a relationship with trees

没有什么机会爬树，与树林和森林建立感情

and forests, as I did when I was a young girl.

像我还是小女孩的时候那样

This troubles me.

这让我很头疼

Here in 2009, you know, it's not an easy thing to be a forest ecologist,

你知道，在2009年，成为森林生态学家

gripping ourselves with these kinds of questions

专心研究这些问题

and trying to figure out how we can answer them.

并找到答案不是件容易的事

And especially, you know, as a small brown woman

你知道，特别是作为一个身材矮小的棕色皮肤女性

in a little college, in the upper northwest part of our country,

在一个小型的学院，在我们国家的西北部

far away from the areas of power and money,

远离权力和金钱

I really have to ask myself, "What can I do about this?

我真的必须问自己：在这个问题上我到底可以做什么呢

How can I reconnect people with trees?"

我该如何重新把人和树联系起来

Well, I think that I can do something.

我想我可以做些事

I know that as a scientist, I have information

作为一位科学家，我有知识

and as a human being, I can communicate with anybody,

作为一个人， 我可以与任何人交流

inside or outside of academia.

无论是内行还是外行

And so, that's what I've begin doing,

所以我就开始行动

and so I'd like to unveil the International Canopy Network here.

我想要首次向大家介绍国际林冠互联网

We consult to the media about canopy questions;

我们与媒体交流这些关于林冠的问题

we have a canopy newsletter;

我们有一个关于林冠的杂志

we have an email LISTSERV.

我们有邮件LISTSERV

And so we're trying to disseminate information about the importance of the canopy,

然后我们尝试着去推广林冠的重要性

the beauty of the canopy,

林冠的魅力

the necessity of intact canopies,

保护完好的林冠的重要性

to people outside of academia.

向学科外的人

We also recognize that a lot of the products that we make --

我们意识到我们的很多产品

those videos and so forth --

像那些视频或其他

you know, they don't reach everybody,

并不是所有人都能接触到的

and so we've been fostering projects that reach people outside of academia,

所以我们一直在创建一个项目，可以让学科外的人

and outside of the choir that most ecologists preach to.

和生态学家的组织以外的人接触到

Treetop Barbie is a great example of that.

树顶芭比就是一个很棒的例子

What we do, my students in my lab and I,

我和实验室的学生

is we buy Barbies from Goodwill and Value Village,

从GOODWILL和VALUE VILLAGE里买来芭比娃娃

we dress her in clothes that have been made by seamstresses

然后给她们穿上裁缝师做的衣服

and we send her out with a canopy handbook.

然后把她与林冠手册一起送出去

And my feeling is --

我的感觉是

(Applause)

鼓掌

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

鼓掌

-- that we've taken this pop icon and we have just tweaked her a little bit

我们把这个稍作调整的广受欢迎的元素

to become an ambassador who can carry the message

作为传递我们信息的大使

that being a woman scientist studying treetops is actually a really great thing.

我感觉到作为一位研究树冠的女科学家来说真的很棒

We've also made partnerships with artists,

而且我们与艺术家合作

with people who understand and can communicate the aesthetic beauty

与那些了解并能交流

of trees and forest canopies.

树林和林冠的审美的人合作

And I'd like to just tell you one of our projects,

我想要告诉你们我们其中一个项目

which is the generation of Canopy Confluences.

那是林冠聚会的产物

What I do is I bring together scientists and artists of all kinds,

我所做的就是把科学家和各类艺术家聚在一起

and we spend a week in the forest on these little platforms;

我们在森林里的这些地方花了一周的时间

and we look at nature, we look at trees, we look at the canopy,

我们观察自然，观察树林，观察林冠

and we communicate, and exchange, and express what we see together.

我们对我们所看到的进行交流

The results have been fantastic.

结果让人欣喜

I'll just give you a few examples.

我给你们举一些例子

This is a fantastic installation by Bruce Chao

这是布鲁斯超的一个装置

who is chair of the Sculpture and Glass Blowing Department

他是雕塑和玻璃吹制学院的院长

at Rhode Island School of Design.

在罗德岛设计学校

He saw nests in the canopy at one of our Canopy Confluences

他在西北太平洋的林冠聚会上看到林冠上的鸟巢

in the Pacific Northwest, and created this beautiful sculpture.

并设计了这个漂亮的雕塑

We've had dance people up in the canopy.

我们也让舞蹈者上到林冠

Jodi Lomask, and her wonderful troupe Capacitor,

乔帝鲁玛斯克和她出色的剧团Capacitor

joined me in the canopy in my rainforest site in Costa Rica.

参加了我在哥斯达黎加雨林基地的林冠聚会

They made a fabulous dance called "Biome."

他们编排了一个很棒的舞蹈叫Biome

They danced in the forest,

他们在森林里跳舞

and we are taking this dance, my scientific outreach communications,

我们和这支舞蹈，我的科学对外交流团队

and also linking up with environmental groups,

并且与环保团队一起

to go to different cities and to perform

到不同的城市展示

the science, the dance and the environmental outreach

科学，舞蹈和环保宣传

that we hope will make a difference.

我们希望可以起到作用

We brought musicians to the canopy,

我们把音乐家带到林冠

and they made their music -- and it's fantastic music.

他们在那里创作非常棒的音乐

We had wooden flutists, we had oboists,

我们有木笛表演家，也有双簧管吹奏者

we had opera singers, we had guitar players,

我们有歌剧演唱家，有吉他手

and we had rap singers.

还有说唱歌手

And I brought a little segment to give you

我给你们带来了一小段

of Duke Brady's "Canopy Rap."

杜克布兰迪创作的Canopy Rap(林冠说唱)

(Music) That's Duke!

那是杜克

(Applause)

鼓掌

This experience of working with Duke

与杜克一起工作的经历

also led me to initiate a program called Sound Science.

激发了我去创办一个叫音乐科学的项目

I saw the power of Duke's song with urban youth --

我能看到杜克的歌对城市青年人的影响

an audience, you know, I as a middle-aged professor,

作为一个中年教授

I don't have a hope of getting to --

我不寄希望于我能

in terms of convincing them of the importance of wildlands.

让他们相信林野的重要性

So I engaged Caution, this rap singer,

所以我请了考逊，这位说唱歌手

with a group of young people from inner-city Tacoma.

与一群从塔科马内城来的年轻人

We went out to the forest, I would pick up a branch,

我们到了森林，我捡起一根树枝

Caution would rap on it,

考逊就开始用树枝来表演说唱

and suddenly that branch was really cool.

突然之间这个树枝变得特别酷

And then the students would come into our sound studios,

于是这些学生会来我们的音乐工作室

they would make their own rap songs with their own beats.

他们用他们自己的节拍创作音乐

They ended up making a CD

最后制成CD

which they took home to their family and friends,

将CD带回家给家人和朋友听

thereby expressing their own experiences with nature

通过这种方式他们表达了

in their own medium.

与自然接触的经历

The final project I'll talk about is one that's very close to my heart,

我想说的最后一个项目是特别贴近我的心灵的

and it involves an economic and social value

这个项目有它的经济和社会价值

that is associated with epiphytic plants.

也与附生植物有关

In the Pacific Northwest,

在太平洋西北部

there's a whole industry of moss-harvesting

有一种产业

from old-growth forests.

就是从古老的森林里收集苔藓

These mosses are taken from the forest;

这些苔藓从森林中获取

they're used by the floriculture industry, by florists,

然后被花艺产业的花匠利用

to make arrangements and make hanging baskets.

来做编织物和吊篮

It's a 265 million dollar industry

这个产业能创收2亿6千五百万

and it's increasing rapidly.

并且增收迅速

If you remember that bald guy,

如果你们还记得这些秃的树木

you'll know that what has been stripped off of these trunks

你们就知道这些树干被剥去了什么东西

in the Pacific Northwest old-growth forest

在太平洋西北部的古老森林里

is going to take decades and decades to come back.

需要几十年才能恢复

So this whole industry is unsustainable.

所以这个产业是不符合可持续发展的

What can I, as an ecologist, do about that?

那么作为生态学家，我能做什么呢

Well, my thought was that I could learn how to grow mosses,

我的想法是我可以学习怎样种植苔藓

and that way we wouldn't have to take them out of the wild.

这样的话我们就不需从野外采集苔藓

And I thought, if I had some partners that could help me with this,

并且我想如果有人在这件事上可以帮我

that would be great.

那也很不错

And so, I thought perhaps incarcerated men and women --

于是我想可能那些被监禁的男女

who don't have access to nature,

他们不能接触到自然

who often have a lot of time, they often have space,

但他们有很多时间和空间

and you don't need any sharp tools to work with mosses --

他们也不需要尖锐的工具去种植苔藓

would be great partners.

会是很好的合作对象

And they have become excellent partners.

并且他们已经成为很棒的合作者

The best I can imagine.

是我可想像的最好的

They were very enthusiastic.

他们工作非常积极

(Applause)

鼓掌

They were incredibly enthusiastic about the work.

他们有着不可思议的工作热情

They learned how to distinguish different species of mosses,

他们学着去分辨不同种类的苔藓

which, to tell you the truth,

老实告诉你们吧

is a lot more than my undergraduate students at the Evergreen College can do.

这比我在Evergreen College（一所学校）的本科生可分辨的要多得多

And they embraced the idea that they could help develop a research design

并且他们抓住这个可以帮助研究计划的发展的机会

in order to grow these mosses.

来种植这些苔藓

We've been successful as partners

作为合作伙伴我们成功地

in figuring out which species grow the fastest,

了解了哪种苔藓长得最快

and I've just been overwhelmed with how successful this has been.

我也一直难以抑制这样的成功感

Because the prison wardens were very enthusiastic about this as well,

因为监狱长也对这个研究充满着热情

I started a Science and Sustainability Seminar in the prisons.

我在监狱里开办了科学和可持续性的讲座

I brought my scientific colleagues and sustainability practitioners into the prison.

我带着我的科学团队和可持续性实践专家去了监狱

We gave talks once a month,

每个月讲座一次

and that actually ended up implementing

这最终成了一个在监狱实行的

some amazing sustainability projects at the prisons --

一个令人吃惊的可持续性发展项目

organic gardens, worm culture, recycling,

有机花园，桑蚕养植法，回收利用

water catchment and beekeeping. (Applause)

集水处，养蜂

Our latest endeavor,

我们最近努力的方向

with a grant

鼓掌

from the Department of Corrections at Washington state,

在华盛顿州监狱局的支持下

they've asked us to expand this program to three more prisons.

他们要求我们把这个项目扩展到另外三个监狱

And our new project is having the inmates and ourselves

并且我们新的项目是让犯人和我们自己

learn how to raise the Oregon spotted frog

一起学习怎么养殖俄勒冈州点蛙

which is a highly endangered amphibian in Washington state and Oregon.

点蛙是华盛世顿和俄勒冈州濒临灭绝的两栖动物

So they will raise them -- in captivity, of course --

所以犯人们在密闭的环境中养殖点蛙

from eggs to tadpoles and onward to frogs.

从卵到蝌蚪再到青蛙

And they will have the pleasure, many of them,

他们很多人都感受到了快乐

of seeing those frogs that they've raised from eggs and helped develop,

当看到这些卵在他们的抚育下长大成青蛙

helped nurture, move out into protected wildlands

然后把青蛙带到野外保护区

to augment the number of endangered species out there in the wild.

在野外繁殖增加这种濒临物种的数量

And so, I think for many reasons --

所以我想，从各个方面讲

ecological, social, economic and perhaps even spiritual --

生态的，社会的，经济的或可能是精神上的

this has been a tremendous project

这是一个很了不起的项目

and I'm really looking forward to

我真的期望

not only myself and my students doing it,

不仅是我和我的学生在做

but also to promote and teach other scientists how to do this.

我也希望鼓励或教授其他的科学家如何去做

As many of you are aware, the world of academia is a rather inward-looking one.

相信你们大多数人明白，学术界不太关心外界

I'm trying to help researchers move more outward

我尝试着帮助研究人员更关注外界

to have their own partnerships

建立他们与

with people outside of the academic community.

学科领域外的人的合伙关系

And so I'm hoping that my husband Jack, the ant taxonomist,

所以我正希望着我的丈夫杰克，一位蚂蚁分类学者

can perhaps work with Mattel to make Taxonomist Ken.

可以与美泰儿公司合作去生产分类学者Ken(男性芭比娃娃）

Perhaps Ben Zander and Bill Gates could get together

可能本赞德和比尔盖茨可以合作

and make an opera about AIDS.

创作关于爱滋的戏剧

Or perhaps Al Gore and Naturally 7 could make a song about climate change

或者可能艾尔戈尔和Naturally 7（一个乐队）能合作创作关于气候变化的歌曲

that would really make you clap your hands.

那才真的能让你们拍案叫绝

So, although it's a little bit of a fantasy, I think it's also a reality.

虽然这有点幻想，但我觉得这也很实际

Given the duress that we're feeling environmentally in these times,

考虑到我们现在感觉环境上的压抑

it is time for scientists to reach outward,

现在是科学家们该更关注外界事物的时候了

and time for those outside of science to reach towards academia as well.

也是科学学科的外行们该了解各学科的时候

I started my career with trying to understand the mysteries of forests

我的事业是一开始试图去了解森林的神秘

with the tools of science.

用各种科学方法

By making these partnerships that I described to you,

通过我先前向你们描述的这些合作项目

I have really opened my mind and, I have to say, my heart

我才真正在开拓了我的思维，我得说，我的心灵

to have a greater understanding,

对事物有了更深的了解

to make other discoveries about nature and myself.

对自然和自身有了其他的发现

When I look into my heart, I see trees --

当我审视我的内心时，我看到了树

this is actually an image of a real heart --

这其实是一颗真正心脏的图片

there are trees in our hearts,

在我们的内心有树

there are trees in your hearts.

在你们的内心也有树

When we come to understand nature,

当我们了解了自然

we are touching the most deep, the most important parts of our self.

我们也正在触摸着我们自己最深，最重要的部分

In these partnerships, I have also learned

在这些合作中，我也明白了

that people tend to compartmentalize themselves

人们总喜欢把他们分类成

into IT people, and movie star people, and scientists,

电脑科技人才，电影明星，科学家

but when we share nature,

但当他们分享自然时

when we share our perspectives about nature,

当我们分享对自然的看法时

we find a common denominator.

我们找到了一个共同点

Finally, as a scientist and as a person

最后，作为一位科学家，一个普通的人

and now, as part of the TED community,

现在作为TED的一员

I feel that I have better tools

我发现我有更好的方法

to go out to trees, to go out to forests, to go out to nature,

去研究树，研究森林，研究自然

to make new discoveries about nature --

对自然有新的发现

and about humans' place in nature

对人在自然中的地位有新的发现

wherever we are and whomever you are.

不论我们在哪里，不论我们是谁

Thank you very much.

非常谢谢大家

(Applause)

鼓掌