随着全球生态系统的变化，植物和昆虫之间的古老共生关系正在发生改变。一项新研究揭示了这种关系中潜在的恶性循环，并强调了这对未来生态稳定性的影响。

在这篇报告中，我们将深入探讨这一现象，以及它对我们理解生态系统演化和保护生物多样性的影响。

An ancient, interdependent relationship that contributes to food systems and ecosystem stability across the globe could be changing.

全球食物系统和全球生态系统中的一种古老且相互依赖的关系，目前可能正在发生改变，这对于稳定这两个系统具有重要意义。

Many flowering plants can self-pollinate, or transfer pollen between their own blossoms for seed generation and propagation, but most of these plants have relied on pollinators such as butterflies and bees to reproduce.

许多开花植物能够进行自花授粉，或者通过风力等方式在花朵间传递花粉，从而繁殖后代。长期以来，这些植物中的大多数主要依赖蝴蝶、蜜蜂等昆虫进行授粉以完成繁衍。

pollinate /ˈpɒləneɪt/ v. to put pollen into a flower or plant so that it produces seeds 授粉；传粉

e.g. flowers pollinated by bees/the wind
      由蜜蜂 / 风传粉的花卉
派生词：pollination n. 授粉  

reproduce

reproduce /ˌriːprəˈdjuːs/ v. if people, plants, animals, etc. reproduce or reproduce themselves , they produce young  繁殖

e.g. Most reptiles reproduce by laying eggs on land.

大多数爬行动物通过在陆地产卵进行繁殖。
派生词：reproduction n. 繁殖

Now — amid declines reported in many pollinator populations — a new study on the evolution of one flower species’ mating system has revealed a remarkable shift that could exacerbate the challenges faced by the plants’ insect partners.

然而，由于许多授粉昆虫的数量正在减少，近期一项关于花卉交配系统进化的新研究揭示了一个显著的变化。这一变化可能会进一步加剧植物的伙伴——昆虫所面临的挑战。

The flowers’ reproductive evolution may be linked to environmental changes such as habitat destruction and rapid ongoing decreases in pollinator biodiversity, according to Samson Acoca-Pidolle, who led the study published December 19 in the journal New Phytologist.

该研究由Samson Acoca-Pidolle领导，并于12月19日发表在《新植物学家》杂志上。

Comparing seeds of wild field pansies collected decades ago in France with the plants’ modern descendants, Acoca-Pidolle and his colleagues discovered that today’s flowers are smaller and produce less nectar as a result of increased self-pollination, which has direct impacts on pollinator behavior. The pansies of the past self-fertilized less and attracted far more pollinators than those of the present, according to the study.

经过比较，Acoca-Pidolle和他的同事发现，现代的三色堇花朵更小，产生的花蜜更少，这直接影响了授粉者的行为。他们发现，过去的三色堇自花授粉较少，但吸引的授粉者却更多。

“It seems that it’s only traits that are involved in plant-pollinator interaction that are evolving,” said Acoca-Pidolle, a doctoral researcher at the University of Montpellier. The changes could constrain the plants’ ability to adapt to future environmental changes and have implications for “all of floral biodiversity” — potentially diminishing flowering plants’ genetic, species and ecosystem variation.

蒙彼利埃大学的博士研究员Acoca-Pidolle指出，似乎只有涉及植物与传粉者互动的性状才在进化。这些变化可能会限制植物适应未来环境变化的能力，并对所有花卉生物多样性产生影响，可能会减少开花植物的遗传、物种和生态系统变异。

trait

trait /treɪt/ n. A trait is a particular characteristic, quality, or tendency that someone or something has. 特征；特点；特性

e.g. These personality traits get passed on from generation to generation.  这些性格特征代代相传。

“This may increase the pollinator decline and cause a vicious feedback cycle,” study coauthor Pierre-Olivier Cheptou told CNN. If plants produce less nectar, there will be less food available to pollinators, which will in turn accelerate the rate at which the animals’ numbers dwindle, he explained.

该研究的合著者、法国国家科学研究中心进化生态学家、蒙彼利埃大学教授Pierre-Olivier Cheptou在接受CNN采访时说道：“这可能会加剧授粉者的减少，造成恶性反馈循环。”他解释说，如果植物分泌的花蜜减少，授粉者可获得的食物也会减少，这反过来又会加快动物数量减少的速度。

“The major message is that we are currently seeing the evolutionary breakdown of plant pollinators in the wild,” said Cheptou, an evolutionary ecologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research and professor at the University of Montpellier.

Pierre-Olivier Cheptou表示：“我们目前看到的主要信息是，野外植物授粉者正在走向进化崩溃。”

Other recent studies have found that declining pollinator populations, an offshoot of harmful human activities, threaten the future of food crops and the survival of the many species that depend on them.

近期有研究指出，传粉昆虫数量的减少是受到人类活动的影响，这对粮食作物的未来以及依赖它们的物种构成威胁。

offshoot /ˈɒfʃuːt/ n. If one thing is an offshoot of another, it has developed from that other thing. 分支；衍生物

e.g. Psychology began as a purely academic offshoot of natural philosophy...   心理学最初是自然哲学一个纯粹的学术分支。

The growing body of research bolsters the case for urgent conservation measures — like developing and protecting flower-rich habitats that act as floral and nesting resources — to help stymie global pollinator declines, according to Acoca-Pidolle.

越来越多的研究显示，我们需要采取紧急措施来保护这些昆虫，比如开发和保护花卉资源丰富的栖息地，作为花卉和筑巢资源。Acoca-Pidolle表示，这些措施有助于减缓全球授粉昆虫数量的减少。

“Our impact is not only killing some individual plants … we are putting them on an evolutionary path that could be bad for them,” Acoca-Pidolle told CNN. “And even after we disappear, for a long time, we will have a footprint on this evolutionary trajectory of many species, of the biodiversity of the planet.”

“我们的影响不仅扼杀了一些植物个体，还让它们走上了一条可能对它们不利的进化道路，”Acoca-Pidolle告诉CNN，“即使在我们消失之后，很长一段时间里，我们也会在许多物种和地球生物多样性的进化轨迹上留下深远影响。”

编 辑 :  ETTBL

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