◆雙語閱讀
A new study estimates there are 20 quadrillion individual ants across the globe, which together weigh more than all wild birds and mammals combined.“Anyone who’s looked at ants and realised there are lots of them has probably wondered how many there may be in total – it’s just a question that’s on people’s minds,” says Patrick Schultheiss at the University of Hong Kong, who co-led the study with his colleague Sabine Nooten at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg in Germany.
翻譯▼
一項新的研究估計，全球有2億億隻螞蟻，所有螞蟻的總重量比所有野生鳥類和哺乳動物的生物總重量還要大。香港大學的派翠克·斯圖爾特伊斯和他的同僚，德國朱利斯馬克西米蘭大學的沙濱·努滕，共同主持了這項研究，他說：“任何觀察過螞蟻并意識到有很多螞蟻的人，可能都會想知道世界上總共有多少隻螞蟻——這隻是人們心中的一個疑問。”
To provide an answer, they compiled data from 489 studies that measured ant densities in different parts of the world using standardised methods. They extrapolated this data to estimate there are approximately 20,000,000,000,000,000, or 20 quadrillion, ants across the globe.
翻譯 ▼
為了回答這個問題，他們收集了來自489項研究中的資料，這些研究用标準化的方法測量了世界不同地區的螞蟻密度。他們根據這些資料推斷，全球大約有2億億隻螞蟻。
The total biomass of this global ant population – the collective weight of carbon in all the individuals – is about 12 million tonnes. This is more than wild birds and mammals combined, which have a total biomass of 2 million tonnes and 7 million tonnes, respectively. Humans, by comparison, have a total biomass of 60 million tonnes.
點選下方空白區域檢視翻譯 ▼
全球螞蟻種群的總生物量——所有個體的總碳重量——約為1200萬噸。這比野生鳥類和哺乳動物的總和還要多，它們的生物量分别為200萬噸和700萬噸。相比之下，人類的總生物量為6000萬噸。
Previous estimates of the number of ants on Earth were “essentially educated guesses” that extrapolated from ant densities measured in one or two locations, says Schultheiss. The latest analysis aimed to be more accurate by looking at studies from all continents and written in different languages. There are still gaps in our knowledge, however, because most ant counts have been conducted on the ground, rather than in trees or underground, says Schultheiss. Statistics from Africa and northern Asia are also limited.
翻譯 ▼
斯圖爾特伊斯說，以前對地球上螞蟻數量的估計“基本上是有根據的猜測”，即根據地球上一兩個點位的測量的螞蟻密度推斷出來的。然而，斯圖爾特伊斯說，我們的認知仍有差距，因為大多是對地面的螞蟻計數，而沒有算樹上和地下的螞蟻。非洲和北亞的統計資料也很有限。
There are 15,700 known species and subspecies of ants. The insects are vital to most ecosystems because of their roles in dispersing seeds, increasing nutrient availability via soil turnover and providing food for ant-eating animals. Knowing the global ant population is important for conservation purposes, says Nooten.
翻譯 ▼
全球已知的螞蟻種類和亞種有15700種。因為螞蟻可以傳播種子、通過翻動土壤增加土地的營養性，為食蟻動物提供食物等，這種昆蟲在大多數生态系統中都發揮着至關重要的作用。努滕說，掌握全球螞蟻的數量對于生态保護的目标來說很重要。
本文節選自：New Scientist （新科學家）
釋出時間：2022.09.19
作者：Alice Klein
原文标題：There are 20,000,000,000,000,000 ants crawling all over Earth
◆詞彙積累
1.quadrillion
英 [kwɒˈdrɪljən] 美 [kwɑːˈdrɪljən] n. 百萬之四次方；千的五次方adj. 千之五次方的
2.extrapolate
英 [ɪkˈstræpəleɪt] 美 [ɪkˈstræpəleɪt] vt. 外推；推斷vi. 外推；進行推斷
3.biomass
英 [ˈbaɪəʊmæs] 美 [ˈbaɪoʊmæs] n. 生物量；生物質能燃料
4.dispersing
美 [dɪˈspɜːrs] n. 配置設定，分散adj. 分散的v. 使散開；散布；驅散（disperse 的現在分詞）
◆詞組搭配
1.educated guess n. 有根據的推測
◆寫作句總結
原句：Anyone who’s looked at ants and realised there are lots of them has probably wondered how many there may be in total – it’s just a question that’s on people’s minds.
結構：Anyone who’s looked at XX and realised XX has probably wondered how XX – it’s just a question that’s on people’s minds.
例句：Anyone who’s benefited from studying and realized how important it is has probably wondered how to use the knowledge to become a better self – it’s just a question that’s on people’s minds.