由于缺乏游客“守護者”，海鳥棲息地受到了影響，它們享受著封閉的生活

由于缺乏游客“守護者”，海鳥棲息地受到了影響，它們享受著封閉的生活

The widespread lockdowns triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused a number of unexpected effects on birdsong, air pollution and even seismic noise on planet Earth. Many Tweeted #EarthIsHealing to shine a light on the returning of wildlife to once anthropogenically noisy areas (though not all of these turned out to be true).

2020年COVID-19大流行引發(fā)的大范圍封鎖對鳥鳴、空氣污染甚至地震噪音造成了一系列意想不到的影響。許多人在推特上發(fā)了#EarthIsHealing(地球正在愈合)的帖子，以闡明野生動物重返曾經因人類活動而喧鬧的地區(qū)的問題(盡管并非所有這些都被證明是真的)。

While the benefits for nature weren’t always as extensive as they were made out to be, it was perhaps unexpected that some wild animals might actually fare less well without a gaggle of tourists peering at their homes. New research published in the journal Biological Conservation has found that this was indeed the case for a colony of seabirds on the Swedish island of Stora Karlsö in the Baltic Sea. Without the hustle and bustle of tourists flocking to see the spectacle of so many cliff-nesting birds, the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) saw a sevenfold increase in the area – much to the dismay of the common murre, Uria aalge.

雖然對大自然的好處并不總是像人們想象的那樣廣泛，但令人意外的是，如果沒有一群游客在他們的家窺視，一些野生動物可能會活得更糟。發(fā)表在《生物保護》雜志上的一項新研究發(fā)現，在波羅的海的瑞典斯道拉島Karlsö上的一群海鳥確實存在這種情況。沒有了蜂擁前來觀看這么多筑巢在懸崖上的鳥類的游客，白尾鷹(Haliaeetus albicilla)在該地區(qū)的數量增加了7倍，這讓普通的海鼠烏里亞·阿齊格(Uria aalge)感到沮喪。

Rachael Funnell

While the eagles don’t directly predate on murres, which exist in the area in their thousands, data from long-term seabird monitoring revealed they had a significant impact on the reproductive success of these birds. By frequently hassling them and causing disturbances, the researchers found the eagles were indirectly delaying egg laying and actually made it easier for herring gulls (Larus argentatus) and hooded crows (Corvus cornix) to swipe the eggs.

雖然這些鷹并沒有直接捕食在該地區(qū)成千上萬的海鳥，但長期的海鳥監(jiān)測數據顯示，它們對這些鳥的繁殖成功有重大影響。研究人員發(fā)現，這些鷹經常騷擾和擾亂它們，從而間接地推遲了它們的產卵時間，而且實際上使鯡魚鷗(銀斑雛鷗)和冠鴉(烏鴉)更容易偷取它們的蛋。

The lockdown offered a rare opportunity for researchers to gain a better understanding of the influence of humans on the functioning of an ecosystem. Interestingly, their findings revealed tourists in this part of the world had a "guardian" effect on the seabird colony. When they were gone, the increased presence of white-tailed eagles – which are usually deterred by humans – caused a 26 percent decline in murre productivity compared to the long-term average.

封鎖為研究人員提供了一個難得的機會，以便更好地了解人類對生態(tài)系統(tǒng)功能的影響。有趣的是，他們的發(fā)現表明，在世界上這個地區(qū)的游客對海鳥的棲息地有一種“守護”作用。當白尾鷹消失后，白尾鷹(通常被人類阻止)的數量增加，導致海鳥的產量與長期平均水平相比下降了26%。

“An emerging lesson from over a hundred years of biodiversity conservation is that humans are intrinsic parts of most ecosystems,” wrote the study authors. “Based on our findings, we suggest that human presence could be used as a strategic measure in guarding seabird colonies, and that a social-ecological systems perspective is vital for long-term success in protected area management."

該研究的作者寫道:“從一百多年的生物多樣性保護中得出的一個新教訓是，人類是大多數生態(tài)系統(tǒng)固有的組成部分。”“根據我們的研究結果，我們認為人類的存在可以作為保護海鳥棲息地的戰(zhàn)略措施，而社會-生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的視角對于保護區(qū)管理的長期成功至關重要。”

It's not always in conservation that human interference is considered a good thing, but the researchers think this study could prove an interesting consideration for other areas.

人類的干預并不總是被認為是一件好事，但研究人員認為，這項研究可以證明在其他領域是一個有趣的考慮。

"Future field studies will reveal whether the return of tourists to the island post-COVID-19 lockdown will reverse the state of the murre colony to 'normal', or if the anthropause has permanently shifted the behavior of eagles into a long-term threat to the breeding seabirds," they concluded. "If the return of tourists improves the conditions for seabirds, we suggest that human presence can be applied also in other areas to mediate eagle disturbances."

他們總結說:“未來的實地研究將揭示，在covid -19封鎖后，游客返回該島是否會讓海鴉的棲息地狀態(tài)恢復‘正常’，或者人類活動是否永久性地將鷹的行為轉變?yōu)閷φ诜敝车暮ｘB的長期威脅。”“如果游客的歸來改善了海鳥的生存條件，我們建議，人類的存在也可以應用在其他地區(qū)，以調解鷹的干擾。”