TED演講者：Colin Averill / 科林·艾維爾

演講標(biāo)題：How to harness the ancient partnership between forests and fungi / 如何利用森林和真菌的共生關(guān)系

內(nèi)容概要：If we want to better understand the environment and combat climate change, we need to look deep underground, where diverse microscopic fungal networks mingle with tree roots to form symbiotic partnerships, says microbiologist Colin Averill. As we learn more about which of these fungi are most beneficial to forest health, we can reintroduce them into the soil -- potentially enhancing the growth and resilience of carbon-trapping trees and plants. Hear more about the emerging science...

微生物學(xué)家科林·艾維爾提出，如果我們想要更好的理解生態(tài)環(huán)境、應(yīng)對(duì)氣候變化，我們應(yīng)該將眼光放在地表以下，去研究多樣的真菌群和植物根系的共生關(guān)系。理解了哪些真菌對(duì)森林健康狀況有影響，我們可以將這些真菌重新引入到土壤中，助力植被生長(zhǎng)并促進(jìn)森林固碳率。讓我們一起來(lái)聆聽(tīng)更多利用土壤改善森林生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的最新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)。

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【1】So we know forests play an essential role in regulating the Earth's climate.

森林是調(diào)節(jié)地球氣候重要的一環(huán)。

【2】However, most of what we know about those forests is actually based on things we can measure aboveground.

但我們對(duì)森林的認(rèn)知, 大多基于地表我們可以測(cè)量的事物。

【3】So historically, ecologists like myself would come to this place, and we'd count the number of tree stems we'd find.

以前,像我一樣的 生態(tài)學(xué)家們會(huì)來(lái)到森林里, 計(jì)算我們能找到的樹(shù)的數(shù)量,

【4】We'd identify which species they are, and today we'd probably remotely sense features of this forest canopy from space.

并會(huì)判定這些樹(shù)木的物種。 在今天我們則會(huì)（運(yùn)用衛(wèi)星） 從太空來(lái)獲取關(guān)于森林地表的數(shù)據(jù)。

【5】And all of this absolutely makes sense.

這些（測(cè)量方式）都很有道理。

【6】Aboveground is where photosynthesis happens.

地表以上才能有光合作用發(fā)生。

【7】Photosynthesis is how carbon and energy enter forests.

通過(guò)光合作用,無(wú)機(jī)碳 和能量才能進(jìn)入森林。

【8】Photosynthesis is how trees can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

樹(shù)木也是通過(guò)光合作用吸收大氣中的二氧化碳。

【9】However, we also know most trees are limited in some way, by soil resources like water or nutrients.

但大部分的樹(shù)木的光合作用的過(guò)程, 都被土壤中是否有水分和養(yǎng)分限制。

【10】And to access those resources, trees have to build roots.

樹(shù)木必須要發(fā)展根才能獲取這些資源,

【11】And trees build an incredible amount of roots.

而它們所發(fā)展出的根莖系統(tǒng)大多非常龐大。

【12】So in some forests, there can be as much or more biomass belowground, in root structures, as aboveground, in stems and leaves.

所以在有些森林里, 地下根系的生物質(zhì)（biomass） 和地表的樹(shù)干和樹(shù)葉的生物質(zhì)一樣,甚至更多。

【13】Decades of research have now made very clear that belowground ecology - so what's going on in the soil -- is really essential to understanding how these forest systems work.

數(shù)十年的研究表明,地下生態(tài)學(xué), 也就是土壤中的生態(tài)學(xué),對(duì)理解森林系統(tǒng)運(yùn)作的方式至關(guān)重要。

【14】However, if you follow these root systems all the way out to their terminal ends, the finest tips in the root system, and you look closely -- I mean super closely, like, you're going to need a microscope closely -

但如果你在這些地下根系中 順著樹(shù)根一直到它們的末端, 非常非常仔細(xì)地觀察, 用顯微鏡放大,

【15】you discover a place where the tree stops being a plant, and starts becoming a fungus.

你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn) 樹(shù)根在末端的某一個(gè)位置開(kāi)始不再是植物, 而變成了真菌。

【16】So most trees on Earth form a partnership, or what scientists call symbiosis, with mycorrhizal fungi.

大部分地球上的樹(shù)木都會(huì)和菌根真菌形成合作關(guān)系, 科學(xué)家們稱(chēng)這種合作關(guān)系為共生（symbiosis）。

【17】So this, in my opinion, is one of the most remarkable images ever captured of these organisms.

這是我見(jiàn)過(guò)捕捉菌根真菌的最震撼人心的圖片之一。

【18】So in the background, at the top, you can see this dense network of fungal hyphae.

在圖片上半部分的背景里, 你可以看到密密麻麻的菌絲形成的網(wǎng)絡(luò),

【19】These are essentially like roots, but for fungi, instead of plants.

這些菌絲是真菌的樹(shù)根。

【20】And in the foreground, you can see these incredible, multinucleated fungal spores, which look totally unreal, but absolutely are.

在這些菌絲上方, 你可以看到有多個(gè)細(xì)胞核的真菌孢子。 它們看起來(lái)好像假的一樣,但是是真實(shí)存在的。

【21】These are the reproductive structures of the fungus.

這些孢子是真菌的生殖系統(tǒng),

【22】These have the potential to become entirely new fungal networks.

它們可以成長(zhǎng)為全新的菌群。

【23】Mycorrhizal fungi are essential to how basically all plants access limiting soil resources.

菌根真菌對(duì)植物獲取有限的土壤中的資源來(lái)說(shuō)至關(guān)重要。

【24】There's actually evidence that when plants first made the evolutionary transition from living in water to living on land, they evolved this symbiosis before they even evolved roots.

有證據(jù)表明, 進(jìn)化歷史中,在植物第一次從水生轉(zhuǎn)變到陸生的過(guò)程中, 在進(jìn)化出根系前, 它們首先進(jìn)化出了真菌的共生關(guān)系。

【25】And so this partnership between forests and their fungi is ancient, and it stretches back hundreds of millions of years.

所以森林和真菌的合作關(guān)系由來(lái)已久, 有著上百萬(wàn)年的歷史。

【26】However, these roots don't have to be just fungi.

其實(shí),和樹(shù)根形成共生關(guān)系的不只是真菌。

【27】They can also be, for instance, bacteria.

也可以是,比如說(shuō),細(xì)菌。

【28】So these circular structures in this root network are called root nodules.

這個(gè)根系中的球形結(jié)構(gòu)叫做根瘤。

【29】They house symbiotic, nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

根瘤中生長(zhǎng)著固氮的細(xì)菌。

【30】And what these bacteria do is actually convert nitrogen gas in the atmosphere into plant-usable forms, and in turn, they nurture plant growth.

這些固氮細(xì)菌會(huì)把大氣中的氮?dú)?轉(zhuǎn)化成可以被植物利用的形式, 從而滋養(yǎng)植物的生長(zhǎng)。

【31】And the complexity of soil biology just keeps going.

土壤生態(tài)學(xué)的復(fù)雜性遠(yuǎn)不止如此。

【32】So these root symbionts are embedded in an even more complex network of free-living bacterial and fungal decomposers, and archaea and protists, microscopic soil animals, viruses ...

這些根系的共生菌生活在一個(gè)錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜的環(huán)境里: 有不依附根系生活的細(xì)菌、起到分解者作用的真菌、 古細(xì)菌、原生生物、微型動(dòng)物、病毒等等。

【33】The biodiversity of soil communities is astonishing.

土壤中的生物多樣性令人震驚。

【34】We now know a handful of soil can easily contain over 1,000 coexisting microbial species.

據(jù)我們現(xiàn)在的知識(shí),一捧土里面 少說(shuō)也有超過(guò)一千種微生物。

【35】And so all of this, this is the soil microbiome.

這就是我們所說(shuō)的土壤微生物群,

【36】This is the forest microbiome, this is the ecosystem microbiome.

也是整個(gè)森林和生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的微生物群。

【37】So breakthroughs in DNA sequencing technology have finally turned the lights on belowground.

近年來(lái)基因測(cè)序的技術(shù)突破 讓我們終于可以一探這些地下系統(tǒng)的究竟。

【38】DNA has allowed us to see these microbial communities in unprecedented detail, and, only recently, at unprecedented scales.

我們通過(guò)DNA測(cè)序詳細(xì)了解了這些微生物群, 并終于在近期獲得了大量的數(shù)據(jù)。

【39】Yet despite these breakthroughs, I'd argue we still don't know the answers to seemingly simple questions, like this: "What does a healthy forest microbiome look like?"

但即使有了這些突破, 我認(rèn)為我們?nèi)耘f對(duì)一些看似簡(jiǎn)單的問(wèn)題一無(wú)所知,比如: 【“健康的森林微生物群是什么樣的？”】

【40】We're far closer to answering a question like this for people than we are for plants.

科學(xué)家在植物微生物群的研究進(jìn)度, 遠(yuǎn)不及人類(lèi)微生物群,

【41】The Human Microbiome Project has really led in this area.

這其中人類(lèi)微生物組計(jì)劃起到了領(lǐng)軍作用。

【42】So the human body is a microbial ecosystem.

我們知道人體其實(shí)也是一個(gè)微生物的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)。

【43】Each of us houses an incredibly biodiverse community of bacteria in our gut, and that has a profound impact on our health.

我們每一個(gè)人都有數(shù)量和種類(lèi)龐大的腸道菌群, 這個(gè)群菌對(duì)我們的健康有著很大的影響。

【44】This was discovered by medical microbiologists using DNA sequencing to characterize which bacteria live in hundreds of people's bodies.

醫(yī)用微生物學(xué)家們 運(yùn)用DNA測(cè)序檢測(cè)了幾百人的腸道菌群 并確定了這些細(xì)菌的種類(lèi),

【45】And importantly, also noting health features of those same people.

同時(shí)他們也記錄了這些被試的健康狀況。

【46】So, are they sick? And if so, with what?

這些人生病了嗎？如果是,他們得了什么?。?/p>

【47】What's their blood pressure, their digestive health, their mental health?

他們的血壓怎么樣？消化還好嗎？ 心理健康又如何？

【48】And by combining all of that information, those microbiologists could begin to identify combinations of bacteria linked to health and disease.

在集合了這所有的信息之后, 微生物學(xué)家們開(kāi)始找出 腸道菌群的種類(lèi)和健康和疾病之間的關(guān)聯(lián)。

【49】And these analyses became a road map for the development of human microbiome transplant therapies, which is essentially ecosystem restoration, but for your gut microbiome.

這些研究為人類(lèi)菌群移植治療的發(fā)展奠定了基礎(chǔ)。 這種治療其實(shí)和生態(tài)系統(tǒng)修復(fù)很類(lèi)似, 只不過(guò)修復(fù)的是腸道菌群。

【50】And these therapies are now on the road to market to treat some of these diseases today.

菌群移植治療目前正在向臨床發(fā)展 有望被應(yīng)用于疾病的治療。

【51】And so drawing from this work, my team asked, "What would it look like to take the Human Microbiome Project approach, but apply it to the forest?"

被這些研究啟發(fā),我的團(tuán)隊(duì)開(kāi)始思考: “把人類(lèi)微生物計(jì)劃的研究方式運(yùn)用到森林中會(huì)怎么樣？”

【52】What could we discover about the forest carbon cycle?

我們能不能對(duì)森林碳循環(huán)有更多了解？

【53】Could we identify places where we could actually do belowground microbial restoration, and, in the process, combat climate change?

我們是否能找到并干預(yù)需要修復(fù)的地下微生物群, （修復(fù)森林）來(lái)應(yīng)對(duì)氣候變化？

【54】Over the past three years, we've been working with forest scientists across Europe to do exactly that.

在過(guò)去的三年里, 我們和歐洲的森林科學(xué)家們攜手研究了這些問(wèn)題。

【55】In each of these locations, scientists have been documenting forest health for decades.

在這里顯示的每一個(gè)位置, 科學(xué)家們都有著數(shù)十年森林健康狀況的記錄。

【56】And so, we asked our forest research partners to go out to each of these forests and collect a small sample of soil, which they then shipped back to our lab in Zurich so we could extract and sequence DNA,

我們讓合作的科學(xué)家們 去到這些森林,收集土壤樣本, 并寄到我們?cè)谔K黎世的實(shí)驗(yàn)室。 這樣我們就可以提取測(cè)序土壤中的DNA,

【57】which allowed us to understand which microorganisms, and particularly fungi, live in each of these forests.

來(lái)研究有哪些微生物, 尤其是真菌, 棲息在這些森林中。

【58】And then finally, we used statistics and machine learning to relate which microorganisms live in a forest to a really important forest health metric: tree growth rate and carbon-capture rate aboveground.

最后,我們利用統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)和機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí), 來(lái)尋找有哪些微生物 和森林的健康指數(shù)息息相關(guān)。 這些健康指數(shù)包括:樹(shù)木生長(zhǎng)速度 和地表的固碳率。

【59】Now, once we controlled for the environmental drivers of tree growth - so how warm and wet each of these places is, as well as other variables we know control background site fertility -

在控制影響樹(shù)木生長(zhǎng)的環(huán)境變量情況下, 包括每一個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)地的溫度、濕度, 和其他對(duì)土壤肥沃度有影響的因素。

【60】we discovered that particularly which fungi colonize the roots of these trees is linked to threefold variation in how fast these trees grow, how fast they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

我們發(fā)現(xiàn)樹(shù)木根系中的共生真菌的種類(lèi) 對(duì)于樹(shù)木生長(zhǎng)率 和固碳速率都有著三倍的影響。

【61】So put another way, these correlations imply that you could have two pine forests, sitting side by side, experiencing the same climate, growing in the same soils.

換句話說(shuō), 如果你比較兩片位置相鄰 有同樣的氣候和土壤環(huán)境的松林,

【62】But if one of them was colonized by the right community of fungi on its roots, it could be growing up to three times as fast as that adjacent forest.

如果其中一片森林有健康的共生菌群, 這片森林會(huì)有隔壁森林三倍的生長(zhǎng)速度。

【63】And furthermore, these patterns were not driven by the presence of particularly high-performing species or strains, but instead, they were driven by biodiverse and completely different communities of fungi.

更重要的是,能夠促進(jìn)森林生長(zhǎng)的 并不是特定種類(lèi)的真菌, 而是有著豐富生物多樣性,但種類(lèi)卻不盡相同的菌群。

【64】And so these fungal signatures are super exciting to us because they imply an opportunity to manage, and in many cases, actually rewild the forest fungal microbiome.

這項(xiàng)關(guān)于真菌的發(fā)現(xiàn)令人激動(dòng), 因?yàn)檫@意味著我們有可能控制, 并有很大機(jī)會(huì)修復(fù)森林的微生物群。

【65】So, for example, can we reintroduce fungal biodiversity into a managed timber forestry landscape?

打個(gè)比方,我們是否可以往工業(yè)原料林里, 重新引進(jìn)有多樣性的真菌菌群？

【66】And in the process, can we make those trees grow faster?

我們能否幫助這些樹(shù)木生長(zhǎng)得更快？

【67】Can we make them capture more carbon in their tree stems and in their soils?

我們能否加快這些樹(shù)木的在樹(shù)干和土壤的固碳率？

【68】Can we rewild the soil and combat climate change?

我們能否修復(fù)土壤的生物多樣性,延緩氣候變化？

【69】And these aren't just rhetorical questions - we've actually started doing this.

這些并不僅僅是虛無(wú)縹緲的假設(shè), 我們的團(tuán)隊(duì)已經(jīng)開(kāi)始了嘗試。

【70】So this is one of our field trials in Wales, in the United Kingdom.

這是我們?cè)谟?guó)威爾士的一片實(shí)驗(yàn)區(qū)。

【71】It's run in collaboration with the charity there called the Carbon Community.

我們和當(dāng)?shù)匾患医凶鯿arbon community的慈善機(jī)構(gòu) 共同管理著這片區(qū)域。

【72】It's 28 acres, or 11 hectares, and it's set up as a block-randomized controlled trial.

這片實(shí)驗(yàn)區(qū)占地28英畝,也就是11公頃。 被劃分成區(qū)塊隨機(jī)分到實(shí)驗(yàn)組和對(duì)照組,

【73】This is analogous to how you would run a drug trial, but in this case, it's for trees instead of people.

這和藥物開(kāi)發(fā)的實(shí)驗(yàn)相似, 但這里我們實(shí)驗(yàn)的對(duì)象是樹(shù)而不是人。

【74】And here, we do a pretty straightforward experiment.

我們?cè)谶@片區(qū)域做的實(shí)驗(yàn)很簡(jiǎn)單:

【75】We either plant trees, business as usual - which is just direct planting of seedlings into the ground - or we plant trees, and at the moment of planting, we add a small handful of soil.

我們要么就是直接種樹(shù), 和一般的方法一樣, 把樹(shù)苗埋到土里; 或者我們?cè)诜N樹(shù)的同時(shí), 往里面加一小捧土。

【76】But it's not just any soil.

我們所添加的并不是尋常的土,

【77】It's soil sourced from a forest our analyses have identified as harboring potentially high-performing fungi.

而是從我們之前的實(shí)驗(yàn)中 找到的有著健康菌群的森林的土壤。

【78】So since we reintroduced microbial biodiversity into some of these sites, we've observed that where we actually did that, we've been able to accelerate tree growth and carbon capture in tree stems by 30 to 70 percent, depending on the tree species.

從我們?cè)谶@些實(shí)驗(yàn)區(qū)域重新引入了微生物多樣性之后, 我們觀察到, 根據(jù)樹(shù)的種類(lèi),樹(shù)木的生長(zhǎng)速度和固碳率 有百分之30到70的提高。

【79】Or put another way - where we manipulated and rewilded the invisible microbiology of this place, we've begun to change how that entire place works.

換句話說(shuō), 我們用干預(yù)”看不見(jiàn)“的微生物的方式 完全改變了這個(gè)生態(tài)體系的運(yùn)作方式。

【80】Now it's important to emphasize that we're really excited about these findings, but we also understand they're still early.

在這里我們要強(qiáng)調(diào), 盡管這些發(fā)現(xiàn)令人激動(dòng), 我們還在研究的初期階段。

【81】We want to see many more large-scale field trials and many more locations with many more years of data.

我們需要收集更多,更大范圍的實(shí)驗(yàn)區(qū)域的數(shù)據(jù), 也需要來(lái)自于更多地理位置,更多年的數(shù)據(jù)。

【82】However, beyond just these carbon and climate outcomes, I think the most exciting thing here is that we can actually do this with wild and native and biodiverse combinations of microorganisms.

除了對(duì)碳排放和氣候的影響, 我認(rèn)為這項(xiàng)發(fā)現(xiàn)最令人激動(dòng)的地方, 是我們可以利用自然生長(zhǎng)、生物多樣的微生物群。

【83】And while we pointed this approach at forestry, in principle, this kind of science has the potential to generalize to all of our managed landscapes.

雖然我們的初衷是修復(fù)森林, 但理論上這些發(fā)現(xiàn)也有潛力被應(yīng)用到所有人為管理的地貌環(huán)境。

【84】We can begin asking questions like, "What does a healthy agricultural microbiome look like?"

我們可以開(kāi)始提出類(lèi)似的問(wèn)題: 【“健康的農(nóng)業(yè)微生物群應(yīng)該是怎樣的？”】

【85】Thinking across both food and forest agriculture.

來(lái)運(yùn)用到農(nóng)業(yè)和林業(yè)中。

【86】And there's reason to think a biodiversity-first approach may be particularly powerful here.

重視生物多樣性的修復(fù)方式 另一個(gè)很有潛力的原因,

【87】And that's because the history of agriculture has been an exercise in reductionism.

是由于農(nóng)業(yè)在歷史的發(fā)展過(guò)程中 往往是做減法的。

【88】We've identified high-performing plant species, and then strains, and then we've selectively bred them, and now we genetically modify them.

我們一直在尋找高產(chǎn)的作物種類(lèi)和品系, 篩選、培育、并改良他們的基因,

【89】And finally, we plant those organisms out in vast monocultures.

然后我們大面積地單一栽培這些作物。

【90】So a single plant species as far as you can see.

也就是說(shuō),這些作物都是單一的品種。

【91】And to be clear, this has produced very productive agroecosystems.

在這里要澄清一點(diǎn), 歷史上的這種做法孕育了非常高效的農(nóng)業(yè)生態(tài)系統(tǒng)。

【92】But it's also produced ecosystems we're coming to understand are remarkably fragile.

但我們開(kāi)始發(fā)現(xiàn), 這些生態(tài)系統(tǒng)也同時(shí)非常的脆弱。

【93】Systems increasingly sensitive to extreme climate events, novel pathogens.

它們對(duì)極端氣候和新的病原都異常敏感,

【94】Systems incredibly reliant on chemical inputs, we're coming to understand have really serious externalities.

非常依賴(lài)化學(xué)藥物的投放, 而這些藥物（對(duì)環(huán)境和生態(tài)系統(tǒng)等）有著嚴(yán)重的副作用。

【95】So we now have the data, computational tools and the ecological theory to start going the other way, to lean into biodiversity and complexity.

現(xiàn)在我們有了數(shù)據(jù),計(jì)算工具 和生態(tài)理論的支持, 可以取生物多樣性和復(fù)雜性為己用。

【96】And once we do, the question really becomes, by rewilding our soils, can we make our managed food and forest landscapes reservoirs of belowground biodiversity?

一旦我們這樣做了,我們面對(duì)的問(wèn)題就變成了, 如果我們重新引進(jìn)自然的土壤, 我們能否重塑農(nóng)林業(yè)微生物群的生物多樣性？

【97】And in the process, can we enhance yields and carbon capture and all the other services we ask of these ecosystems?

在這個(gè)過(guò)程中, 我們是否可以提高（作物）產(chǎn)量、（森林）固碳率 和其他這些生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的功效？

【98】I think there's a lot of reason to be incredibly hopeful here.

我認(rèn)為我們有很多對(duì)這個(gè)研究抱以期待的理由。

【99】And I think we also shouldn't be so surprised that these microscopic organisms have the potential for such enormous, ecosystem-scale effects.

這些微觀生物對(duì)整個(gè)龐大的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的影響力, 其實(shí)也應(yīng)該是意料之中。

【100】And that's because we've known now, really for a long time, that forests are fungi.

因?yàn)槲覀兤鋵?shí)早就理解了, 森林中真菌的重要性。

【101】And they're incredibly biodiverse communities of bacteria and archaea and protists and microscopic soil animals and viruses.

森林中也有種類(lèi)繁多的細(xì)菌、古細(xì)菌、 原生生物、微觀動(dòng)物和病毒。

【102】Soil is the literal foundation of terrestrial ecosystems, and the microbial life that inhabits soil represents some of the most complex and biodiverse communities of life on Earth.

土壤是森林生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的基礎(chǔ), 土壤中的微生物 是地球上最復(fù)雜也多樣的生態(tài)群落之一。

【103】For the first time, DNA sequencing is turning the lights on belowground.

DNA測(cè)序史無(wú)前例地推進(jìn)了我們對(duì)地下生態(tài)學(xué)的認(rèn)知,

【104】It's allowing us to see these organisms in unprecedented detail and at unprecedented scales.

我們對(duì)這些微生物有了更詳細(xì)、更全面的了解。

【105】Imagine studying plant biology, but you never really knew if you're looking at a sequoia tree or a sphagnum moss.

這就好比如果你在學(xué)習(xí)植物學(xué), 但由于技術(shù)限制,你以前一直不知道你研究的是美洲杉 還是泥炭苔蘚。

【106】And then, all of a sudden, you did.

然后突然（技術(shù)突破）,你知道了你在研究的是什么。

【107】That's what's happening right now in global environmental microbiology.

這就是環(huán)境微生物學(xué)的現(xiàn)狀。

【108】And so we should expect this revolution in our understanding of these microscopic organisms, and particularly fungi, to transform how we understand and how we manage our ecosystems in a foundational way.

因此我們可以展望, 我們?cè)诮陮?duì)微生物的認(rèn)知發(fā)展, 尤其是對(duì)于真菌的研究, 將會(huì)從根本上轉(zhuǎn)變我們理解和管理生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的方式。

【109】Thank you.

謝謝。