Long-living tropical trees help store carbon

河北邯郸市第一中学 闫思思

难词探意

1.reservoir/΄rezəvwaː(r)/n.储备；储藏

2.biomass/΄baıəʊmæs/n.生物量

3.vegetation/ˌvedʒə΄teıʃ/n.植被

4.axis/΄æksıs/n.坐标轴(pl.axes)

5.stature/΄stætʃə(r)/n.身高

6.toolkit/΄tuːlkıt/n.工具箱

Forest management is a key strategy for climate change reduction:Encouraging measures such as the UN REDD+policy framework,have emerged to safeguard forest areas acting as natural carbon reservoirs.However,to ensure that forests are managed effectively,researchers need a better understanding of how carbon storage in their biomass will respond to climate change.

New research,led by Nadja Rüger of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research,and Caroline Farrior of the University of Texas at Austin,could help researchers accurately predict forest carbon dynamics in the future.

Rüger and the team have a clear mission to improve vegetation models,so that they can be reliably coupled with climate models.Simple enough—the only difficulty is that tropical forests form some of the richest biomes on earth.The team's research could simplify the problem of this diversity.Using trait data of 282 tree species within the tropical forest of Barro Colorado Island,Panama,they demonstrated that complex tree dynamics,such as growth,reproduction,and biomass,can be modelled using just two axes of tree characteristics.

The traits of individual forest species are usually mapped according to the balance between growth and survival—organisms that grow fast usually die young,or they grow slowly and reach longevity.However,the new research factors in the characteristics of stature and reproduction—organisms that grow tall invest lightly in reproduction,while shorter ones produce many offspring.

By incorporating the stature-reproduction axis,the researchers were able to factor in the taller,older trees that were overlooked by previous models of growth and survival.The new model shows that so called “long-lived pioneer”species that reproduce slowly,make up a large proportion of forest biomass and are therefore critical for long-term carbon storage.

Farrior thinks that researchers are now sharpening their predictive toolkit for understanding forests'responses to climate change:“We're getting closer to having a model that's predictive.”The next step will be to use predictive forest models to guide management strategies that protect the species which have the highest carbon-storage potential.

Reading

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Fill in the table with only one word for each blank.

Structure Paragraph(s) Main idea(s)Introduction(A problem) Para.1～2●Their mission is to improve vegetation models by 2. the problem of diversity.●The new research factors in the 3. of stature and reproduction.The process of the research Analysis of the problem Para.3～5 Conclusion Para.6 The next step will be to 5. management strategies by using predictive forest models.Researchers need a better understanding of how carbon storage in their biomass will 1. to climate change.The result of the research Long-lived pioneer species make up a large proportion of forest biomass and are 4. for long-term carbon storage.

Language

Study

Ⅰ.Match the words in the text with proper meanings.

1.safeguard A.a particular quality

2.trait B.protect

3.demonstrate C.give information about sth

4.map D.include

5.organism E.extremely important

6.incorporate F.show by giving evidence

7.critical G.a small living thing

Ⅱ.Fill in the following blanks according to the text.

1.一个关键的策略 a key_________

2.充当 _________as

3.对……作出反应 _________to

4.森林碳动态 forest carbon_________

5.把……与……连接起来 be_________with

6.把……因素包括进去 _________in

7.拥有最高的碳储存潜能 have the highest carbon-storage_________

Ⅲ.Summary writing

Summarize the main idea and main points of the text with about 60 words.