DEERANDTHEENERGYCYCLE能源

Isthereanythingwecanlearnfromdeer?Duringthe"energycrisis"of1973-1974thewriterofthisessaywaslivinginnorthernMinnesotaandwasabletoobservehowdeersurvivewhenwinterarrives.Thelessonshelearnsabouthewaydeerconserveenergyturnoutapplicabletooureverydaylife.DEERANDTHEENERGYCYCLE   Somepersonssaythatlovemakestheworldgoround.Othersofalessromanticandmorepracticalturnofmindsaythatitisn'tlove;it'smoney.Butthetruthisthatitisenergythatmakestheworldgoround.Energyisthecurrencyoftheecologicalsystemandlifebecomespossibleonlywhenfoodisconvertedintoenergy,whichinturnisusedtoseekmorefoodtogrow,toreproduceandtosurvive.Onthiscyclealllifedepends.   Itisfairlywellknownthatwildanimalssurvivefromyeartoyearbyeatingasmuchastheycanduringtimesofplenty,thesummerandfall,storingtheexcess,usuallyintheformoffat,andthenusingthesereservesoffattosurviveduringthehardtimesinwinterwhenfoodisscarce.Butitisprobablylesswellknownthatevenwiththeirstoredfat,wildanimalsspendlessenergytoliveinwinterthaninsummer.   Agoodcaseinpointisthewhiter-taileddeer.Likemostwildlife,deerreproduce,grow,andstorefatinthesummerandfallwhenthereisplentyofnutritiousfoodavailable.AphysicallymaturefemaledeeringoodconditionwhohasconceivedinNovemberandgivenbirthtotwofawnsduringtheendofMayorfirstpartofJune,mustsearchforfoodforthenecessaryenergynotonlytomeetherbody'sneedsbutalsotoproducemilkforherfawns.Thebestmilkproductionoccursatthesametimethatnewplantgrowthisavailable.Thisisgoodtiming,becausemilkproductionisanenergyconsumingprocess—itrequiresalotoffood.Thecostcannotbemetunlesstheregionhasamplefoodresources.   Asthesummerprogressesandthefawnsgrow,theybecomelessdependentontheirmother'smilkandmoredependentongrowingplantsasfoodsources.Theadultmalesspendthesummergrowingantlersandgettingfat.Bothmalesandfemalescontinuetoeathighqualityfoodinthefallinordertodepositbodyfatforthewinter.Inthecaseofdoesandfawns,agreatdealofenergyisexpendedeitherinmilkproductionoringrowing,andfatisnotaccumulatedasquicklyasitisinfullgrownmales.Fatreservesarelikebankaccountstobedrawnoninthewinterwhenfoodsuppliesarelimitedandsometimesdifficulttoreachbecauseofdeepsnow.   Asfallturnsintowinter,otherchangestakeplace.Fawnslosetheirspottedcoat.Haironallthedeerbecomesdarkerandthicker.ThechangeinthehaircoatsisusuallycompletebySeptemberandmaximumhairdepthsarereachedbyNovemberorDecemberwhentheweatherbecomescold.   Butinaddition,natureprovidesafurthersafeguardtohelpdeersurvivethewinter—aninternalphysiologicalresponsewhichlowerstheirmetabolism,orrateofbodilyfunctioning,andhenceslowsdowntheirexpenditureofenergy.Thedeerbecomesomewhatslowanddrowsy.Theheartratedrops.Animalsthathibernatepracticeenergyconservationtoagreaterextremethandeerdo.Althoughdeerdon'thibernate,theydothesamethingwiththeirseasonalrhythmsinmetabolism.Deerspendmoreenergyandstorefatinthesummerandfallwhenfoodisabundant,andspendlessenergyandusestoredfatinthewinterwhenfoodislessavailable.   Whenthe"energycrisis"firstcamein1973-1974,IwaslivingwithmyfamilyinacabinontheedgeofanareawheredeerspendthewinterinnorthernMinnesota,observingthedeerastheirbehaviorchangedfrommoreactivityinsummerandfalltolessaswinterprogressed,followedbyanincreaseagaininthespringasthesnowmelted.Itwasinterestingandratheramusingtolistentotheadvicegivenontheradio:"Driveonlywhennecessary,"weweretold."Putonmoreclothestostaywarm,andturnthethermostatonyourfurnacedown."Meanwhilewewatchedthedeerreducetheiractivity,growawintercoatofhair,andreducetheirmetabolismastheyhaveforthousandsofyears.Itisbiologicallyreasonablefordeertoreducetheircostoflivingtoincreasetheirchanceofsurvivinginwinter.   Noteverywinteriscriticalfordeerofcourse.Ifthewinterhaslightsnow,survivalandproductivitynextspringwillbehigh.Butifdeepsnowscomeandtheweatherremainscoldforseveralweeks,thenthedeermustspendmoreenergytomoveabout,foodwillbehardertofind,andtheymustthendependmoreontheirfatreservestopullthemthrough.Ifsuchconditionsgoonfortoolongsomewilldie,andonlythelargestandstrongestarelikelytosurvive.Thatisafundamentalruleoflifeforwild,freewanderinganimalsuchasdeer.   Yes,life—anddeath,too--isacyclethatgoesroundandround,andwhenanimalsdietheirbodiesbecomefoodforotherlifeformstousebyconvertingthemintoenergy.   Andthecyclecontinues.NewWordsDeern. (sing.orpl.)鹿   romantica. belongingtoorsuggestingromance;fancifulnotpractical浪漫的；幻想的   turnn.  anaturaltendency;inclination(天生）倾向   currencyn. moneythatisactuallyinuseinacountry通货，货币   ecologicala. oforconcerninginterrelationshipoforganismsandtheirenvironment生态的   ecologyn. 生态学    convertvt.change(fromoneform,use,etc.intoanother);cause(aperson)tochangehisbeliefs,etc.使转变；使改变信仰（等）     excessn. thepartthatismorethanenough;theconditionofexceedingwhatisusualornecessary过量；过度    reserven. sth.thatisbeingorhasbeenstoredforlateruse储备（物）   scarcea. notavailableinsufficientquantity缺乏的     wildlifen. animalsandplantswhichliveandgrowwild   nutritiousa. fullgrownanddeveloped成熟的；成年的   femalea. ofthesexthatgivesbirthtoyoung 女（性）的；雌的n. afemaleperson,animalorplant   conceivevt.becomepregnantwith(young);form(anidea,plan,etc.)inthemind怀（胎）；构思   fawnn. ayoungdeerlessthanayearold      timingn. selectionformaximumeffectoftheprecisemomentforbeginningordoingsth.时机的选择   consumevt.eatordrink;use;useup消耗；消费   regionn. aplace,spaceorarea;apartofthebody地区；（身体的）部位   amplea. plentiful充裕的    resourcen. (pl.)possessions(esp.ofacountry).intheformofwealthandgoods,thathelponetodowhatonewants资源   dependenta.relying(onanother)forsupport   malea. ofthesexthatdoesnotgivebirthtoyoung男（性）的；雄的n. amaleperson,animalorplant   antlern. thesolid,bonyhornofamaledeer鹿角，茸角   depositvt.putorstoreforsafekeeping;(esp.ofaliquid,ariver)leavelying(alayerofmatter)存放；使沉积   doen. afully-grownfemaledeer   expendvt.spendoruseup花费；耗尽   accumulatev. makeorbecomegreaterinnumberorquantity;collectorgather积累；积聚   accountn. asumofmoneykeptinabankwhichmaybeaddedtoortakenfrom帐户；存款   spotteda. markedwithspots   depthn. thestateordegreeofbeingdeep深；深度，厚度   safeguardn. ameansofprotectionagainststh.unwanted预防措施   internala. oforintheinside,esp.ofthebody内部的；体内的   physiologicala. 生理的；生理学的   metabolismn. 新陈代谢   hencead.therefore因此，所以   expendituren. expendingorusingup;theamountofmoney,time,etc.expended花费；用光；支出额，费用   somewhatad.bysomedegreeoramount;alittle有点，稍微   drowsya. sleepyorhalfsleepy;makingonesleepy困倦的；催眠的   hibernatevi.(ofsomeanimals)passthewholeofthewinterinastatelikesleep冬眠   extremen. eitherendofanything;highestdegree极端   seasonala. dependingontheseason;changingwiththeseasons季节性的   rhythmn. 节奏   abundanta. morethanenough充足的；丰富的   cabinn. asmallroughlybuilt,usu.woodenhouse小木屋；茅舍   meltv. cause(asolid)tobecomeliquid;(ofasolid)becomeliquid（使）融化；（使）熔化   amusinga. funny逗人笑的；引起乐趣的    amusevt.causetolaughorsmile   thermostatn. anautomaticdeviceforregulatingtemperature恒温器   biologicallyad.生物学上   biological a.   survivaln. thefactorlikelihoodofsurviving幸存   productivityn. theabilityorcapacitytoproduce,productiveness生产力；生产率；多产   fundamentala. basic;mostimportantPhrases&Expressions goround   functionsmoothly   intheformof 以…形式 inpoint appropriate;pertinent适用的；相关的 in(good)condition ingoodhealth,physicallyfit givebirth(to) bear;(fig.)produce生（孩）子，产（仔）；产生，引起 drawon takeoruseasasource利用；动用 slowdown (causeto)gomoreslowlythanusual;(causeto)live,work,etc.inalessactiveandintenseway（使）慢下来；（使）放松 turndown reducetheforce,speed,loudness,etc.of(sth.)byusingcontrols减弱；关小，调低 moveabout travelaround;gofromoneplacetoanother pullthrough help(sb.)tosurviveaperiodofdangerorcrisis使渡过危险或危机ProperName Minnesota       明尼苏达（美国州名）（本资料素材和资料部分来自网络，仅供参考。请预览后才下载，期待您的好评与关注！）PAGE/NUMPAGES