to identify the specific person a set of fingerprints belongs to.

來識別一組指紋屬於哪個特定的人。

And we can do something similar with the various species of plants and animals out there – even

我們也可以對各種動植物進行類似的研究--甚至是

though most of them don't actually have fingers.

儘管它們中的大多數實際上並沒有手指。

Hi, I'm Kate and this is MinuteEarth.

大家好，我是凱特，這裡是 MinuteEarth。

The kind of fingerprints I'm talking about start not with fingers, but with light.

我所說的指紋不是從手指開始的，而是從光線開始的。

When light hits, say, a pine tree, certain wavelengths of light reflect off the tree.

當光線照射到松樹上時，某些波長的光線會從松樹上反射出來。

Some of these reflected wavelengths are ones we humans can see, but others are in the invisible

這些反射波長中，有些是我們人類可以看到的，有些則是看不見的。

part of the spectrum.

的一部分。

If you could get a snapshot of all the light – both visible and invisible – that a

如果你能捕捉到所有光線（包括可見光和不可見光）的快照，而這些光線又是

pine tree reflects, you'd come up with this: what scientists call the species' “spectral

松樹的反映，你會得出這樣的結論：科學家稱之為該物種的 "光譜

fingerprint.”

指紋"。

Let's compare that to the snapshot for a different tree species nearby – say, a magnolia.

讓我們將其與附近不同樹種（比如玉蘭）的快照進行比較。

At first glance, the spectral fingerprints of the two species look similar, just like

乍一看，這兩個物種的光譜指紋很相似，就像

the actual fingerprints of two people.

兩個人的真實指紋。

But – like the tiny differences in those fingerprints' swirls and whorls – there

但是，就像指紋的漩渦和輪廓中的細微差別一樣，也有

are tiny differences in how the two tree species reflect light, thanks to their slightly different

這兩種樹在反射光線方面存在細微差別，這要歸功於它們略微不同的

chemical composition, crown and microscopic structure, water content, and more.

化學成分、樹冠和微觀結構、含水量等。

Since all tree species vary slightly in these kinds of characteristics, each species of

由於所有樹種在這些特徵上都略有不同，是以每個樹種的

tree has a distinctive spectral fingerprint.

樹木具有獨特的光譜指紋。

Which means it's possible, based on a tree's spectral fingerprint alone – to determine

這意味著，僅根據樹木的光譜指紋，就可以確定

its species…and that has tree-mendous implications for our planet.

其物種......這對我們的星球有著巨大的影響。

Tree-cologists can run fancy images from planes and satellites through computer programs trained

樹木學家可以通過訓練有素的計算機程序運行來自飛機和衛星的精美圖片。

on the spectral signatures of thousands of different tree species, and the programs can

對數千種不同樹種的光譜特徵進行分析，這些程序可以

identify the species that live there.

識別生活在那裡的物種。

The programs can even find trees that aren't doing well – and figure out the particular

這些程序甚至可以找到表現不佳的樹木--並找出具體原因。

reason they aren't doing well; like, an oak tree is supposed to have a fingerprint

它們做得不好的原因；就像橡樹應該有指紋一樣

like this.

像這樣

If it has a fingerprint like this, it's drier than it should be, suggesting drought.

如果它有這樣的指紋，說明它比應該乾燥的地方更乾燥，暗示著乾旱。

If it has a fingerprint like this, it's having trouble photosynthesizing – it probably

如果它有這樣的指紋，說明它的光合作用有問題--它可能

has a disease.

有疾病。

You may have noticed that we've only been talking trees so far.

你可能已經注意到，到目前為止，我們一直在談論樹木。

See, scientists have been working with trees' spectral fingerprints for a particularly long

瞧，科學家們研究樹木的光譜指紋已經有很長一段時間了

time, so they've been able to amass a big library of different tree species' fingerprints

是以，他們積累了大量不同樹種的指紋庫

and start putting them to use.

並開始使用它們。

But as far as we know, every species – from corals to fish to polar bears – reflects

但據我們所知，從珊瑚到魚類再到北極熊，每一個物種都能反映出它們的生活方式。

light in a slightly different way, and therefore has a distinctive spectral fingerprint.

光的方式略有不同，是以具有獨特的光譜指紋。

So scientists are exploring other branches of the tree of life; they're working to

是以，科學家們正在探索生命之樹的其他分支；他們正在努力

document the unique fingerprints of more and more species, and figure out what we can accomplish

記錄越來越多物種的獨特指紋，並找出我們可以實現的目標

with those fingerprints….

這些指紋....

…things like finding polar bears on vast stretches of ice and assessing the health

......比如在茫茫冰原上尋找北極熊，評估北極熊的健康狀況......

of huge underwater reefs.

巨大的水下暗礁。

Which are, of course, tasks that are already possible without spectral fingerprints.

當然，這些任務在沒有光譜指紋的情況下已經可以完成。

But they generally require a lot of slow, difficult, in-person research, often in places

但是，這些研究通常需要大量緩慢、艱苦的親身調查，而且往往是在以下地方進行

where it's very hard to work.

在那裡工作非常困難。

Spectral fingerprints are helping scientists collect data about specific individuals and

光譜指紋正在幫助科學家們收集有關特定個人的數據，並且

species more quickly and easily than ever before – as are other remote approaches

其他遠程方法也是如此。

like trail cams, GPS collars, environmental DNA, and acoustic monitoring.

如跟蹤攝像頭、GPS 項圈、環境 DNA 和聲學監測。

With these kinds of strategies, maybe we'll be able to save certain plants and animals

有了這些策略，也許我們能拯救某些動植物

before all we have left of them is their fingerprints.

在我們只留下他們的指紋之前。

One group working hard to use spectral fingerprints to study and conserve biodiversity is the

努力利用光譜指紋研究和保護生物多樣性的一個團體是

ASCEND project, a National Science Foundation-funded Biological Integration Institute led by Jeannine

ASCEND 項目是美國國家科學基金會資助的生物集成研究所，由 Jeannine

Cavender-Bares, Phil Townsend and Peter Reich.

卡文德-巴雷斯、菲爾-湯森和彼得-賴希。

The ASCEND team is using spectroscopy in all sorts of ways, from finding and mapping sick

ASCEND 團隊正在以各種方式使用光譜學，從發現和繪製病態光譜，到對病態光譜進行分析，再到對病態光譜進行分析。

trees to prevent the spread of disease, to tracking biodiversity over time to see if

防止疾病傳播，長期跟蹤生物多樣性，以瞭解是否

efforts and policies are making a difference.

努力和政策正在發揮作用。

In addition to advancing knowledge, ASCEND is training the next generation of integrative

除了增進知識，ASCEND 還在培訓下一代綜合

biologists to understand how life's variation is connected across scales and impacted by

生物學家瞭解生命的變異是如何在不同尺度上相互聯繫並受以下因素影響的

global change.

全球變化。