Name: 如何測量地球的心跳 | Yadvinder Malhi | TED (How to Measure the Planet’s Heartbeat | Yadvinder Malhi | TED)
Uploaded: 2025-11-30T06:50:02.000Z
Duration: 14 min 39 s

What do you think of when you see this forest?

看到這片森林，你會想到什麼呢？

Maybe you think of ways the forest could be useful to us, maybe as a source of timber or a fuel, wood, or maybe as a store of carbon with which we can tackle climate change.

也許你會想到森林對我們的用途，像是木材或燃料，或是儲存碳來對抗氣候變遷。

And all of these are useful and sometimes necessary ways of thinking about a forest or any ecosystem.

這些都是思考森林或任何生態系時，有用且有時必要的角度。

Or maybe, just maybe, you feel something more mysterious and wondrous.

又或者，你感受到一種更神祕、更奇妙的感覺。

Maybe you have an inkling of a world far more ancient than our young species, a world full of beings that communicate in languages of sound and chemistry and light that we barely understand.

你或許隱約感覺到一個比我們年輕的物種更古老的が世界，一個充滿著我們幾乎不懂的聲音、化學和光線語言的生物的世界。

A world that needs to be approached with humility.

In this world, plants perform the everyday miracle of turning light and air into life.

在這個世界裡，植物每天上演著將光和空氣轉化為生命的奇蹟。

And that energy that captured sunshine then cascades from plant to animal, to fungus, to bacterium.

而這些捕捉到的陽光能量，便從植物傳遞到動物、真菌、細菌。

And on the way, it carries great currents of carbon, nitrogen and other essential nutrients that together build the web of life that is that ecosystem.

在這個過程中，它承載著大量的碳、氮和其他重要的營養素，共同建構了生態系的生命網絡。

And the same applies at the scale of the planet.

同樣的道理也適用於整個地球的尺度。

The planet is the sum of the world's ecosystems, but it is so much more.

地球是所有生態系的總和，但它遠不止於此。

It is an interconnected and shimmering web of flows of carbon and energy and nutrients that build up the ancient matrix that is our home, from which we have emerged as a species that nurtures us, on which we depend utterly.

它是一個相互連結、閃耀著碳、能量和營養素流動的網絡，建構了我們古老的家園基質，我們正是從這個家園中誕生，並依賴它生存。

I'm an ecosystem ecologist, and I study this world of flows and interactions.

我是生態系生態學家，我研究的就是這個充滿流動與互動的世界。

And together with a team of ecologists around the world, we measure and map the flows of energy, of carbon and nutrients that build up the ecosystem.

和世界各地的生態學家團隊一起，我們測量並繪製出建構生態系的能量、碳和營養素的流動。

Starting with the capture of sunshine by plants.

We follow those flows of energy to build the biomass of trees, and

我們追蹤這些能量流動，用來建構樹木的生質，

we follow that energy down into the roots and fungi and into the soil, and

我們追蹤這些能量流向下，進入樹根、真菌以及土壤，

then beyond plants and fungi, into the creatures of the soil, the worms, the invertebrates.

然後，在植物和真菌之外，進入土壤中的生物，像是蚯蚓、無脊椎動物。

By measuring the abundance of each creature, we can map and calculate these flows of energy, and

透過測量每種生物的豐度，我們可以繪製並計算這些能量流動，

we find every life form a miracle of evolution.

我們發現每一個生命形式都是演化的奇蹟。

Sometimes our approaches take the latest technologies, such as acoustic sensors or camera traps, coupled with artificial intelligence tools.

有時候我們的研究會採用最新的科技，像是聲學感測器或相機陷阱，再搭配人工智慧工具。

Sometimes we use more traditional approaches, such as counting birds in a rainforest at dawn, that require training and expertise and dedication and passion.

有時候我們會用比較傳統的方法，像是清晨在雨林裡數鳥，這需要訓練、專業、奉獻和熱情。

And with this type of work, we're able to build up a map of the flows that make up an ecosystem.

透過這類工作，我們就能建構出構成生態系的能量流動地圖。

So, to take an example of this English woodland just outside of Oxford, we can calculate that 60% of that captured air sunshine pours down into the trunks of the trees.

所以，以牛津郊外這片英國林地為例，我們可以計算出捕捉到的陽光有 60% 會流入樹幹。

A smaller fraction pours down from the trees, through the roots, into the soil.

有一小部分會從樹木透過樹根流入土壤。

Another pathway into the soil is falling leaves in the autumn or falling fruits.

另一條進入土壤的途徑是秋天掉落的樹葉或果實。

Of all that plant material, a fraction is consumed by plant eating animals, and

在所有這些植物物質中，有一部分會被植食性動物吃掉，

a smaller fraction of that is consumed by animal eating animals.

還有更小的一部分會被肉食性動物吃掉。

And so the web of life is built and maintained.

就這樣，生命之網被建構並維持著。

And by doing this work in various ecosystems, we learn some things.

而在不同的生態系裡做這些研究，我們學到了一些東西。

One thing we learn is that the resilience and health of an ecosystem is determined both by the total amount of flow of energy, but

我們學到的一點是，生態系的韌性與健康，取決於能量流動的總量，

also by how complex that flow of energy is, how many species it passes through.

也取決於能量流動有多複雜，有多少物種參與其中。

And I call this complex flow of energy the spread of energy, the vibrancy of an ecosystem.

我把這種複雜的能量流動稱為能量的擴散，生態系的活力。

In our current work, we're also trying to go from individual ecosystems to, to the scale of the whole living planet, the biosphere.

在我們目前的研究中，我們也試圖從單一生態系，擴展到整個地球生命圈的尺度。

Here's one example which we seek to look at the biosphere through these biological eyes.

這是一個例子，我們試圖透過這些生物的眼睛來看地球生命圈。

This is a map of the intensity of biological activity on the land surface.

這張圖顯示了陸地表面生物活動的強度。

The Sahara has shriveled away to nothing.

The Southern hemispheres have shrunk away.

The Northern hemisphere has shriveled away into its deep, dark winter.

北半球縮小成一片深邃黑暗的冬季。

The world is dominated by the magnificent metabolism of the tropics.

熱帶地區蓬勃的代謝作用主宰著整個世界。

Just look how large Kenya is there compared to all of Europe biologically.

看看肯亞在生物量上，比起整個歐洲有多大。

And we can do this for every month of the year, and

我們一年中的每個月都可以這樣做，

so get a glimpse of the great green heartbeat of energy and life that powers and nourishes all life on this planet Earth.

然後一窺那股強大的綠色脈動，這股能量與生命為地球上所有生命提供動力和滋養。

And through this work, I can tell you some really interesting science.

透過這些研究，我可以跟大家分享一些很棒的科學發現。

And I'm here to tell you some of the scientific stories, but

而我今天就是要來跟大家說一些科學故事，

I also want to argue that this vibrancy of the living world is something that we don't pay enough attention to when we think of how we work with nature to tackle the environmental challenges we face in conservation, we might focus excessively on particular charismatic species like elephants.

我也想說，我們在思考如何與大自然合作來應對環境挑戰時，往往沒有足夠重視這個充滿活力的生命世界，像是我們可能過度關注大象這類受歡迎的物種。

Or we may focus instead on on what nature can do for us, its ecosystem services.

或者我們可能只關注大自然能為我們做什麼，也就是它的生態系服務。

And we don't pay enough attention to the webs of energy and life that hold everything together.

卻沒有足夠重視維繫萬物連結的能量與生命網絡。

So when we look at the world through these vibrancy eyes, some surprises can emerge.

所以當我們用這種充滿活力的視角來看世界時，一些驚喜就會出現。

Vibrant ecosystems don't have to be places empty of people.

充滿活力的生態系不一定要是沒有人的地方。

Many cultures, traditional cultures, indigenous people, smallholder farmers live in places fizzing with ecological energy.

許多文化，像是傳統文化、原住民、小農，都生活在生態能量充沛的地方。

And many agricultural systems, regenerative systems and others can also buzz with ecological energy.

許多農業系統，像是再生農業等，也能充滿生態能量。

The absence of people is not the highest state of nature.

沒有人才是最高境界的自然，這不一定。

But in many places, people can and do build vibrant nature.

但在許多地方，人們可以，也確實能建立充滿活力的自然。

We have also learned what is not a vibrant ecosystem.

我們也學到了什麼不是一個充滿活力的生態系。

Images such as this endless rows of trees, perhaps planted for timber or for carbon, capture the richness of life reduced to a single function, all that vibrant flow of energy channeled and canalized into a single species.

像這樣一排排的樹，或許是為了木材或碳而種植，它們捕捉了生命豐富性被簡化成單一功能，所有充滿活力的能量流被引導、被疏導進單一物種。

And yet, when we think of working with nature to tackle climate change, we're in danger sometimes of focusing too much on the carbon value of nature.

然而，當我們想到要與大自然合作來應對氣候變遷時，我們有時會危險地過度關注大自然的碳價值。

Certainly there are situations where it can help us mitigate climate change and at the same time raise finance that can help us protect or restore natural ecosystems.

當然，有些情況下，這能幫助我們減緩氣候變遷，同時也能籌集資金來保護或恢復自然生態系。

But if we go too far, if we focus on carbon, if we stop it being a tool and it starts becoming a worldview, then we're in danger of reducing the infinities of nature into some sort of carbon machine that we can dial up and down.

但如果我們做得太過火，只關注碳，讓它從一個工具變成一種世界觀，那我們就可能把大自然的無限可能，簡化成一個我們可以隨意調控的碳機器。

And you may look at this and see all of those open, treeless spaces and think, well, maybe this is an opportunity for tree planting.

你可能會看著這些開闊、沒有樹的空間，覺得或許這是個植樹造林的機會。

Trees are inherently good and they absorb carbon.

樹木本身是好的，而且它們會吸收碳。

And maybe you can offset your company's carbon emissions with an extensive tree planting program here.

也許你可以透過大規模的植樹計畫來抵銷公司的碳排放。

But this is a savanna, and the savanna is rich precisely because of the lack of trees.

但這其實是個草原，而草原之所以豐富，正是因為缺乏樹木。

It's those grasses that grow in the open spaces that provide and nourish life, provide for life, regenerating fires, and

是那些在開闊空間生長的草，提供了生命所需的養分，滋養生命，並讓野火得以重生，

support the unique and charismatic biodiversity that is the savanna.

並支持著草原獨特且迷人的生物多樣性。

This should not be a focus for intensive tree planting.

For carbon capture and climate mitigation, we need to work with vibrancy of the earth.

為了碳捕捉和氣候減緩，我們需要與大地的活力合作。

But I think one of the reasons is that it gives ecosystems, and

但我認為其中一個原因，是它給了生態系，

all of us who depend on ecosystems, our best chance to adapt and cope with aspects of the tide of global change that is engulfing us, including from climate change.

以及所有依賴生態系的我們，最大的機會去適應和應對席捲而來的全球變遷，包括氣候變遷。

And I'd like to show one final example, which is the case of tropical atolls.

我想再舉一個最後的例子，就是熱帶環礁的案例。

Atolls are low lying islands less than 1 meter above sea level, and

環礁是低窪島嶼，海拔不到一公尺，

are often characterized as the first victims of climate change destined to drown under the rising seas in the next few decades.

常被形容為氣候變遷的第一批受害者，註定在未來幾十年內被不斷上升的海水淹沒。

We've just finished a project where we've examined these island systems, but

我們剛完成一個專案，檢視了這些島嶼系統，

rather than seeing them as islands in isolation, we've looked at them as integrated and interconnected island reef systems.

但我們不是把牠們當成孤立的島嶼，而是視為整合且相互連結的島嶼珊瑚礁系統。

And when we look at it that way, that view makes all the difference.

從這樣的角度來看，視野就大不相同了。

So what we did is compare wild islands with ghost islands.

所以我們比較了「野生島嶼」和「鬼島」。

And wild islands are places such as this, where seabirds come in to nest on the soil or in the branches of a native vegetation and ghost islands are places such as this.

野生島嶼像是這裡，海鳥會來這裡的土壤或原生植被的樹枝上築巢，而鬼島則是像這裡。

Now, this may look like your archetypal holiday paradise of swaying palm trees and white sand and turquoise waters, but

這看起來可能像是你典型的度假天堂，有搖曳的棕櫚樹、白色的沙灘和碧綠的海水，但

「為什麼會這樣呢？」我聽到有人在問。

It's because many of these places were once coconut plantations for an extensive coconut oil industry.

這是因為，這些地方很多曾經是為了龐大的椰子油產業而設的椰子種植園。