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短篇科普小品：第八篇
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英文原文
Natural day-and-night cycles have governed wildlife behavior
for millions of years on planet Earth.
Sunrise and sunset signal animals when to wake,
forage, breed, migrate and rest.
The unbroken darkness of night serves as
an invisible biological clock for nearly all wild species.
Yet modern human societies have erased natural night darkness
with endless streetlights, glowing billboards,
bright building windows and residential yard lamps.
This widespread artificial light pollution
is quietly rewriting the survival rules of urban and suburban wildlife.
Many ordinary people overlook this hidden ecological crisis,
believing soft city lights bring no harm to wild creatures.
Field ecologists who track animal daily rhythms
have witnessed profound and irreversible behavioral changes
in birds, insects, aquatic life and small mammals.
Nocturnal insects are among the most vulnerable victims
of unregulated nighttime lighting.
Moths, beetles and flying bugs evolved sensory systems
to navigate by starlight and faint lunar brightness.
Bright artificial lights confuse their natural orientation,
trapping them in endless circling flights around lamp posts.
They waste precious energy on meaningless loops,
miss feeding and mating opportunities,
and become easy targets for waiting predators.
Insect populations drop steadily in brightly lit neighborhoods,
breaking the basic food source for birds and reptiles.
Migratory songbirds suffer even more serious consequences
from excessive urban night lighting.
Most small songbirds complete long-distance migration
under the cover of dark skies to avoid daytime predators.
Tall lit skyscrapers disrupt their stellar navigation system,
making flocks lose their migratory direction entirely.
Disoriented birds circle glowing buildings for hours,
suffering exhaustion, collision injuries and fatal falls.
For resident urban birds, constant night light
distorts their internal biological timetable completely.
They begin chirping far earlier before dawn
and remain active long after natural sunset.
Advanced breeding cycles confuse egg-laying timing,
lowering the survival rate of newborn fledglings year by year.
Coastal wildlife faces unique threats from shoreline lighting.
Newly hatched sea turtle cubs rely on dark quiet beaches
and dim ocean glow to find their way to open seawater.
Bright coastal streetlights and resort neon signs
draw tiny turtles toward roads and parking lots.
Stranded on dry pavement, the baby turtles die of fatigue
or become prey for stray cats and wild animals.
Even underwater ecosystems feel the impact of night illumination.
Weak light leaking from bridge lamps and riverside facilities
alters the active rhythm of stream fish and aquatic insects.
Day-active fish stay awake through the night,
wasting energy and disturbing normal predator-prey balance.
Small burrowing mammals such as field mice and hedgehogs
hide longer due to bright night environments.
They shorten their foraging time severely,
leading to insufficient food intake and weaker physical fitness.
Long-term urban light exposure also suppresses
the secretion of key biological hormones in wild animals.
Lower hormone levels weaken immunity,
disrupt reproductive cycles and shorten average lifespan.
Wildlife researchers emphasize a key point
often ignored in ordinary environmental discussions.
Light pollution is not merely a visual nuisance for humans,
but a systemic sensory pollution targeting entire ecosystems.
Unlike visible waste and chemical contamination,
light damage happens silently and accumulates slowly.
It does not destroy habitats in a single violent event,
but erodes wildlife population stability generation after generation.
Some forward-thinking cities have launched wildlife-friendly
night lighting reform programs in recent years.
They install dimmer warm-toned street lamps,
turn off unnecessary decorative lights after midnight,
and shield outdoor lamps to block upward light leakage.
These subtle adjustments restore partial natural darkness,
allowing wild animals to recover their normal biological rhythms.
Protecting natural night darkness
is an overlooked but vital part of ecological protection.
Every quiet dark night returned to urban wilderness
helps stabilize fragile animal populations
and repair the broken balance of urban ecosystems.
译文
数百万年来，自然昼夜节律
一直支配着地球上野生动物的生存行为。
日出日落为动物传递信号，
指引它们苏醒、觅食、繁衍、迁徙与休憩。
纯粹完整的黑夜，
是几乎所有野生动物无形的生物钟。
但现代人类社会彻底打破了自然暗夜，
林立的路灯、发光广告牌、
通明的楼宇窗户与庭院灯彻夜长明。
这种无处不在的人工光污染，
正在悄悄改写城郊野生动物的生存法则。
多数普通人忽视了这场隐秘的生态危机，
认为柔和的城市灯光不会对野生动物造成伤害。
长期追踪动物作息节律的野外生态学家，
亲眼见证了鸟类、昆虫、水生生物与小型哺乳动物
发生深刻且不可逆的行为异变。
夜行昆虫是无节制夜间照明
最脆弱的受害群体之一。
飞蛾、甲虫等飞虫演化出专属感官系统，
依靠星光与微弱月光辨别方向、完成活动。
强烈人工灯光会打乱它们的天然方位感知，
让它们围绕灯柱无休止盘旋打转。
它们耗费宝贵体能做无效飞行，
错失觅食、交配的黄金时机，
同时极易成为等候已久的天敌的猎物。
灯光密集区域的昆虫种群持续衰减，
直接切断鸟类、爬行类动物的基础食物来源。
迁徙鸣禽遭受的强光危害更为致命。
绝大多数小型鸣禽依靠夜色掩护夜间迁徙，
以此规避白天的捕食者。
灯火通明的高层建筑会干扰它们的星空导航系统，
导致鸟群彻底迷失迁徙路线。
迷失方向的鸟群环绕发光楼宇盘旋数小时，
最终体力耗尽、撞击建筑受伤甚至坠落死亡。
对于常驻城市的留鸟，持续的夜间亮光
彻底打乱了它们体内的生物作息表。
它们破晓前过早鸣叫、入夜后迟迟不歇息，
紊乱的作息进一步打乱繁殖周期。
产卵时间错乱、雏鸟孵化存活率逐年下降，
直接影响野生鸟类种群延续。
海岸野生动物面临着沿岸灯光带来的特殊威胁。
刚孵化的小海龟依靠漆黑静谧的沙滩、
微弱的海面天光辨认入海方向。
海岸路灯、度假景区霓虹灯光过于刺眼，
会误导幼龟爬向马路与停车场。
搁浅在干燥路面的幼龟最终体力衰竭死亡，
或是沦为流浪动物与野生天敌的食物。
就连水下生态系统，也难逃夜间光照的影响。
桥梁、河岸设施溢出的微光，
打乱了溪流鱼类与水生昆虫的活动节律。
昼行鱼类彻夜保持活跃状态，
体能过度消耗，彻底打破正常的捕食与避险平衡。
田鼠、刺猬等穴居小型哺乳动物，
会因夜间强光延长躲藏时间。
它们的觅食时长大幅缩减，
长期食物摄入不足，身体素质持续变差。
长期暴露在城市人工光源下，
还会抑制野生动物核心生物激素的分泌。
激素水平下降会削弱动物免疫力、
打乱繁殖周期、缩短平均寿命。
野生动物研究人员强调一个
大众环保话题中常年被忽略的核心真相。
光污染并非只是影响人类观感的视觉麻烦，
而是针对整套生态系统的感官系统性污染。
不同于看得见的垃圾污染与化学污染，
光污染的伤害无声无息、日积月累。
它不会一次性摧毁栖息地，
却会一代代蚕食野生动物种群的稳定性。
近年来，部分理念先进的城市
开启了适配野生动物的夜间灯光改造工程。
更换亮度更低的暖光路灯、
凌晨关闭非必要景观灯、
为户外灯具加装遮光挡板杜绝光外泄。
这些细微整改，恢复了部分自然暗夜环境，
让野生动物逐步回归正常的生物节律。
守护自然暗夜，
是生态保护中被严重低估却至关重要的一环。
还给城市荒野每一个静谧黑夜，
都是在稳固脆弱的野生动物种群，
修复早已失衡的城市生态系统。
一、核心生词
1. cycle
/ˈsaɪkl/
周期；节律
名词（n.）
2. forage
/ˈfɒrɪdʒ/
觅食
动词（v.）
3. nocturnal
/nɒkˈtɜːnl/
夜行性的
形容词（adj.）
4. orientation
/ˌɔːriənˈteɪʃn/
方向感；定位
名词（n.）
5. disoriented
/dɪsˈɔːrientɪd/
迷失方向的
形容词（adj.）
6. migrate
/maɪˈɡreɪt/
迁徙
动词（v.）
7. fatigue
/fəˈtiːɡ/
疲惫；衰竭
名词（n.）
8. aquatic
/əˈkwætɪk/
水生的
形容词（adj.）
9. secretion
/sɪˈkriːʃn/
分泌
名词（n.）
10. irreversible
/ˌɪrɪˈvɜːsəbl/
不可逆转的
形容词（adj.）
二、重点短语
1. day-and-night cycles
昼夜节律
2. artificial light pollution
人工光污染
3. sensory system
感官系统
4. stellar navigation
星空导航
5. biological timetable
生物作息表
6. predator-prey balance
捕食避险平衡
7. biological hormone
生物激素
8. upward light leakage
光线外泄
三、长难句拆解
句子
Natural day-and-night cycles have governed wildlife behavior
for millions of years on planet Earth.
主干：
Natural day-and-night cycles have governed wildlife behavior
时间状语：
for millions of years on planet Earth
主干译文：
自然昼夜节律支配着野生动物的生存行为。
状语译文：
在地球上持续了数百万年。
整句译文：
数百万年来，自然昼夜节律一直支配着地球上野生动物的生存行为。
句子结构：主谓宾主句 + 时间状语
句子
This widespread artificial light pollution
is quietly rewriting the survival rules of urban and suburban wildlife.
主干：
This widespread artificial light pollution is quietly rewriting the survival rules
后置定语：
of urban and suburban wildlife
译文：
这种无处不在的人工光污染，正在悄悄改写城郊野生动物的生存法则。
句子结构：主句 + 介词短语作后置定语
句子
They begin chirping far earlier before dawn
and remain active long after natural sunset.
主干：
They begin chirping far earlier before dawn
并列谓语：
and remain active long after natural sunset
译文：
它们破晓前过早鸣叫、入夜后迟迟不歇息。
句子结构：主句，双并列谓语结构
句子
Light pollution is not merely a visual nuisance for humans,
but a systemic sensory pollution targeting entire ecosystems.
主干：
Light pollution is not merely a visual nuisance for humans
并列结构：
but a systemic sensory pollution targeting entire ecosystems
译文：
光污染并非只是影响人类观感的视觉麻烦，
而是针对整套生态系统的感官系统性污染。
句子结构：not merely…but… 并列复合句
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