Science from the treetops that inspires everyone
跟著納莉妮 認識樹冠層 啟發大眾的樹冠科學
Every child who grows up in a busy household needs a little peace and quiet sometimes. As a little girl, Nalini Nadkarni discovered one place she could always find refuge. She would climb up into the maple trees around the suburban American home that she shared with her brothers and sisters. There, high in the trees, she made herself a promise. One day, she would become someone who used her love of trees to help protect them.
As she grew, her interest was drawn toward rainforest ecology. Pursuing her studies in graduate school, she ended up at a research station in Costa Rica.
Looking up into the jungle cnaopy, Nalini wanted to climb high into the branches. Surely there were things to be learned in the treetops. She was told, however, that the science was on the ground, and that there was nothing worthwhile to learn high above her head. Fortunately, that didn't stop her. Instead, she used her rock climbing skills to safely explore the jungle treetops. There, she discovered an entire network of species unique to the canopy. It was a whole ecosystem that needed to be studied so scientists could gain a deeper understanding of the rainforest.
Info Cloud
grove, woods, forest, rainforest, jungle
Hello, everyone. And welcome to Info Cloud. Anne Marie, have you ever taken a walk in a forest?
Sure. There are some woods near my parents' house in Ohio.
What is the difference between the forest and woods?
That's a great question. Both are areas of land that are covered with trees and have animals living in them. Usually woods are smaller and less dense, meaning they have fewer trees or are easier to walk through.
That's interesting. What about a grove?
A grove is an even smaller area with trees. It could be intentionally planted by someone.
OK. So in size, we have grove then woods then forests.
Exactly. And what about a rainforest?
Right. Woods or forests are usually found in cooler, drier regions like North America, while rainforests are topical, and as the name suggests, have a lot more moisture.
So is a rainforest like a jungle?
Yes. Jungle is thought to be a more general word and includes large rainforests and smaller jungles.
Jungles have different kinds of plants and animals than forests. They are found in tropical areas. And besides trees, they have a lot of vines.
And snakes. I'd rather take a walk through the woods than the jungle.
不曉得各位朋友們知不知道樹林、森林、叢林和雨林之間的分別，首先，woods是樹林，woods 跟 forest 森林 有什麼不一樣呢? woods的樹木沒有 forest那樣茂盛，面積也比較小，因此我們走路比較好穿越過去。另外還有比woods還要小的 grove樹叢，通常是人工種植打造的。另一方面，如果是 rainforest 那就是面積龐大的雨林，跟 forest 和 woods不一樣的是，rainforest 只會出現在潮濕的熱帶地區，forest 和woods 則是在乾燥涼爽的地方才會有。
最後，大大小小的rainforest 通常可以統稱為 jungle叢林。複習一下: grove是樹叢、woods是樹林、 forest是森林、rainforest是雨林、還有jungle是叢林。
Language Lab
refuge n. 庇護、避難所、藏身處
/ˈrɛˌfjuːʤ/
a place that provides shelter or protection
shelter or protection from danger or trouble
- James found refuge in a small coffee shop when it started to rain heavily.
一開始下大雨，James就跑到一家咖啡館避雨。
- We saw several endangered animals and birds at the animal refuge.
我們在動物保護區裡看到些許瀕臨絕種的動物及飛鳥。
refugee n.尋求庇護的難民
someone who has been forced to leave a country because of war or for religious or political reasons
- The government will provide more food and supplies to help the refugees.
政府會提供更多糧食及補給品來幫助難民。
suburban adj. 市郊的、近郊住宅區的
/səˈbɚbən/
living in or relating to a suburb or to suburbs in general
- Tim does like his new house in the suburban area, but he hates his long drive to the city every morning.
Tim 很喜歡他在近郊住宅區的新房子，但是他很不喜歡每天早上必須開很久的車進城。
suburb n. 市郊、近郊住宅區
/ˈsʌˌbɚb/
a town or other area where people live in houses near a larger city
- Angela wants to move to the suburbs because it is too expensive for her to live in the city. Angela 想搬到郊區去住，因為住在城內的費用太高。
suburbanite n. 住在郊區的、住在近郊住宅區的人
/səˈbɚbəˌnaɪt/
a person who lives in a suburb
- Although most of the suburbanites want an additional road to make it easier for them to travel to the city, environmental groups are against the idea.
雖然大部分的郊區居民都希望有多一條路好方便他們進城，但是環保團體不贊同。
canopy n. 罩棚、罩蓋
/ˈkænəpi/
a piece of cloth that hangs over a bed, throne, etc., as a decoration or shelter
- Brenda has a canopy in her backyard for people to sit under when the sun gets hot.
Brenda 後院有搭罩棚，好讓人可以躲太陽。
- Lynn took a mosquito net and made it into a nice canopy over her bed.
Lynn把蚊帳整理成一個漂亮的床上罩棚。
the highest layer of branches in a forest or on a tree 樹冠層、樣子像是罩棚的樹陰
- Although it was a bright and sunny day, it was dark under the jungle canopy.
雖然天氣晴朗、太陽很大，但是在叢林的樹陰下還是很暗。
- The jungle canopy is where we can find all kinds of parrots.
我們在叢林樹冠層可以看到很多種鸚鵡。
ecosystem n. 生態系統 (‘eco’ 生態 / system 系統)
everything that exists in a particular environment
- Building a factory right on the coast is a threat to the ecosystem.
在海岸設立工廠會嚴重影響生態系統。
- This kind of vine is a problem to the ecosystem because it grows very fast and keeps other kinds of plants from growing.
這種藤本植物對生態系統是個問題，因為它長得很快，而且會讓其他種類的植物無法生長。
- The toads were brought in to control the pest population, but the toads became pests themselves and a threat to the ecosystem.
蟾蜍原本引進是為了要控制害蟲的數量，結果蟾蜍卻反而變成生態系統的禍害。
