How plants reclaimed Chernobyls poisoned land切尔诺贝利核灾给大大自然带给的意想不到益处Chernobyl has become a byword for catastrophe. The 1986 nuclear disaster, recently brought back into the public eye by the hugely popular TV show of the same name, caused thousands of cancers, turned a once populous area into a ghost city, and led to an exclusion zone 2,600 sq km (1,000 sq miles) in size.切尔诺贝利（Chernobyl）早已沦为灾难的代名词。这起再次发生在1986的核灾难造成成千上万民众患癌，曾多次人口稠密的地区变为了鬼城，隔离区面积约2600平方公里（1000平方英里）。最近，一部同名电视剧将这起灾难新的送回人们的视野。

But Chernobyls exclusion zone isnt devoid of life. Wolves, boars and bears have returned to the lush forests surrounding the old nuclear plant in northern Ukraine. And when it comes to vegetation, all but the most vulnerable and exposed plant life survived. Even in the most radioactive areas of the zone, vegetation was recovering within three years.但切尔诺贝利的隔离区内并不是没生命。狼、野猪和熊又返回了乌克兰北部杨家核电站周围茂盛的森林里。

在植被方面除了最薄弱和曝露独自的植物，大部分都存活了下来。即使是在该地区电磁辐射最弱的地方，植被也在三年内完全恢复了。Humans and other mammals and birds would have been killed many times over by the radiation that plants in the most contaminated areas received. So why is plant life so resilient to radiation and nuclear disaster?处在核污染最相当严重地区的植物，所拒绝接受的辐射量不足以让人类、其它哺乳动物及鸟类生还。那么，为什么植物对电磁辐射和核灾难的抵抗力如此之强劲呢?To answer this question, we first need to understand how radiation from nuclear reactors affects living cells. Chernobyls radioactive material is unstable because it is constantly firing out high energy particles and waves that smash cellular structures or produce reactive chemicals which attack the cells machinery.要问这个问题，我们首先必须理解核反应堆的电磁辐射不会对生物细胞导致什么样的影响。

切尔诺贝利的放射性物质是“不稳定的”，因为它在大大地获释高能粒子和波。这些高能粒子和波会毁坏细胞结构，或者产生反击细胞器的活性化学物质。Most parts of the cell are replaceable if damaged, but DNA is a crucial exception. At higher radiation doses, DNA becomes garbled and cells die quickly. Lower doses can cause subtler damage in the form of mutations altering the way that the cell functions – for example, causing it to become cancerous, multiply uncontrollably, and spread to other parts of the body.如果损毁，细胞中的大部分都是可替换的，但DNA毕竟个值得注意。较高剂量的电磁辐射不会使DNA显得恐慌，造成细胞很快丧生。

低剂量的电磁辐射所导致的伤害则更为错综复杂，不会产生基因突变，转变细胞功能。例如，使细胞癌变，无法控制地交配，并蔓延到身体的其他部位。In animals this is often fatal, because their cells and systems are highly specialised and inflexible. Think of animal biology as an intricate machine in which each cell and organ has a place and purpose, and all parts must work and cooperate for the individual to survive. A human cannot manage without a brain, heart or lungs.在动物身上，这一般来说是可怕的，因为动物的细胞和系统高度分化且不容更改。

把动物想象成一台简单的机器，每个细胞和器官都有自己的方位和目的。为了存活，各部门必需协同工作。

没大脑、心脏或肺，人类无法存活。Plants, however, develop in a much more flexible way. Because they cant move, they have no choice but to adapt to the circumstances in which they find themselves. Rather than having a defined structure as an animal does, plants make it up as they go along. Whether they grow deeper roots or a taller stem depends on the balance of chemical signals from other parts of the plant and nearby plants, as well as light, temperature, water and nutrient conditions.然而，植物的生长方式要灵活性得多。

因为无法移动，它们别无选择，不能适应环境所处的环境。植物不像动物那样有相同的结构，而是在生长过程中渐渐构成的。它们根茎的深度和长度各不相同该植物其它部位和附近植物收到的化学信号，以及光照、温度、水分和营养条件。Critically, unlike animal cells, almost all plant cells have the capacity to create new cells of any type the plant needs. This is why a gardener can grow new plants from cuttings, with roots sprouting from what was once a stem or leaf.植物细胞区别于动物细胞最重要的一点是，完全所有的植物细胞都有能力产生植物所必须的任何类型的新细胞。

这就是为什么园丁可以从插枝中培育出新的植物，从曾多次的茎或叶中生根出有根来。All of this means that plants can replace dead cells or tissues much more easily than animals, whether the damage is due to being attacked by an animal or to radiation. 所有这一切都意味著，植物比动物更容易更换病死的细胞或的组织，无论这些受损的原因是由于动物反击还是电磁辐射导致。

And while radiation and other types of DNA damage can cause tumours in plants, mutated cells are generally not able to spread from one part of the plant to another as cancers do, thanks to the rigid, interconnecting walls surrounding plant cells. Nor are such tumours fatal in the vast majority of cases, because the plant can find ways to work around the malfunctioning tissue.虽然电磁辐射和其他类型的DNA受损可以造成植物体内宽出有肿瘤，但由于植物细胞周围的细胞壁是刚性的且相互连接，变异细胞一般来说无法像癌症那样从植物的一个部位蔓延到另一个部位。在绝大多数情况下，这样的肿瘤并不可怕，因为植物可以寻找方法，跨过失灵的组织。Interestingly, in addition to this innate resilience to radiation, some plants in the Chernobyl exclusion zone seem to be using extra mechanisms to protect their DNA, changing its chemistry to make it more resistant to damage, and turning on systems to repair it if this doesnt work. Levels of natural radiation on the Earths surface were much higher in the distant past when early plants were evolving, so plants in the exclusion zone may be drawing upon adaptations dating back to this time in order to survive.有意思的是，除了对电磁辐射有天生的抵抗力之外，切尔诺贝利禁区内的一些植物或许还有额外的机制维护DNA，转变其化学成分，使其能抵抗电磁辐射。如果这不起作用，它们还不会启动修缮系统。

在很远的过去，早期植物演化的时候，地球表面的大自然电磁辐射水平要低得多，所以禁区内的植物为了存活，有可能利用了这个时期遗留下来的适应能力。Life is now thriving around Chernobyl. Populations of many plant and animal species are actually greater than they were before the disaster.现在，切尔诺贝利周围的生命正在蓬勃发展。许多动植物的数量实际比灾难前还要多。Given the tragic loss and shortening of human lives associated with Chernobyl, this resurgence of nature may seem surprising. Radiation does have demonstrably harmful effects on plant life, and may shorten the lives of individual plants and animals. But if life-sustaining resources are in abundant enough supply and burdens are not fatal, then life will flourish.切尔诺贝利事件造成了悲剧性的损失，延长了人们的寿命，相比之下，大大自然的起死回生令人震惊。

电磁辐射显然对植物有显著的损害，并有可能延长个别植物和动物的寿命。但是，如果有充裕的资源保持生命，且所受到的影响不是可怕的，那么生命必将茁壮成长。

Crucially, the burden brought by radiation at Chernobyl is less severe than the benefits reaped from humans leaving the area. Now essentially one of Europes largest nature preserves, the ecosystem around the wrecked power plant supports more life than before, even if each individual cycle of that life lasts a little less.至关重要的一点是，人类离开了该地区所带给的益处比切尔诺贝利核电站电磁辐射带给的损害还要大。现在这一区域沦为了欧洲仅次于的自然保护区之一，损毁核电站周围的生态系统比以前更为生机勃勃，即使是动植物的生命周期比以前延长了一些。In a way, the Chernobyl disaster reveals the true extent of our environmental impact on the planet. Harmful as it was, the nuclear accident was far less destructive to the local ecosystem than we were. In driving ourselves away from the area, we have created space for nature to return.在或许上，切尔诺贝利之灾说明了了人类对地球环境影响的现实程度。

尽管这次核事故造成了伤害，但它对当地生态系统的毁坏相比之下大于人类不道德导致的毁坏。在人类将自己驱赶出有这片区域的过程中，为大大自然建构了完全恢复的空间。

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