人们往往被表象给骗了，表面很直白，实质上呢，复杂、纠结，受牵连的多了去了。比如说，就像鲁冰花和欧洲滨草的关系一样，扑朔迷离，让人摸不清头脑。
At Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, California, a plant called Tidestrom’s lupine is holding on for dear life. Its survival has been threatened by the appearance of another plant, an invasive species called European beachgrass. So, does the beachgrass simply outcompete the lupines for land and light? Not at all, according to researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. Tiny deer mice have a taste for the seeds of the lupines. These critters would ordinarily think twice about approaching the plants. Because exposed out on the sand, they’re easy pickings for birds interested in a rodent repast. But the beachgrass provides excellent cover. The mice use the grass to get close enough to pilfer seeds before any hungry birds pilfer the mice. The research appears in the August issue of the journal Ecology. [Emily Dangremond, Eleanor Pardini and Tiffany Knight, IK] The information may be useful for a proposed dune restoration project. And the unexpected consequences of the invading species bring to mind this well-known comment by ecologist Aldo Leopold: “To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.”
加利福尼亚州马林郡的雷斯岬国家海岸上，一种鲁冰花正竭尽全力艰难生长着。由于一种名为欧洲滨草的外来物种的入侵，鲁冰花的生存受到了威胁。这些滨草单单是为了夺取鲁冰花生长的土地和阳光么？据华盛顿大学圣路易斯分校的研究人员透露：事实并非如此。 拉布拉多白足鼠爱吃鲁冰花的种子。不过这些小东西在接近鲁冰花之前都会先张望一番，因为它们一旦暴露在沙地上很容易就会成为天敌鸟儿的盘中餐。但滨草会为小鼠提供绝妙的保护，小鼠利用滨草作掩护，就可以在被饿鸟叼走之前凑近目标以便窃取其种子。这项研究被刊登于《生态学》期刊八月份大事记中。 这个信息对沙丘治理项目可能有所帮助。外来物种入侵带来的出乎意料的后果让人想起了生态学家奥尔多·利奥波德的名言：“理想补救要兴起，零件齐全是前提。”