（英文版）
[Ecological Conservation] Taiwan Sphaeropteris Lepifera Faces Catastrophe (Chinese Version)
In the Editorial of the 2009 May issue (issue 87) of the Chinese Scientific American, Jia-Wei LI (李家維, trans. temp.) indicates that the brush barrel trees (sphaeropteris lepifera) which are often seen in the mountains in Taiwan, are vastly withering one after another. The catastrophe has been noticed since three years ago, and still deserves great attention by now.
The sick plant is observed to wither from the outer layers of the leaves, and the plant is announced dead when the sprout at core gets sere. The whole process takes no longer than two months. Brush barrel tree is a primitive species of fern, whose ancestors had been existing as a main role in the Carboniferous forest about three hundred million years ago. Fern is rarely observed sick, and the primitive brush barrel trees are more scarcely noticed so, for it contains in itself anti-disease compounds in multitudes. The present status of the disease, according to Research Fellow of Taiwan Forestry Research Institute Chun-Hsu FU (傅春旭, trans. temp.)'s initial diagnosis, may be due to ascus fungi. The fungi hypha penetrates into the chinks between cells of brush barrel trees, exhausting the nutrition of, and then killing the plant. The future status of the brush barrel tree is worrying. No matter with the perspective of the conservation of the ecological systems in Taiwan mountainous forests, or from the basic standpoints of biodiversity value, or with regard to the value of itself being an evolutionary legacy, Jia-Wei LI urges the public to take this issue into serious account.
www.epochtimes.com/b5/5/11/24/n1130694.htm 
Chinese Scientific American, issue 87, 2009 May
台灣的山林裡有一場浩劫正在發生，高大、英挺又婆娑的筆筒樹紛紛枯萎。先是外圍的葉子開始變黃，最後當新芽也凋萎時，這棵樹就死絕了，整個病程不到兩個月。這場災難大約始於三年前，全台皆疫區，已奪走了一半以上的個體，疫情毫不見緩和。
筆筒樹是原始的蕨類，它的祖先在三億多年前石炭紀的巨大森林裡已是主角之一。蕨類鮮少生病，古老的筆筒樹尤是如此，因為它的體內有豐富多樣的抗病害化合物，百害不侵也就能綿延不絕。筆筒樹是台灣山林景緻的瑰寶，看著這場不尋常的災情，我著急了，遍訪專家問緣由和對策。終於找到了林業試驗所的研究員傅春旭，他初步判斷是子囊真菌作祟，菌絲侵入筆筒樹的細胞間隙吸收養份，然而何以致病及如何防治皆仍未知。兩年前，公共電視「我們的島」就報導過這現象，現在災情更嚴重了，仍是束手無策。依我看這不是個植物病害的大難題，若得病的是玫瑰花，問題早解決了。只因它非關國計民生，引不起大家關切，學界也未投入研究能量。筆筒樹的前景堪虞，它的未來繫於全面的生態覺醒，它的安危也將被用來檢驗我們保護生物多樣性的決心。另一個現在進行式的物種滅絕就大不同了，三年來蜂群暴斃、手機惹禍、外星人綁架等驚悚的媒體報導，讓蜜蜂的集體失蹤成了家喻戶曉的神秘事件。
話說921地震後，媒體大大報導蚯蚓如何未卜先知，電視畫面裡出了土的蚯蚓萬頭鑽動，誰都忘不了。事隔約兩年多，我讀了特有生物保育中心的一篇報告，說經詳細調查分析，這兩者並無關聯。但是為時已晚，沒人理會這翻案了，談起地震仍要提蚯蚓，還再加上更荒唐的地震魚。
蜜蜂事件可不能再如此烏龍，因此這期《科學人》端出兩篇文章〈蜜蜂消失了？〉和〈尋找迷航的蜜蜂〉來解密。怪誕的事談多了會很空虛，讓我們多來些科學吧！
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發表於 2009-7-8 20:39:06
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