3. When small is best (The Economist June 23rd 2007)

3-1-17
As humanity grabs great swathes of land for its use, the wilderness favoured by other animals shrinks. It has long been known that the fragmentation of habitat gradually isolates the individuals of a species, leading to a decrease in genetic diversity. Ecologists have now discovered another effect. It would appear that, as the habitat shrinks, so too do the creatures that live there.
Mark Lomolino of Syracuse University in New York wanted to study how habitat fragmentation changes the diversity and distribution of small mammals. He decided to compare the creatures living in an undisturbed area of rainforest in the state of Washington with the denizens of neighbouring but more fragmented areas. Between 1994 and 1997, he and his colleagues from University of Oklahoma captured more than 2,000 shrews, voles and mice. As part of their study, they routinely recorded the body length and mass of each creature they caught.
When the ecologists had finished their fieldwork, they made a startling discovery. Three of the five types of small mammals in the more fragmented habitats (namely, the north-western deer mouse, the montane shrew and Trowbridge's shrew) were smaller. The difference in size was between 5% and 15%--small but significant. They will publish their results in a forthcoming issue of Conservation Biology.

A. 어휘
habitat 棲息地(서식지). contract 쪼그라들다, 수축하다. creature 생물, 창조물.
the creatures they contain 서식지에 살고 있는 생물들.
get smaller (덩치가)점점 더 작아지다. humanity 인류, 인간성, 인류애.
grab ...을 잡아채다.
swathe 분량, (큰 낫이나 풀베는 기계의) 한번 베는 폭, 깎은 자리, 붕대, 붕대를 감다. great swathes of land 많은 분량의 땅.
wilderness (사람의 손이 안간)자연지대, 황무지. (육지, 바다)망망히 펼쳐진 것. shrink 오그라들다. the fragmentation of habitat 서식지가 파편처럼 갈라지는 것. fragmentation 분열, 破碎(파쇄). isolate 隔離(격리)시키다, 고립시키다.
individuals of a species 어느 한 種(종)의 개체. lead to ...로 이끌다. decrease 감소. genetic diversity 유전적 다양성. ecologist 생태학자. effect 영향.
habitat fragmentation 서식지의 破片化(파편화), 서식지의 고립.
distribution 분포, 분배. mammal 포유동물.
the creatures living in an undisturbed area (사람들에 의해서)방해받지 않는 지역에 살고 있는 생물.
the state of Washington 워싱턴 州(주).
the denizens of neighbouring but more fragmented areas 이웃에 있지만 더 많이 고립된 지역의 짐승.
denizen 주민, 거주민. colleague 동료. capture 捕獲(포획)하다, 체포하다.
shrew 뒤지(shrewmouse). vole 들쥐. routinely 常例(상례)적으로.
body length and mass 몸길이와 부피. fieldwork 현장연구. startling 깜짝 놀랄만한. namely 다시 말하면, 즉. montane 山地(산지)에 사는.
small but signigicant 작지만 중요한. significant 중요한, 뜻이 있는.
forthcoming issue 곧 나올 版(판). conservation 보존, 보호. biology 생태(학), 생물학. a forthcoming issue of Conservation Biology “보존생태학”誌(지) 최신판.

B. 구문
-the wilderness favoured by ....animals
[다른 동물들이 좋아서 살아가고 있는 자연지대.]
cf. favoured이하는 wilderness 수식. the wilderness (which is) favoured....
-It. . . .that . . . it는 that 이하의 명사절주어를 가리키는 가주어.
-leading to . . . =which leads to....
which 앞 문장 전체를 가리키는 관계대명사의 계속적 용법.
which를 현재분사 ing로 대체. which leads→leading.
-so too do the creatures that live there.
[그 곳에 서식하는 짐승들도 몸집이 작아진다.]
cf. do는 shrinks대신에 쓰인 대동사.
-As part of their study 그들 연구의 한 부분으로서, as는 전치사.

3-2-18
Dr Lomolino thinks he is watching an evolutionary process similar to what is seen on islands. On large expanses of land, big animals do best, because they are less vulnerable to cold and less likely to be attacked by predators. However, large size comes at a cost because big animals have to eat more.
On smaller islands, temperatures are typically mild, predators are usually absent and food is scarce. Under such circumstances, little animals have an advantage over larger ones. For example, the fossil record shows elephants that found their way onto islands millions of years ago shrank rapidly. In fewer than 100 generations, their bodies decreased to between 50% and 5% of their original size. The animals in effect became pygmy elephants.
Dr Lomolino believes that forest fragmentation may be creating 'islands' of wilderness where predators and food are scarce. Combined with increasingly warm climate, this could cause the size of the residents of such an ecosystem to fall. Small, it would seem, is the new niche on the evolutionary ladder.

A. 어휘
evolutionary process 진화과정. similar to 와 유사한. expanse (넓게) 펼쳐짐. 확장. expanses of land 넓게 펼쳐진 땅. do best 제일 잘 살아간다.
vulnerable 피해를 입기 쉬운, 상처받기 쉬운.
less likely to be attacked 공격을 덜 당하기 쉬운. likely 할 것 같은.
predator 약탈자, 捕食(포식)동물.
large size comes at a cost. 큰 덩치는 유지비용이 많이 든다. temperature 기온, 온도. typically 전형적으로. mild 온화하다. scarce 부족하다.
under such circumstances 그런 환경에서는.
over larger ones 보다 더 큰 동물에 비해서. fossil 化石(화석).
in fewer than 100 generations 100 世代(세대)보다 적은 기간 안에( 한 세대를 30년으로 계산하면 3000년 이내에). decrease 감소하다.
to between 50% and 5% of their original size 원래 몸 크기의 50% 내지 5% 까지.
in effect 사실상.
forest fragmentation [山林地帶(산림지대)의 고립화: 도시 안에 있는 산이나 숲처럼 고립되어 있는 서식지]. 'islands' of wilderness 섬과 같은 자연지대.
the size of the residents 동물들의 몸집. resident 거주자(사람, 동물).
cause. . .to fall 작아 지게 하는 원인이 되다.
the new niche on the evolutionary ladder. 진화의 사닥다리에 있는 새로운 適所[(적소), 진화과정에 있어서 새로운 방법].
niche 적합한 장소. ladder 사닥다리, 방법, 길, 위계.

B. 구문
-what is seen on islands 섬에서 보이는 것.
what은 선행사를 포함한 관계대명사.
-elephants that found their way. . .ago
[수백만년전에 섬으로 들어간 코끼리들. ]
cf. that. . .ago는 elephants를 수식하는 형용사절.
-combined with increasingly warm climate.
[점점 더 따뜻해지는 기후와 결합해서.]
cf. combined=being combined