This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
这里是VOA慢速英语农业报道。
Mangroves are unusual looking trees. They have roots that stand in saltwater and look like cables or ropes laid one on top of another. Mangroves are not just pretty -- they help the environment. But now the first worldwide study warns that one in six of the many different kinds of mangroves could disappear.
红树林（1）是一种不同寻常的树木。他们的根盘根错节屹立于海水（滩涂）之中。红树林不仅仅美观 - 它还能保护环境。但现在，首次全球范围内的一项研究警告说，种类繁多的红树林的1/6的物种可能将消失。
As a result of the study, eleven species of mangrove have been placed on the Red List of Threatened Species. The list is kept by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
作为这项研究的结果，11种红树林已被列入世界自然保护联盟的濒危物种红色名单。
The study appeared in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE. Lead author Beth Polidoro works for the Global Marine Species Assessment Unit, based at Old Dominion University in Richmond, Virginia.
这项研究发表在公共科学图书馆的综合期刊上（2）。主要作者Beth Polidoro就职于奥多明尼昂大学全球海洋物种评估项目组，这所大学位于弗吉尼亚州首府里士满（3）。
The researchers looked at seventy species of mangrove. They found that all mangrove forests on coastlines are under threat from development, logging or other dangers. But the areas in worst danger are on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Central America.
研究人员查看了70种红树林。他们发现，海岸线上所有的红树林都受到开发、砍伐或其他原因的威胁。破坏最严重的地区位于大西洋及中美洲的太平洋沿岸。
The study says mangrove trees provide more than one and a half billion dollars worth of services to ecological systems worldwide. For example, areas with mangrove forests were not damaged as badly by the Indian Ocean tsunami in two thousand four.
这项研究称，红树林为全球带来超过15亿美元的生态价值。例如，2004年印度洋海啸中，分布有红树林的地区没有遭到严重破坏。
Mangrove forests protect land against erosion from wind, water and storms. They capture and store carbon dioxide, so experts say they can help fight climate change. And they serve as nurseries for shrimp and other saltwater organisms.
红树林能保护泥土免受风暴海水侵蚀。红树林还能吸收二氧化碳，因此专家们说，它可以帮助对抗气候变化。同时红树林还是虾和其他海洋生物繁衍栖息的理想场所。
Beth Polidoro says about eighty percent of the mangrove area in India and Southeast Asia has disappeared within the past sixty years. Indonesia is said to have lost almost half its mangroves forests within the past thirty years.
Beth Polidoro称，在过去的60年里，印度和东南亚大约80%的红树林面积已消失。据说印尼在过去的30年里几乎失去了半数的红树林森林。
Burma, also known as Myanmar, has lost many valuable mangrove trees in recent years. In some areas there, monkeys play in the tops of mangroves thirty meters tall and dolphins swim in the waters of mangrove forests.
缅甸（4）近年已经失去了许多宝贵的红树林。在一些地区，猴子在30米高的红树林树冠玩耍，海豚在红树林底下的水域嬉戏。
One of the rarest species of mangrove tree grows in just a few places in East Asia and India. There are estimates that only about two hundred fifty mature trees of that species remain. Beth Polidoro says they may disappear within the next ten years unless action is taken to protect them.
一种珍贵的红树林物种仅生长在东亚和印度的小部分地区。据估计该珍稀物种大约只有250颗成熟树木存在。Beth Polidoro称，如果不采取行动保护，它们可能在未来10年内消失。
She says the good news in the study is that some species of mangrove can be reforested relatively easily. But others are much more difficult to restart.
她说，这项研究的好消息是，有些物种的红树林重新造林相对容易，但是其他物种则困难得多。
注1：红树林（Mangrove）,是一种热带、南亚热带特有的海岸带植物群落，因主要由红树科的植物组成而得名。组成的物种包括草本、藤本红树。它生长于陆地与海洋交界带的滩涂浅滩，是陆地向海洋过度的特殊生态系。
注2：公共科学图书馆(Public Library of Science)简称plos，下设：PLoS生物学(PLoS Biology)、PLoS医学(PLoS Medicine)、PLoS计算生物学(PLoS Computational Biology) 、PLoS遗传学(PLoS Genetics)、PLoS病原体(PLoS Pathogens)、PLoS临床试验(PLoS Clinical Trials)、PLoS ONE综合类目。
注3：奥多明尼昂大学(Old Dominion University) ，又译为老道明大学。位于弗吉尼亚州，成立于1930年，是一所授予博士学位的公立研究型大学。里士满（Richmond）, 是弗吉尼亚州（Virginia）的首府。
注4： 缅甸（Myanmar），东南亚国家，原名Burma。