吸血鬼树从邻居那里吸取养分

　　Deep in a New Zealand forest, an unassuming tree stump clings to the roots of nearby conifers, sucking up their hard-earned water and nutrients. Scientists stumbled upon this botanical vampire while hiking in West Auckland, New Zealand, as they were surrounded by hundreds of kauri trees — a species of conifer that can grow up to 165 feet (50 meters) tall. During the day, the towering trees shuttled water from their roots into their leaves. By night, the squat stump pumped leftover water and nutrients from its neighbors' roots into its own. "Possibly we are not really dealing with trees as individuals, but with the forest as a superorganism," study co-author Sebastian Leuzinger, an associate professor at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, said in a statement.

　　在新西兰的森林深处，一个不起眼的树桩紧紧吸附着旁边针叶树的根部，吸取它们来之不易的水分和养分。科学家在新西兰的西奥克兰徒步时偶然发现了这个植物“吸血鬼”，它周围是数百棵贝壳杉——一种能够长到165英尺(约合50米)高的针叶树。白天，这些参天大树把水从树根输送到树叶。到了晚上，那个矮树桩会把临近树木根部里剩余的水分和养分抽取到自己的根部。作为研究报告作者之一的新西兰奥克兰理工大学副教授塞巴斯蒂安·洛伊青格在一份声明中说：“或许我们不应该把树当作个体，而应该把森林当作一个超级有机体。”

　　conifer [ˈkɒnɪfə(r); ˈkəʊnɪfə(r)]：n.针叶树;松柏科植物