Could Miniature Forests Help Air-condition Cities? 微型森林会有助于调节城市的空气吗？

City air is in a sorry state. It is dirty and hot. A possible answer to the twin problems of pollution and heat is trees. To cool an area effectively， though， trees must be planted in quantity. Unfortunately， not all cities are blessed with parks or even ornamental street trees in sufficient numbers.

城市的空气处于亚环境状态，又脏又热。对于空气污染和高温这两个紧密相关的问题，种树可能是一种解决方法。不过，为了能有效地给一个地区降温，必须大量种植树木。不幸的是，并不是所有的城市都那么幸运，能够打造公园，有些城市甚至都没有足够数量的装饰性行道树。

One group of botanists believe they have at least a partial solution to this lack of urban vegetation. It is to plant miniature simulacra of natural forests， ecologically engineered for rapid growth. Over the course of a career that began in the 1950s， their leader， Miyawaki Akira， a plant ecologist， has developed a way to do this starting with even the most unpromising derelict areas.

一个植物学家小组认为，对于城市缺乏植被的问题，他们找到了解决这一问题的部分办法。那就是模拟天然森林，种植一片微型森林；经过生态工程改造，让人工种植的微型森林可以快速生长。这个植物学家小组的组长是植物生态学家宫协昭，他的职业生涯从20世纪50年代延续至今。其间，他发明了一种可以在城市种植微型森林的方法，即使是在最没有希望的废弃地区也可以成功种植。

Dr Miyawaki’s insight was to deconstruct and rebuild the process of ecological succession. The Miyawaki method skips some of the early phases and jumps directly to planting the kinds of species found in a mature wood.

宫协博士的见解是：通过解构和重建生态演替过程来种植微型森林。“宫协造林法”跳过了某些早期阶段，直接跳到种植那些能够在成林中找到的品种这一步骤。

Dr Miyawaki has supervised the planting of more than 1，500 of these miniature forests， first in Japan， then in other parts of the world. Miyawaki forests can be customized to local requirements. A popular choice is to include more fruit trees than a natural forest might support.

宫协博士指导了超过1500个这样的微型森林种植项目，首先是在日本，然后发展到了世界上的其他地区。宫协森林可以根据当地的需求进行定制。一个受欢迎的定制选择是，在微型森林中种植果树，其数量比天然森林中能够生长出来的果树更多。

What pomologists offer looks like a modern version of the 19th-century movements that brought city parks and their associated health benefits to the industrializing West. The purpose is the same as before—to introduce rus in urbe.

果树种植专家提供的方案看起来像是19世纪某些运动的现代版本，那些运动为工业化的西方国家带去了城市公园，以及与之相关联的健康裨益。这个方案的目的也和以前一样——在城市中引入乡村生态。

If your goal is to better your immediate locale—and maybe to grow a few guava on the side—then Dr Miyawaki might well be your man.

如果你的目標是改善你附近的居住环境，或者是想在旁边种植一些番石榴，那么宫协博士很可能就是你要找的人。

Word Bank

ornamental /'ɔːnə'mentl/ adj. 装饰性的；点缀的

botanist /'bɒtənɪst/ n. 植物学家

simulacra /'sɪmju'leɪkrə/ n. 模拟物；影；幻影

derelict /'derəlɪkt/ adj. 荒废的；被弃置的；破旧的

customize /'kʌstəmaɪz/ v. 订制，订做，改制

You can customize the software in several ways.

guava /'ɡwɑːvə/ n. 番石榴