Skills and Personal Attributes of Plant Hunters植物猎人的技能与素质

For British plant hunter John Wood， few endeavors are quite as satisfying as retracing the steps of an 18th- century explorer.

对英国植物猎人约翰·伍德来说，几乎没有哪项事业能像追寻18 世纪探险家的脚步那样令人满足。

It may seem old-fashioned， but plant collecting is still an important scientific endeavor. “That is the primary way we discover new species，” writes Gerrit Davidse， a researcher and curator of grasses at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis， Missouri.

2 植物采集看似早已过时，实则仍是一项重要的科学事业。格里特·戴维兹是密苏里州圣路易斯市密苏里植物园的研究员兼草本园负责人。他写道：“这是我们发现新物种的主要方式。”

Today， medicines， vehicles， and GPS have made the work of plant collectors safer and a bit easier， but the basic techniques and challenges remain the same. It takes a particular set of skills and personal attributes to do the job. “These individuals are self-motivated， have the ability to withstand hardship， probably have a great eye and photographic memory，” writes Robert Scotland， a reader1 in systematic botany at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

3 如今，虽然医疗药品、交通工具和全球定位系统为植物采集工作者创造了更加安全和较为便利的条件，但植物采集的基本技术和所面对的挑战与以往无异。做这项工作需要具备一套特定的技能和个人素质。英国牛津大学系统植物学高级讲师罗伯特·斯科特兰表示：“这群人善于自我激励，能够承受困难，可能还独具慧眼，有过目不忘的本领。”

Such individuals must also have a thirst for adventure and be willing to sacrifice some comfort and job security. Most plant hunters either live on short-term contracts or take permanent pos-itions with other responsibilities. But for passionate plant collectors， the thrill of the hunt is difficult to match.

4 植物猎人还必须渴望冒险，愿意舍弃舒适条件和工作保障。他们中的大多数人以短期合同为生，或者有其他固定岗位的工作。但对狂热的植物采集者来说，“狩猎”的刺激感是无可比拟的。

Doing the picking

采集植物

At its simplest level， all you need to collect plants is a notebook， a plant press， and some newspapers for drying. What sets professional collectors apart from amateurs is the ability to find new and interesting material. “Good observational skills and knowledge of a local flora are very important，” Davidse writes.

5 简单来说，采集植物只需要一个笔记本、一台植物压平器和几张用于干燥的报纸。专业采集者区别于业余采集者的地方在于，他们具备发现新鲜有趣材料的能力。戴维兹写道：“良好的观察能力和对当地植物群的了解非常重要。”

Then， one needs to know how to harvest scientifically useful material. For traditional taxonomic studies， it is important to harvest specimens that include “fruits and flowers， and the root systems; something that shows what the plant generally looks like，” Wood says. It takes practical expertise to adequately dry and preserve plants—and keep them that way all the way back to the institution， Wood says.

6 此外，植物猎人需要知道如何获取可用于科学研究的材料。伍德说，就传统的分类学研究而言，重点在于获取包括“果实、花朵、根系的标本，也就是能够显示植物大致形态的东西”。他表示，要想充分干燥和保存植物，再将它们原封不动地一路运回相关机构，需要具备实用的专业技能。

Just as important is to record complete data， including the date and place of collection， what the plant looked like， the environment in which it was found， and geographical features like altitude， says Mark Watson， a principal scientific officer at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. “It’s going to take you quite a long time to get everything together，” including good digital photographs of the plant， so patience is important， he says.

7 英国爱丁堡皇家植物园首席科学官马克·沃森表示，记录完整的数据同样重要，包括采集日期和地点、植物形态、发现地的环境以及海拔等地理特征。沃森说：“收集所有的数据要花费大把时间。”他表示，其中还包括清晰的植物数码照片，所以耐心很重要。

Preparing for an expedition

准备实地考察

Nowadays， most major expeditions are in developing countries because the flora there tends to be less well-explored. Outside of the obvious logistics of traveling—getting vaccinations， mapping out how to get to your destination， and so on—you need to build strong contacts with local botanists and obtain all the relevant permissions from the host country， as well as from the receiving country if you intend to ship living plants.

8 如今，大型实地考察活动大多在发展中国家进行，因为这些国家的植物群通常未得到充分研究。除了一贯的旅行准备工作（接种疫苗、规划如何到达目的地等）外，你还需要与当地的植物学家建立密切联系，并获得植物所在国的各项相关许可。如果你打算运送活体植物，还要获得接收国的各项相关许可。

You also need to take care of the logistics of the field trips， from arranging to take along sufficient food and water to hiring people to help. Wood likes to travel light， so he generally limits his treks to 4 days before returning to the base， usually taking a local guide， friend， or collaborator with him. Watson mostly goes on much longer， collaborative exped-itions， up to 4 weeks. “To get five botanists on a trek-based expedition in Nepal takes about 40 staff on the trekking side to help you，” including porters， cooking staff， and Sherpa2 guides， he says.

9 你还应该关注实地考察过程中的后勤保障，比如备足随身携带的口粮和水、雇用帮手。伍德喜欢轻装上阵，一般将徒步考察时间限制在4 天，然后返回基地。其间，他通常会带上一名当地向导、一位朋友，或者一个合作伙伴。沃森主要进行长期的协作考察，最长可达四周。沃森说：“要组织5 位植物学家在尼泊尔进行一次徒步考察，途中需要大约40 名工作人员帮忙。”他表示，其中包括搬运工、厨师和夏尔巴人向导。

While planning is important， you must be prepared to improvise3. Also difficult to know in advance is exactly how you are going to operate once you are there， so make sure you take sufficient equipment along with you or ship things ahead of time so that you can improvise solutions.

10 计划固然重要，但也要做好随机应变的准备。同样难预料的是抵达考察地点后如何开展工作，所以要确保随身携带充足的装备，或者提前将所需物资运抵现场，以便灵活应对。

Working and living in the wild

野外工作和生活

Often， the most interesting places to collect plants are the most difficult to access and live in.