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These are eight prototypes for the proposed border wall between the US and Mexico.
这是美国和墨西哥接壤处界墙的八个模型。
Customs and Border Patrol commissioned these designs and they’re on display just outside of San Diego.
海关和边防部队通过了这些设计，还在圣迭戈周边展览。
Some have rounded tops so that ropes can’t be hooked on.
有些界墙顶部为圆形设计，这样绳子就套不住了。
Others have gaps so guards can see the other side.
有些设计了边防警察可从中看到对面情况的空隙。
Some are concrete, others incorporate steel and other materials.
材质包括水泥、结合钢等。
They’re designed to keep people out.
其设计目的是为了将外人拒之于国门之外。
But the border doesn't all look like it does in San Diego.
然而，各地的边境并不都像圣地亚哥那样。
You can find pockets of rich biodiversity, including endangered species that move back and forth across the border.
有的边境有着丰富的物种，甚至有濒危物种生活在边界两岸。
And that raises the question — when we design borders to divide people, what happens to the natural world around them?
这就引发了一个问题——当我们用边境来隔离人群时，周围的自然环境怎么办？
The US-Mexico border currently has about 650 miles of physical barrier that looks something like this, while about 1,300 miles are unfenced.
目前，美国和墨西哥边境筑有绵延650英里左右的隔离墙，另外1300英里则没有隔离墙。
Overall, this border region is home to an incredible array of species:
总体来看，这些边境上都生活着大量物种：
you can see that there’s a high concentration of diversity of amphibians, reptiles, and mammals right along the political boundary.
可以看出，这条政治分界线上生活着大量两栖类动物，爬行动物和哺乳动物。
Building a wall along these areas threatens that diversity.
在这些地方修界墙会威胁到当地物种的多样性。
Parts of the existing 650 miles of border wall have already impacted rare and endangered species.
显存650英里长的隔离墙已经影响了众多珍稀物种和濒危物种。
And in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where 33 miles of new barriers are scheduled to go, the wall can't be built on the boundary itself.
德克萨斯的里奥格兰德河谷地区原本也计划修长达33英里的界墙，然而这一规划很难真正落实到边境线上。
The river forms a natural border, so construction has to happen on US territory.
这条河本就是一道天然的屏障，所以要修界墙就只能修在美国本土。
That means a wall here would cut through several protected parcels of land like this, creating almost 6,500 acres of inaccessible “No Man’s Lands”.
这就意味着要穿过很多类似这种地方的保护地带，如此一来，将有将近6500公顷的地方将变成“无人区”。
And that poses a unique problem for animal movement.
当地动物的活动也会因此受到困扰。
The immediate problem is with flooding.
首要的问题就是洪灾。
Along the Rio Grande are floodplains that fill up when water levels rise from torrential rains.
沿着里奥格兰德河谷地区有很多涝原，一下雨就会被淹没。
When that happens, reptiles and mammals have to move to safety.
一旦水漫上来，爬行动物和哺乳动物就需要躲到安全的地方。
But installing an impermeable wall essentially creates a dam: so when water rises, these animals would be trapped.
然而，修筑一道无法穿越的高墙基本就相当于筑一座大坝：水一涨，动物们将会被困在水里。
In the long term, structures that limit animal migration can have serious consequences for their survival.
从长远来看，限制动物迁徙的建筑会给他们的生存带来严重的后果。
When a population is separated by a barrier, its gene pool can be split up.
一个族群被屏障隔开以后，它们的基因库就会分裂。
That means reduced genetic diversity in each population,
这也就意味着分裂后每个族群的基因多样性会下降。
which leads to higher levels of inbreeding and an increased risk of extinction.
近亲交配的几率上升，长此以往，灭绝的风险性就会更大。
For the endangered ocelot, that process is happening right now.
就拿濒危的豹猫来说，这一影响已经开始凸显了。
The species is down to two small populations in the US and Mexico.
该族群被分裂成了分处美国和墨西哥的两个群体。
Border walls have been linked to a decrease in their populations and diversity.
有人就把豹猫数量的下降以及族群多样性的损失归因于界墙的修建上。
Any additional barriers would put their survival even more at risk,
修筑更多的屏障只会给他们的生存带来更加恶劣的影响，
and make the possibility of re-connecting those two populations pretty much impossible.
同时使两个部落的重聚变得更加困难。
Some argue that small crossings or barriers with occasional gaps would help animals like the ocelot to pass through.
有人就说，可以留一些小的通道或者在边界墙上时不时留出一些空隙，让豹猫之类的动物可以通过。
But those design features don’t take animal behavior into account.
然而，这些设计其实并没有考虑动物的行为。
Typically, building a barrier requires surrounding areas to be totally cleared of vegetation for roads that border patrol can drive on.
通常而言，要修筑界墙就意味着要清理周围地区的所有植被，以便铺设边防警察巡逻使用的道路。
The area is often lit with bright stadium lights too.
这些区域通常也会安装远射灯。
For animals accustomed to traveling at night under the cover of vegetation, that’s not a welcoming environment to use a small opening.
对习惯在夜间靠着植被的掩护通行的动物们来说，有了那些摄像头，要从很小的开头通过就不那么安心了。
In 2014, researchers placed cameras along the Arizona border,
2014年，研究人员在亚利桑那州的边境安装了很多摄像头，
and found that the presence of humans and most animals dropped after fence installations.
发现有了围栏以后，人和大部分动物都不再出入了。
But where the fence ended, human presence increased dramatically, while animal presence dropped.
但当围栏撤走以后，大批人群立即搬回了原地，但活动在那里的动物的数量还是减少了。
So humans can figure out ways around, over, or under a barrier. Animals often can’t.
人有能力弄清楚如何绕过围栏，跨过围栏或者从围栏底下通过，动物却不能。
There’s one big reason why habitats like those in the Rio Grande Valley are vulnerable right now.
里奥格兰德河谷等地的栖息地如今之所以变得如此脆弱有一个重要的原因。
Along these areas, the Department of Homeland Security has the authority to waive environmental laws for border wall projects.
那就是，在这些地方，国土安全局的人有权无视环境保护法的规定修筑边墙。
So they can build a wall anytime with no restrictions.
要修随时都可以修，还不受任何约束。
Nature isn’t supposed to be the target of political barriers —
修筑政治屏障并不是为了约束自然界的动物，
but with a wall like this, it might stand to suffer a lot of the consequences.
然而，有了这些墙，它们就可能要承担很多后果。
Thank you so much for watching episode 2 of By Design.
非常感谢大家收看《通过设计》的第二期视频。
To film this story I went down with our science editor Eliza Barclay, to the border of Texas and Mexico.
为了拍摄本期故事，我和我们的科学编辑Eliza Barclay亲自去了德克萨斯和墨西哥边境。
I highly recommend that you check out more of the reporting that she has done on this issue.
我强烈推荐大家去看她关于这个问题所做的调查。
Those links are down below.
链接就在下面喔。
