自然的运作（2012）

Like plants, these tiny algae get most of their food through photosynthesis,
阳光很容易就穿透水面
water and carbon dioxide react to make sugars,
利用阳光 水和二氧化碳变成了糖分
powered by sunlight which easily penetrates these clear waters.
珊瑚虫为水藻提供保护 而水藻也为珊瑚虫提供食物
While the polyps provide the algae with protection the algae supply the polyps with food.
但珊瑚虫需要的不仅仅是阳光
But coral needs more than just sunlight alone,
它还需要养分 如氮和磷
it needs nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorous.
沿海的生物 如海榄雌 把大部分的东西过滤走了
Coastal environments like the mangrove filter most of this out
只有极少的养分到达树根
and what little nutrients reach the reef
但是这也得冒着被深海中的漩涡 冲走的危险
risk being quickly washed out to the deep ocean by the swirling currents.
幸运的是 海绵也有对策
Fortunately the sponge has a solution.
它们的进食方式
The way that it feeds.
研究人员利用有色的染料 来进行实验
Researchers use coloured dye to see this in action.
连推动活塞都不需要
They don't even need to press the plunger.
海绵就自动地把养料吸进体内 然后流过它的身体
Instantly the sponge sucks the dye out and pumps it through its body,
而它只汲取它需要的养分
extracting any nutrients that it finds.
正如礁石上的动物 海绵迅速找到并浓缩所需的养分
So as the animals on the reef excrete the sponge quickly captures and concentrates the nutrients.
而海绵分泌的浓缩养分 也滋养了礁石
And as the sponge excretes, these concentrated nutrients help to feed the reef.
海绵的庞大数量 使它们的工作效率很高
The scale at which sponges can do this is what makes it so effective.
一只海绵只有60厘米长
A sponge, just 60 centimetres in length
却可以在5天内 吸进一个 奥林匹克标准泳池的水量
can pump an Olympic sized swimming pool full of water in just five days.
海绵快速地吸水 排出足够的养分
So by pumping quickly the sponge extracts enough nutrients
并且高度浓缩
making the most of tiny concentrations.
这种大规模的回收活动使养分 能够维持更长的时间
This large scale recycling keeps nutrients around the reef for longer,
推迟了它们流进海洋的时间 尽管那是不可避免的
delaying the inevitable leaking away into the open ocean.
这有益于这里的所有生物
This benefits everything that lives here,
不管是珊瑚
from the coral
海龟
to the turtle,
还是黑尖礁鲨
to the black-tip reef shark.
为显示出海绵重要性 研究人员 把一个礁石周围的所有海绵移走
To reveal the importance of the sponge researchers removed them from a reef
6个月内 40%的珊瑚死了
and within 6 months 40 percent of the corals had died.
不仅仅是礁石上的生命需要海绵 珊瑚虫也需要
But life on the reef doesn't only need the sponge, or the coral.
它也需要上游的环境以及 使上游环境得以维持的动物
It also needs the environments upstream and the animals that make them work.
老虎
The tiger,
螃蟹
the crab,
甚至福寿螺
even the snail.
它们在浅海中♥共♥同建立生态系统 其中一些还是地球上最肥沃的土地
Together they make ecosystems in shallow seas some of the richest on earth.
但是有一个生态系统 比珊瑚礁更重要
But there is an ecosystem more important than coral reefs.
它使其他的生态系统 都相形见绌
One that dwarfs all others.
为了找到该生态系统 我们必须随着水流 到达海洋
To find it we have to follow the water further out to sea.
海洋的深处
To the deep ocean.
地球上97%的水都在这里
97 percent of all the water on earth is found here.
表面看来 这里似乎没有生命
On the surface this vast expanse appears barren of life.
也没有食物
And empty of food.
但是地球上最大的动物 就居住在这里
Yet the biggest animals on the planet live here.
而它们的生存却依赖世界上 最小的动物
And their success depends on some of the smallest.
为了弄清楚它们之间的关联 我们需要追踪所有的泥土
To understand this connection we need to follow all that silt, sediment, and recycled organic material
沉积物和循环再用的有机物 它们以各自的方式到达远海
that made its way to the open sea.
到达了海洋 它们就像 水中的雪花 沉落海底
When it reaches the sea it falls like marine snow onto the bottom.
但却永远不会消失
But these nutrients are not lost forever.
海洋风和深海的水流控制着 全球的海洋动态
Ocean winds and deep-sea currents stir up the oceans on a global scale.
被上升的水流带动着
Carried by these 'upwelling' currents,
曾经失踪了的养分 最终也会重见天日
many of the once lost nutrients eventually resurface.
现在 地球上最微小的生物 就从事这份工作
Now some of the world's tiniest organisms play their part.
浮游植物极微小 但对 生命的延续却产生关键性作用
Phytoplankton, microscopic plant-like organisms, with a pivotal role in the success of all life.
这些混合的养分从阳光中 获取能量使浮游植物的数量激增
Powered by the sun in this rich mix of nutrients their population explodes.
从而吸引了大量的甲壳纲动物 磷虾和其他小动物
This multiplying plant life soon attracts millions of small crustaceans, krill, and other tiny animals.
浮游生物暴增是世界上 最恐怖的暴♥乱♥
A plankton bloom, the biggest frenzy of all life on earth.
在印度洋 浮游生物暴增吸引了 世界上最恐怖的生物
Here in the Indian Ocean plankton blooms attract one of the world's most awe-inspiring creatures.
蝠魟
The manta ray.
它的翼长达8米 重1吨♥
With a wingspan of up to 8 metres and weighing as much as a ton
它们如在水中飞翔 清除浮游生物
they fly through the water, filtering plankton.
在马尔地夫附近的水域中 生活着6000只蝠魟
Up to 6 thousand manta rays live in these rich waters around the Maldives.
浮游生物的激增 还吸引了一种更大型的生物
The plankton bloom attracts an even bigger giant,
世界上最大的鱼
the world's largest fish,
鲸鲨
a whale shark.
它的嘴宽达1米 用来吸浮游生物就最好不过了
It has a mouth about a metre wide, perfect for sucking up plankton.
这个海中巨人可能 已经游了几百公里
This titan of the sea may have swum hundreds of kilometres
就是为了这些浮游生物
just to feed on this plankton bloom.
这是地球上动物巨头们的聚会
Together this is a huge gathering of some of the biggest animals on the planet.
把养分带到海洋表面 可能需要几千年的时间
For nutrients to be brought up to the surface it can take thousands of years.
它们不仅仅在这里建立了 地球上最大的生态系统
Here they not only fuel the largest ecosystem on the planet
而且在大多数的重要关系中 产生了关键的作用
but they play a crucial role in the most important connection of all.
影响着地球上所有的生物
One that affects all life on earth.
当浮游生物的生长数量达到巅峰 海洋表面的温度被升高
When plankton blooms reach their peak they raise the temperature of the ocean's surface.
操纵着全球的天气系统
Driving weather systems across the whole planet.
强大的暴风雨和飓风
Powering storms and hurricanes.
最终形成了...
Systems that ultimately create...
雨
Rain!
云把雨水带回到大地 影响着全球的生态系统和生命
Clouds carry the rain back to land where it affects ecosystems and all life across our planet.
最后这些水流进河流
Eventually this water feeds into rivers
带着沉积物 踏上重回海洋之路
where it picks up more sediment on its long journey back to the sea.