绿色星球（2022）

吸引传粉昆虫
and attract pollinating insects.
风和风中的昆虫可以为几乎所有的陆地植物传粉
Wind and insects between them pollinate virtually all land plants,
然而 这两种方式对于完全生活在水下的植物来说
but neither method can be used by plants that live
都不适用
entirely underwater.
所以一些植物会选择两种生活方式
So some lead double lives.
这是英格兰南部的一条白垩溪流
A chalk stream in southern England, and swaying in the current
而让这些溪流闻名的正是这种飘荡在水面上的 植物
is a plant for which these rivers are famous.
这是笔刷毛茛，一种水生植物
This is water-crowfoot, a kind of aquatic buttercup.
它们一年中大部分时间都生活在水下
For most of the year, it is underwater.
假如我让这台水下摄像机下水
And if I take this underwater camera...
我们就可以看到它柔软的茎是沿水平方向生长的
..you can see its floppy stems grow horizontally.
这可以降低它们被水流冲走的风险
That reduces the risk of being swept away by the current.
然而 每年春天 当它的花期到来时
But each spring, when it's time to flower, it produces
笔刷毛艮便会长出一种不同寻常但是很关键的东西
something crucially different...
会长出可以对抗水流的坚硬花茎
..a stem that is stiff enough to resist the current
并将花朵抬升到水面之上
and lift its flowers into the air above.
现在它们就可以让昆虫来帮它们传粉了
And now, of course, they can get help from insects.
所以 至少在每年的部分时间里
So every year, in part, at least,
笔刷毛茛会变得和陆生植物无异
water-crowfoot becomes a land plant...
它们为我们奉上英国初夏时节里
..and provides us with one of the loveliest natural spectacles
一道令人陶醉的自然景观
of the early English summer.
笔刷毛茛并不是唯一一种能把花朵
Water-crowfoot is not the only water plant to lift its flowers
抬升到水面上的植物
above the surface.
世界各地的许多植物都具有这种行为
Plants do so all around the world.
从南美洲的潘塔纳尔湿地
From the swamps of the Pantanal...
到泰国的一些湖泊
..to the lakes of Thailand,
人们都会看到水下的植物突然繁花盛开
they all burst into spectacular bloom.
授粉完成之后 花朵就会结出种子
Once they've been pollinated, they produce seeds.
现在它们的花朵已经完成了使命
And now their flowers have done their job,
一些花朵会重新返回水下
some return to a life under water.
接下来 它们还要确保自己的种子能够落在适合
Now they must ensure that some of their seeds
萌芽生长的地方
will find suitable places in which to germinate.
香蒲每年都会长出这种天鹅绒般柔滑的长长蒲棒
Bullrushes every year produce these long, brown, velvety objects.
如果我掰开一个 来看看会发生什么
Look what happens when I break one open.
蒲棒里包含了近二十五万颗种子
It contains almost a quarter of a million seeds.
每颗种子都连接着一个小巧的降落伞
Each seed is attached to a delicate parachute.
即便只有些许微风也能把它们吹起
Even the slightest breeze will lift it and may carry it
并将它们送往很远的地方
for very long distances indeed.
尽管适宜植物生长的淡水水域不多且偏远
So even though suitable stretches of fresh water are few
总会有一些种子
and far between, there's a good chance that at least one
能够飘到合适的地方生根发芽
will end up in a place where it can grow.
当然 一些较大的种子则无法乘风远行
Much bigger seeds, of course, can't travel by air.
不过它们可以顺着水流旅行
A river can provide transport,
但这往往是一场
but it's a one-way journey downstream
奔向大海的单程旅行
that often ends up in the sea.
所以这种方式并不理想
And that's not ideal.
那么河边的植物如何才能让种子不被冲入大海而是去往上游呢
So how can any riverside plant avoid this and travel upstream?
在巴西博尼图河水
Here, along the Bonito River in Brazil,
两岸的很多树木都能够做到
a variety of trees manage to do exactly that.
它们把种子包裹进了柔软甜美的果肉之中
They embed their seeds in the middle of soft, sweet fruit.
猴子，比如这些黑帽悬猴
Monkeys, such as these capuchins,
会在果实成熟时前来享用
make a meal of them just as soon as they're ripe.
这些猴子在进食时非常浪费
But monkeys are very wasteful feeders.
那些没有被吃掉的果实会落入河中
And what's not eaten ends up in the river
被水冲走
and is washed away.
然而也有例外
But not all.
在果实成熟的季节 成百上千条希式石脂鲤
In the fruiting season, hundreds of Piraputanga fish
会聚集到这些树木之下
gather beneath these trees.
它们不满足于只在黑帽悬猴用餐时捡漏
But the Piraputanga want more than the monkeys' leftovers.
这些果实颜色鲜艳 就连水下的鱼
The brightly coloured fruits are clearly visible, even to the fish
都能清楚的看到它们
in the water below.
一些希式石脂鲤甚至可以
And some manage to claim them
抢在黑帽悬猴前面大快朵颐
even before a monkey does.
并不是这条鱼天赋异禀
This isn't a skill mastered by just one particularly
能够施展出这样的空中特技
successful acrobatic fish.
许东希式石脂鲤都能完成这种表演
Many of the Piraputanga can do this.
这对于树木来说并不是灾难
Nor is this a disaster for the tree.
事实上 恰恰相反
Far from it.
这些希式石脂鲤是洄游鱼类
These Piraputanga are migratory,
它们会游至河流的上游产卵
heading many miles upriver to spawn.
通过引诱鱼类吃掉自己的果实
The trees, by enticing the fish to eat their fruits,
这些树木为它们的种子找到了完美的运输方式
have a perfect means of transport for their seeds.
幸运的话，种子会被播种到许多公里外的上游水域
With luck, the seeds will be deposited many miles upstream.
开拓新栖息地的能力
The ability to colonise new habitats
让一些开花植物得以离开淡水
has allowed one group of flowering plants to venture out of fresh water
进入一个在我们看来并无差别
and into a world that may look the same to us,
但对植物来说却完全不同的世界
but for a plant is crucially different.
这便是更加广阔且盐度更高的世界
The much greater, saltier world...
海洋
..the sea.
这颗种子来自一种如今被人类视为最重要的植物之一
This is a fruit from one of the most important plants on the Earth today.
海草
Seagrass.
它正在飘离地中海的
This particular one is floating off the coast of Formentera
福门特拉岛海岸
in the Mediterranean.
在大约十万年前 就是这样一颗海草种子
100,000 years ago, a seagrass seed like this
沉入了这里的海底
sank to the sea floor just here.
并最终发展成了一片
And, eventually, it produced...
至今依然
..a great meadow.
非常繁茂的海草场
A meadow that is still flourishing today.
它是通过自我复♥制♥实现的
It did so by cloning itself.
如今这片绵延约十五公里的海草场
Now over ten miles across,
不仅是地球上
it's not only one of the largest living
最大的生物体之一
organisms on Earth,
同时也是地球上最古老的生物体之一
it's also one of the oldest.
这里为种类繁多的海洋动物提供了栖息地
And it supports a rich community of many kinds of animals.
它就像是大海中的热带大草原
It's become a kind of marine savannah.
超过一千个物种生活在这里
Over 1,000 species now live here.
其中的一些 就像把自己伪装起来的剃刀鱼一样
Some, like these elegantly camouflaged pipe fish,
只生活在海草中
live nowhere else but amongst the seagrass.
海草在世界各地的许多近海沿岸都有分布
Seagrass fringes many of the world's coasts.
海龟也依赖于海草生存
Turtles depend upon it, too.
儒艮也以海草为食 有些人叫它们
And so do Dugong - animals that are sometimes called,
海牛
very appropriately, sea cows.
如今 海草对维护地球生态系统的健康
Today, seagrass plays a critical role in maintaining the health
有着至关重要的作用
of our planet.
它们的根部能以惊人的速度
It creates stores of carbon around its roots
捕获大量的碳
at an enormous rate.
它们捕获碳的速度要比热带雨林中的地上植被
35 times faster, in fact, than plants that live on the floor
还要快三十五倍
of a tropical rainforest.
在福门特拉岛的近岸
Here in Formentera,
我们可以在海草场的下方看到这种植物
it's possible to see, beneath the living seagrass,
在过去大约两千年里
layer upon layer of trapped carbon
封存的一层又一层的碳
that the plants have accumulated over the past 2,000 years.
然而 人类的活动极易破坏海草场
Seagrass, however, is easily destroyed by human disturbance.
世界上三分之一的海草场已经消失了
A third of the world's underwater meadows have already been lost,
还有许多海草场的面♥积♥正在不断萎缩
and many more are in decline.
生物学家们在努力保护现有海草场的同时
Biologists are now striving to not only protect the remaining meadows,
也希望通过一株株的种植
but to restore them.
让其得以恢复
One plant at a time.
在应对气候变化的斗争中
Seagrass could be a valuable ally
海草将是我们的一个非常重要的盟友
in our fight against climate change.
世界各地的水生世界几乎都受到了威胁
Today, water worlds everywhere are under threat.
在其中栖息的许多动植物正在逐渐消失
Many of their inhabitants are disappearing
而有些生物甚至还不为我们人类所知就消失了
without us even being aware of their existence.
生长在水中的植物可能是所有植物种最不引人关注的
The plants that grow in water are probably the least noticeable.
对它们的研究自然也是最少的
They're certainly the least studied.
然而 我们越是了解它们面对的生存问题
But the more you know about the problems of living in that way,
它们就越有机会延续这样的生存奇迹
the greater the wonder of their success.
毫无疑问 它们理应得到我们更多的关注
Surely they deserve more of our attention
更重要的是
and, most importantly,
得到我们的呵护
our care.