野性南美洲（2000）

This caiman has grown fat
这只凯门鳄吃的又大又肥
on the seasonal concentration of food.
但是如果再不下雨
But if the weather doesn't break soon
它可能就会困在泥里暴晒至死
it may get stuck in the mud and baked to death.
这是一场耐力赛
It's a waiting game.
只有雨水才能结束这场比赛
Nothing but rain can bring an end to this
但是天气变化的第一个预兆
but the first signs of a change in the weather
却让情况变得更糟...非常的糟糕
only make things worse much worse
尤其是在草原上
especially in the Grassland.
回到塞拉多
Back in the Cerrado
闪电点着了易燃的干草
lightning ignites the tinder-dry grass
野火燎原，每年都会发生
These fires are an annual event.
最干燥的几年
In the driest years
巴西大草原多数地区都燃起了熊熊大火
much of Brazil's great plains go up in smoke.
对食腐动物跟猎人来说
For scavengers and hunters
野火是一个好机会
the fires are an opportunity
但是对跑不动又不会飞的生物
but for anything that can't run or fly
这火焰可能会致命
these flames can be fatal.
野火烧得很快...比人类跑的还要快
The fires move fast faster than a man can run.
大火累积了力量
As they gather strength
就吸入四周的空气
they suck in air
进而自行产生风力
from their surroundings and generate their own wind.
然后可以让野火延烧好几天
The result is a fire that can burn for days.
这一幕..就像世界末日
This looks like the end of the world
然而火向来是形成这块古地貌的自然力之一
but fire has always been an element of this ancient landscape.
几百万年以来
Over millions of years
这块土地上的生物已经学会适应野火
everything that lives here has become adapted to cope with it.
野火也会带来一些好处
Fire can even be beneficial.
它清掉堆积已久的枯草
It clears away accumulations of dead grass
然后把养分还给土壤
and returns nutrients to the soil.
一些动物被烧死了
Some animals are killed
大部分是年老，生病或幼小的动物
but mostly the old, the sick or the very young.
在地表下5公分的地方
Only five centimetres below the surface
土壤的温度完全没有上升
soil temperatures barely rise at all.
白蚁的泥土城♥堡♥隔开了外面的热气
Insulated from the outside world in their castles of clay
它们毫发无伤
the termites are unscathed.
就连火也阻止不了它们
Not even fire can stop them.
热也许烤干了它们的城墙
The heat may have baked their battlements
但它们快速修补所有裂缝
but they're quick to repair any cracks.
白蚁的生产线跟平常一样继续工作
On the termite production line work goes on as normal.
大火熄灭之后的几天
For a few days after the fire
草原一片焦黑，没有生气
the plains look black and lifeless.
不过外表是会骗人的
But appearances are deceptive.
经由火焰热气的引动
Triggered by the heat of the flames
植物释出了种子
plants release their seeds.
落在肥沃灰烬上
They fall on a fertile bed of ash
上一季的植物完全被清理干净了
cleared of the clutter of last season's growth.
不过几天，草又长了出来
Within days the grass comes alive again.
快速燃烧的火没有伤到根部
The fast-moving flames have left the roots unharmed.
大火还能刺♥激♥新绿的生长
Fire actually stimulates new growth
但是叶片一张开
but almost as quickly as it sprouts
就又被切叶蚁给割了下来
it's cut down again by leafcutter ants.
这些蚂蚁是仅次于白蚁的资源再生者
These ants are second only to termites as recyclers.
一个蚁窝里的蚂蚁可能超过1百万只
There can be a million or more in a single nest
一百平方公尺的范围内有多达30个蚁窝
and up to thirty nests in a hundred metre square.
它们搜寻食物时可以离巢两百公尺远
They forage up to two hundred metres from the nest
再沿着气味找到回家的路
following scent trails to find their way home.
一只小小的蚂蚁
A single ant is tiny
却能扛起相当于体重20倍的东西
but it can carry twenty times its own body weight.
全体搬动的吨♥数相当惊人
Together the tonnage they shift is extraordinary.
它们可以搬走1成新生的草
They can take ten percent of all the new grass.
蚂蚁跟白蚁不同...它们没办法消化草
Unlike termites ants can't digest grass.
回到地底的巢穴里
Back in their underground nest
它们把草撕成碎片用来种植真菌
they shred it into tiny pieces and grow fungus on it
然后再吃这些真菌
and the ants then eat the fungus.
这只动物会吃蚂蚁
And this eats ants.
但是在塞拉多蚂蚁窝大多在地底深处
But in the Cerrado the ants' nests are often deep underground
因此大食蚁兽觉得捉白蚁比较简单
so the giant anteater finds it simpler to tackle termites.
它用长长的前爪
It uses its long front claws to rip
撕开蚁丘坚硬的外壳
through the termite mound's hard outer shell.
虽然如此...这一餐可不容易到手
Even so this isn't an easy meal.
白蚁的防线一被攻破
The instant their defences are breached
兵蚁就会赶来驱逐入侵者
soldier termites rush to repel the invader
它们会咬食蚁兽...还喷出刺♥激♥的液体
with bites and irritant sprays.
还会爬到它的鼻子上
They can really get up your nose
所以食蚁兽必须速战速决
so for the anteater this has to be fast food.
它攻击一个蚁丘的时间不会超过1分钟
It seldom spends longer than a minute at any one nest
反正这里的蚁丘多得选不完
but there's no shortage of mounds to choose from.
食蚁兽漫步在平原上已经有好几百万年
Anteaters have roamed these plains for millions of years
它进化成专门吃昆虫的高手
time for them to become one of the most specialised of all insect eaters.
拥有半公尺长，黏黏的舌头
With their half-metre-Iong sticky tongue
强有力的前肢加上锐利的爪子
powerful forelimbs and sharp claws
完全适合这样的生活方式
they're supremely adapted to this way of life.
食蚁兽走过一个个蚁丘
As it wanders from mound to mound
一路留下了许多破坏的痕迹
the anteater leaves a trail of destruction in its wake.
但是白蚁不屈不挠
But the termites aren't defeated.
食蚁兽一走
As soon as it's gone
工蚁立刻修补裂缝...用泥土，唾液及粪便
the workers rush to repair the breach with soil, saliva and dung.
食肉蚁会从缝隙中爬进来
Any hole could admit predatory ants
破坏蚁窝重要的空调系统
and it destroys the colony's vital air conditioning
所以它们的动作要快
so they have to move fast.
不到几个小时混合物就跟水泥一样硬
In just a few hours the mixture sets hard as concrete.
放眼望去，塞拉多的平原没有树
As you look across the treeless plains
只见遍地都是白蚁的尖塔
of the Cerrado the termite turrets dominate the landscape.
这些尖塔里住的可不只是白蚁
And they are home for more than just termites.
蚁丘凉爽的内部是惟一的阴影及庇护所
Their cool interiors provide the only shade and shelter.
可是要怎么进去呢？
But how do you get in?
这种鸟儿知道答案
This bird has the answer.
它是只扑动鴷,啄木鸟的一种
It's a flicker a kind of woodpecker.
它的表亲在森林的树洞里筑巢
In forest, its relatives nest in holes in trees
所以它有能力敲开蚁丘开路进去
so it's well able to hammer its way into a termite mound.
有蚁群的蚁丘，白蚁会修复裂缝
In a living colony the termites might repair the breach
但是废弃的蚁丘上很快就到处都是洞
but deserted mounds are soon riddled with holes
扑动鴷到的地方其他动物随后就跟来了
and where the flickers go other animals can follow.
胡蜂单薄的巢最适合建在蚁丘里
They're perfect spots for wasps to build their papery nests
好躲避暴风雨
protected from the elements.
各种动物都会利用蚁丘，把它当作家或是了望台
As home or lookout post all sorts of animals use termite mounds.
就连鬃狼也会利用蚁丘
Even the maned wolf has a use for them.
这片平原毫无特色
On these featureless plains
用蚁丘来标示地盘最适合了
they make convenient posts for scent marking its territory
就像市区的狗利用路灯柱
like lamp posts for a dog on a city street.
十月的天空，乌云密布
The October skies begin to fill with clouds until
暴风雨倾盆而下之后，漫长的干季宣告结束了
with a cataclysmic storm the long dry season comes to an end.
六个月的干旱变成了六个月的雨季
The six month drought gives way to six months of rain.
塞拉多的气候从一个极端迅速转换成另一个极端
The Cerrado's climate swings from one extreme to the other.
草原上的动物捱过了干旱及野火
The animals of the plain have survived drought and fire
但它们要怎么熬过大雨呢？
but how will they cope with this?
蚁丘是许多动物的庇护所
Termite mounds give shelter to many animals
但是来不及躲雨的小生物很快就会溺死
but anything small caught in the open could easily drown
例如这些切叶蚁
like these leafcutter ants.
大雨是塞拉多的第二种面貌
The rains are the second face of the Cerrado.
对这里的生物来说
For everything that lives here
雨水带来新的挑战...也带来新的机会
they bring new challenges and new opportunities
不过，接下来的6个月
though for the next six months
它们得忍♥受天天泡在水里的生活
they'll have to put up with this daily drenching.
黎明时分...一层冷雾笼罩这片大地
At dawn a cold mist clothes a land
几天前它还被热气烘的闪闪发光
that only days before would have been shimmering in the heat.
来自草原的大水让河流水位快速上升
Fast-rising rivers fill with floodwater from the grassland.
沿着河岸有几棵当地生长的大树
Their banks are lined with the few large trees that grow here
它们是蓝黄金刚鹦鹉的家
home for blue and yellow macaws.
河水暴涨之后