- One quarter of all the land on Earth
地球上四分之一的土地 - is covered by a single, remarkable type of plant.
覆盖着唯一一种伟大的植被 - Almost indestructible, it can grow two feet in a day...
它们几乎坚不可摧 一天可以长高六十厘米 - And be tall enough to hide a giant.
连巨型动物都能藏匿其中 - That plant is grass,
那就是草本 - and the world it creates is truly unique.
草本植物构建出来的世界独具一格 - The grass in northern India is the tallest on the planet,
印度北部的草是地球上长得最高的 - home to some of the most impressive creatures to tread the Earth.
这里是众多神奇生物的家园 - These are the good times,
现在正当好时候 - but in just a few months, all this fresh growth will be gone,
可再过几个月 这些青草就会消失 - and the animals will be forced to move on.
动物们将被迫迁徙 - That is the way things are on grasslands across the planet.
地球上的草原都是如此 - A cycle of abundance, destruction and rebirth
重复着富足 消亡 重生的循环 - that affects every creature that lives here.
从而影响着栖息在这里的所有生命 - The largest grassland on Earth, the vast Eurasian Steppe,
辽阔的欧亚草原区是地球上最大的草原地带 - stretches one third of the way around our planet.
覆盖距离达到地球周长的三分之一 - Spring rain has brought fresh grass, and with it, new life.
青草随春雨而生 也带来了新生命 - A relic from the Ice Age, a baby Saiga antelope,
一种冰川时代存活至今的生物 高鼻羚羊幼崽 - just three hours old.
出生才三小时 - His only company, his twin.
陪伴它的只有它的孪生兄弟 - Until they can stand,
在它们能站起来之前 - their mother has left them hidden in the grass.
母亲会将它们藏在草丛中 - They should be safe, as long as they remain quiet.
这样应该很安全 只要保持安静 - For these calves, the clock is already ticking.
对这两只小羊来说 时间紧迫 - Their herd will soon be moving on,
羚羊群很快就要离开 - seeking the freshest new grass.
去寻找最新鲜的草场 - Their lanky legs are a sure sign
高鼻羚羊四肢瘦长 - that they're built for a life on the move.
预示着它们一生都将奔波在路上 - Saiga always give birth to twins,
高鼻羚羊总会产下孪生幼崽 - so their numbers grow rapidly just when grass is plentiful.
这样能够在草源充足时迅速繁衍 - Their bizarrely shaped nose can detect fresh growth
它们的鼻子长相奇怪 却能够勘测到 - from hundreds of miles away.
几百公里外的青草长势 - The young twins will now begin the nomadic life
这两只小羊即将与其他草原动物一样 - they share with most animals on the world's open plains.
开始辽阔草原上不断迁徙的生活 - Grasslands occur where rain is too sporadic for forests to exist.
降雨量不足以养育森林时就会出现草原 - The rain that a grassland needs to survive for a year
草原生长所需的年降雨量 - might arrive all at once.
可能会一次来临 - Storms like these can release 12 inches of rain in 24 hours.
这样的暴雨在二十四小时内能达到三百毫米降雨量 - Not much fun if you're out in it.
淋起来可不好受 - Eventually the earth can't soak up any more,
最终土壤无法继续吸收雨水 - and the grassland undergoes a radical change.
草原也完全变了样子 - Many plants would drown here, but grasses thrive.
许多植物会被淹死 而草本却会茁壮生长 - They grow so fast,
它们长得飞快 - their leaves quickly rise above the water and into the sunlight.
茎叶迅速伸出水面 沐浴在阳光下 - Here in southern Africa,
在南非 - water transforms one of the most remarkable grasslands on Earth,
降水能让世界上最奇特的草原之一改头换面 - the Okavango.
奥卡万戈三角洲 - Every year, 5,000 square miles of grassland are flooded.
每年都有近一万三千平方公里的草原被水淹没 - For one pride of lions, this poses a major problem.
对于狮群来说 这成了最大的问题 - There may be plenty of prey around,
虽然猎物众多 - but lions struggle to run it down in water.
但狮子并不擅长在水中捕猎 - The pride has three-month-old cubs.
狮群中有三个月的幼崽 - They've never seen water before.
它们以前从未见过水 - If their mothers don't make a kill soon,
如果母狮们短时间内捕不到猎物 - the cubs might not survive the week.
这些幼崽可能撑不过这周 - But fuelled by the flood,
受洪水滋养 - the eruption of grass attracts new possible prey.
蓬勃生长的青草吸引来新的猎物 - Buffalo arrive in herds 2,000 strong.
数量超过两千头的水牛群接踵而至 - Powerful, aggressive and united,
强大 好斗 抱团前进 - they're the most dangerous animal a lion can face.
狮子能遇到的动物中 水牛是最危险的 - The biggest bulls don't run.
体型最大的公牛不会逃跑 - They're simply too huge to be scared of lions.
他们仗着身形庞大 并不惧怕狮子 - At 900 kilos, he weighs more than all five lionesses combined.
重达九百公斤 他比五头母狮加起来都重 - The pride do have numbers on their side,
虽然狮群占据了数量优势 - but one sweep of his horns could be deadly.
但如果被水牛角扫到 可能会直接丧命 - One distracts the bull up front,
一头母狮正面诱敌 - while her sisters attack from behind.
她的姐妹从后方进攻 - The cats must somehow topple the buffalo,
母狮们必须想办法压倒公牛 - but with swamp under foot, they can't get any traction.
但沼泽太过湿滑 脚底无法借力 - The bull is weakening,
公牛逐渐虚弱 - but the lions are tiring, too.
但狮群也露出疲态 - It's now a battle of will as much as strength.
现在是体力与毅力的双重考验 - To live, the bull must somehow shake off the lioness.
要想活下去 公牛必须想办法甩掉母狮 - The bull is wounded,
这头公牛受了伤 - but thanks to his two-inch-thick hide, he will recover.
但幸亏有五厘米厚的牛皮 他会慢慢痊愈 - For the pride, these are hungry times.
而狮群 只能忍饥挨饿了 - But, ultimately, once the water recedes, there will be new life,
但等到水位降低 便会有新生命来临 - and new food to benefit all.
也就有了新的食物来源 - In the right conditions, grasses have the extraordinary ability
只要条件适宜 草本植物可以在短短几天内 - to grow from first shoots to flower in a matter of only days.
完成从发芽到开花的全过程 - Grasses become the miniature equivalents of fruiting trees.
青草变成一棵棵微型果树 - And for creatures living within the grass,
对于住在其中的生物来说 - this is a landscape as vast and towering as any rainforest.
这样的草丛就像雨林一样高大葱郁 - And excellent place to build a tiny tree house
非常适合建造小树屋 - for a harvest mouse.
供巢鼠居住 - During summer, European meadowlands are full of food,
夏季的欧洲草原食物充盈 - but only for those that can reach it.
只看谁能捷足先登 - Climbing grass is harder than climbing trees,
爬草比爬树更困难 - not least because their stems just won't stay still.
主要是因为草茎不会静止不动 - Her prehensile tail acts like a fifth limb,
她的尾巴可以抓握物体 就像第五只手 - so she's as agile as a monkey clambering around in a tree.
让她如林中穿梭的猴子一般敏捷灵活 - And just as well,
和森林中一样 - for the best food in this tiny forest
这片草丛中最好的食物 - is at the very top of its canopy.
也在植株最顶端 - Feeding up here, she's exposed.
但爬到高处觅食 就会暴露自己 - A barn owl.
一只仓鸮 - Not her finest move...
动作不算灵巧 - But it did the trick.
但也算成功逃命 - Harvest mice seldom go all the way down to the ground.
巢鼠鲜少在地面行动 - It's a tangled and dangerous world down here.
这里的世界复杂而危险 - But she can read the pattern of the stems overhead like a map,
但她能够通过解读头顶的草茎来辨明方向 - and so find her way home.
从而找到回家的路 - And not a minute too soon.
时机刚好 - There are mouths to feed.
幼崽嗷嗷待哺 - Her babies must fatten up quickly.
她的宝宝们必须迅速长大 - They need to harvest the summer grasses
他们要趁着夏季食物充盈时 - while they're still rich with food.
尽量进食成长x7f - On the African savannah, too,
非洲稀树草原亦是如此 - seasonal grasses are filled with life,
应季时草地生命丰富多彩 - but it won't last long.
但却不会持续太久 - Carmine bee-eaters are superb aerial hunters,
红喉蜂虎是卓越的空中猎手 - experts at catching insects in midair.
十分擅长捕食飞行中的昆虫 - But they have no way of flushing their prey out of the grass.
但它们无法将猎物赶出草丛 - Once alarmed, most insects stay put.
一旦警觉起来 大多数昆虫会静止不动 - The bee-eaters need someone to stir things up a bit.
红喉蜂虎需要找帮手来捣乱 - A kori bustard.
一只灰颈鹭鸨 - It's the world's heaviest flying bird,
它是世界上体重最大的飞禽 - so it should be bulky enough to kick up some insects.
凭它庞大的身躯 应该能轰出一些虫子 - Bingo!
成功了 - Until someone else comes along
直到有别的蜂虎加入 - and cramps your style.
打乱它的计划 - Never mind, perhaps there are bigger opportunities ahead.
没关系 也许等会还有更好的机会 - What about an ostrich?
鸵鸟怎么样 - The heaviest bird of all.
它们是体重最大的鸟类 - This time there's more than enough transport to go around.
这次有足够的交通工具了 - Soon, almost every ostrich has its own passenger.
很快 几乎每只鸵鸟都有了自己的乘客 - But free riders are only tolerated for so long.
不过搭便车的也得意不了多久 - What the bee-eaters really need
蜂虎真正需要的 - is a creature so big it won't even notice them.
是体型大到根本注意不到它们的动物 - Nothing cuts a swathe through grass
非洲公象夷平草地之势 - like an African bull elephant.
没有动物能与之比肩 - The trick is to fly as close to the front of the giant as possible.
诀窍是尽可能飞在这位“大块头”的近前方 - They only have a split second to grab the prize.
想取得奖赏 必须在刹那间出手 - As more insects are stirred up, the competition intensifies.
越来越多昆虫被赶出来 竞争也愈发激烈 - With summer drawing to a close, the race to stock up is on.
夏天即将结束 储备食物的竞赛已然打响 - Soon, the grass will wither, and this opportunity will have gone.
草很快就会枯萎 屯食良机转瞬即逝 - As the dry season takes hold,
到了旱季 - food becomes increasingly thin on the ground.
地面的食物愈发稀缺 - Now, only the most specialised predators on the plains
只有在真正身怀绝技的草原捕猎者 - can make a living.
才能维持生活 - She may be spotted like a cheetah, but this cat is no sprinter.
她虽然形似猎豹 但这只猫并非短跑能手 - Instead, she has extra-long legs which give her a high vantage point.
相反 修长的四肢给予她独特的猎捕优势 - But a serval cat's main weapon are enormous radar ears.
不过薮猫最主要的武器 是她雷达般的双耳 - They help her pinpoint prey hiding in the grass.
能精确定位草丛中猎物的藏身之处 - But the prey she seeks are canny.
可是她的猎物十分机警 - Southern vlei rats.
非洲沟齿沼鼠 - They know that any sustained movement can give them away.
他们知道持续移动会暴露行踪 - So they move in short bursts.
于是选择短距离爆冲 - But even the slightest rustle will give her a clue.
但是最细微的窸窣声也会被薮猫察觉 - Warm.
快找到了 - Warmer.
更接近了 - Missed.
没抓到 - In better times, she could catch 10 a day,
形势好的时候 她一天能抓十只 - but now, with so few rodents around, she will have to go hungry.
但现在啮齿动物数量极少 她只能挨饿了 - As drought intensifies, life gets tougher for all.
随着干旱加剧 草原生活更加艰难 - Predators with permanent territories must tough it out,
定居于此的捕食者只能选择熬过去 - while most of their prey disappear over the horizon.
因为大部分猎物都已远去 - To avoid starvation,
为了抵御饥饿 - many grassland animals follow a nomadic way of life.
草原动物大多随水草迁徙 - Over 2,000,000 wildebeests wander the East African savannahs
超过两百万头牛羚奔走在东非大草原 - chasing the rains.
追逐着雨水 - And they are not alone.
不过它们并不孤单 - Arriving on the wing,
展翅飞来这里 - Jackson's Widowbirds also seek fresh grass.
杰氏巧织雀也在寻找鲜嫩的草 - Although, it's not just food that they're after.
然而 它们却不只是为食物而来 - This male wants a mate.
这只雄鸟想求偶 - He's grown elaborate breeding plumage for this moment,
为此他已长出漂亮的繁殖羽 - but he needs a stage on which to show it off.
但他需要舞台来展现自我 - By carefully selecting grass blades,
细心挑选草茎 - each trimmed to the correct length,
每一根修剪到合适的长度 - he's creating something very special.
他正在进行非常独特的创作 - He needs an even surface,
他需要一块平地 - and a centre-piece.
和一个放在中央的装饰物 - The stage is set.
舞台已经布置好了 - His bachelor pad is sufficiently neat and tidy to attract a female.
他的单身公寓干净整洁 很能吸引雌鸟 - The problem is,
问题是 - can she see it?
她能看到吗 - He has competition.
他还有竞争对手 - It might take more than a little gardening to impress the ladies.
园艺设计可能不足以打动女士们 - Jumping is the right idea,
跳起来是个好办法 - but he's misjudged the height of the grass.
但他低估了草的高度 - His rival makes it look easy.
他的对手显得很轻松 - Time to raise his game.
他得加把劲了 - It's not only who jumps the highest,
不仅要看谁跳得高 - but who can keep doing so the longest.
还要看谁能跳得久 - Unable to go the distance, his rivals drop out one by one.
对手们无法坚持下去 相继退出竞争 - Stamina has won him admirers,
他的耐力吸引了爱侣 - now he can show off his courtship arena...
现在可以展示他的求爱舞台了 - And engage in a little romantic hide-and-seek.
再来一场浪漫的捉迷藏游戏 - Finally, he's done enough.
他终于得偿所愿 - The East African savannahs support millions of grazers.
东非大草原养育着成千上万的食草动物 - Each year they devour millions of tons of grass,
每年会吃掉数百万吨草 - and yet there's one creature here
然而有一种生物 - whose impact is far greater than all these animals combined.
对草原造成的影响 远大于其他动物的总和 - They're found wherever grass grows on the planet,
地球上有草的地方 都有它们的踪影 - yet their labours go almost entirely unnoticed.
但它们的辛苦劳作几乎难以察觉 - One of the most remarkable is found here
其中最出色的 - on the grasslands of South America.
出现在南美洲草原 - These blades are so tough
这些叶片十分坚硬 - that virtually no large grass eaters can stomach them.
几乎没有大型食草动物能消化得了 - Yet they're harvested on an industrial scale...
然而却被小小的切叶蚁 - ...by tiny grass cutter ants.
大规模采集 - But they themselves can't digest one bit of it.
可它们根本无法消化叶片 - So, why bother?
那到底是为什么呢 - The answer is underground,
答案在地下 - and it's very ingenious.
可谓别出心裁 - Each blade is cut to length and placed into a garden of fungus.
每根叶片都被切成一定长度 放入菌圃 - The rotting grass feeds the fungus,
真菌以腐烂的叶片为食 - and in turn the fungus feeds the ants.
而真菌又成为蚂蚁的食物 - But feeding 5,000,000 workers requires intensive agriculture.
养活五百万劳动者需要大规模的高效耕作 - Luckily, they are an industrious lot.
幸好它们都很勤劳 - This colony alone will collect over half a ton of grass every year.
仅这一个蚁群 每年就能收集五百多公斤草 - With billions of ant colonies across the world's grasslands
数十亿蚁群遍布全球草原 - all doing exactly the same thing,
都在做相同的事 - that's a mind-boggling amount of grass.
它们消耗的草数量惊人 - It's estimated that over one third of the grass that grows on Earth
据估计 地球上超过三分之一的草 - will be harvested by an insect.
都会被这种昆虫采去 - In northern Australia,
在澳大利亚北部 - termites memorialise their industry in sculpture.
白蚁辛勤的劳作体现在雕塑上 - These astonishing mounds are 10 feet tall.
这些令人叹为观止的白蚁丘有三米高 - They're always built on a north-south axis,
全部建成南北走向 - which is why their builders are called compass termites.
因此它们的建筑者被称为罗盘白蚁 - These castles of clay
这些粘土造就的城堡 - protect their builders from extremes of heat
保护着它们的主人 - and seasonal floods experienced on many grasslands.
不受草原酷暑和季节性洪水的伤害 - Termites manage to do what most grass eaters can't,
白蚁与大多数食草动物不同 - break down dead grass and extract the nutrients.
它们能分解枯草 提取养分 - But they themselves can be food for those that can reach them.
但也有动物能探进蚁穴将它们吃掉 - A two-foot-long tongue
六十厘米长的舌头 - covered in microscopic hooks,
上面布满极小的钩子 - followed by claws longer than those of a velociraptor.
加之比迅猛龙还要长的爪子 - A giant anteater on the plains of South America.
这是一只生活在南美平原上的大食蚁兽 - It can devour 20,000 insects a day.
它每天可以吞食两万只昆虫 - Powerful forelegs enable it to rip apart a termite hill with ease.
有力的前肢让它们能够轻易地掰开白蚁巢 - And as the sun bakes the grass, the termites face new danger.
太阳炙烤草原 白蚁面临着新的危险 - In minutes, fire turns grassland to ash.
几分钟内 大火就将草原化为灰烬 - But the grasses are not dead.
但是草不会被大火烧尽 - Their underground stems are unharmed.
它们的地下茎完好无损 - Weeks, months may pass,
数周 数月就这么过去了 - but eventually the rains will return
但是雨季终将来临 - and the grass will sprout again.
青草又会重新发芽 - Some grasslands must endure not only fire, but ice.
一些草原不仅要忍受火的炙烤 还有冰霜 - As winter approaches,
冬季来临 - the prairies of North America begin to freeze.
北美的草原开始霜冻 - In summer, bison roamed freely,
夏季 美洲野牛四处漫步 - almost continuously cropping the abundant green grass.
享用着取之不尽的大片青草 - Now, that grass is not only withered and frozen,
现在青草不仅枯萎结冰 - it's about to be buried.
马上还会被大雪掩埋 - Sixty million tons of snow now blanket this herd's territory.
六千万吨的积雪覆盖在野牛群的领地上 - Pushing through deep snow is exhausting work,
在厚厚的积雪中行动非常耗费体力 - and the bison are now slowly starving.
美洲野牛越来越饥饿 - Just keeping warm saps huge amounts of energy.
仅仅保暖都需要耗费大量的能量 - Their thick coats can insulate them down to minus 20 Fahrenheit.
他们厚重的皮毛可耐受零下三十度的低温 - It's now minus 40.
现在是零下四十度 - The only thing that will keep them alive
唯一能让他们活下去的食物 - is buried beneath three feet of snow.
被深埋在一米深的积雪之下 - And that's a problem shared with a surprising neighbour.
他们意想不到的邻居也面临着同样的问题 - The food the fox seeks is also deep beneath the snow.
狐狸在搜寻的食物也被深埋在积雪之下 - The survival of both creatures
这两种生物能否生存下去 - depends on getting through to the ground.
取决于能否挖到地面的食物 - For the bison, it will be a matter of brute strength.
对于美洲野牛来说 用蛮力就可以做到 - Massive neck muscles enable them to shovel five tonnes of snow a day.
强大的颈部肌肉让他们每天可以铲五吨的雪 - Their light-weight neighbour needs more precision.
他们小巧的邻居则需要更高的准头 - The bison have reached their goal,
美洲野牛达到了目的 - a mouthful of withered grass.
一大口枯草 - And where the bison have dug, the fox now spots an opportunity.
在美洲野牛挖过的地方狐狸也见缝插针 - Every footstep counts,
每一步都至关重要 - but he mustn't break through...
但是时机... - Yet.
还未到 - He listens carefully to pinpoint his target.
他仔细监听着猎物的一举一动 - It's moving.
它在移动 - A vole.
一只野鼠 - Small, but 100 times more nutritious
虽然小 但是比一嘴干草的 - than a mouthful of dried grass.
营养价值高上百倍 - To get through the winter on these prairies,
想要在这草原上度过严冬 - sometimes brain beats brawn.
有时候脑子比蛮力更加重要 - Ultimately, life on all grasslands
最终 所有草原上的生物 - depends on the turn of the seasons.
都依赖于季节的更迭 - Five hundred miles further north than any tree can survive,
在树木生存极限八百公里以北的地方 - grass returns to life.
青草春风吹又生 - Caribou females have journeyed to the far north
雌性北美驯鹿远赴北方 - to calve.
来此产仔 - Over 70,000 caribou babies
超过七万只驯鹿幼崽 - will be born in the next few days.
将在几天内出生 - As the calves appear,
小鹿出生的时候 - so too do the leaves of the newly sprouting grass.
也正是青草发新芽的时候 - And the calves must strengthen quickly.
幼鹿必须迅速增强体能 - Within days they will have to keep up with their parents
几天内他们就将跟随自己的父母 - on a never-ending march.
踏上无尽的征程 - At one day old, they're already faster than an Olympic sprinter.
第一天 他们的速度就已经超过人类短跑健将 - They're testing the legs that will carry them thousands of miles,
他们正在测试自己跋山涉水用的四肢 - better to learn their limitations now.
最好现在就知道极限在哪里 - It may look playful, but there's no harder life on the grasslands
看起来很好玩 但草原上最艰苦的生活 - than that facing these infants.
正等着这些他们 - The caribou mothers now join together,
母驯鹿现在聚集起来 - each with an infant exactly the same age.
每只都带着一只同样大小的幼鹿 - They're setting off on the greatest
她们准备启程 - overland trek made by any animal.
进行陆地上最伟大的长途跋涉 - But wherever grass eaters travel,
但是无论草食性动物走到哪里 - predators lie in wait.
都有捕食者等待着他们 - Here they are, Arctic wolves.
就是他们 北极狼 - They must seize their chance
他们必须要在 - while the caribou pass through their territory.
驯鹿经过领地时把握住机会 - The wolf runs at the herd,
北极狼跑向鹿群 - trying to flush out the weak or the slow.
试图冲散群体中的弱者 - A calf is separated.
一只幼鹿走散了 - At full tilt, 40 miles an hour,
狼全力以赴捕猎的时速将近六十公里 - the wolf is just faster.
只比小鹿快一点点 - But the calf has stamina.
但是幼鹿的耐力更好 - Only a few weeks old,
虽然只有几周大 - and this calf's will to survive is remarkable.
这只幼鹿的求生欲望让人叹为观止 - And it needs to be,
而且必须如此 - for these young caribou have now started a journey
这些幼鹿开始了一场 - that will last a lifetime.
终其一生的旅程 - Forever chasing the seasonal growth of the grass
永远追寻着他们所需要的 - on which they depend.
季节性生长的青草 - Like all grassland creatures, they are at the mercy
和其他草原生物一样 他们依赖着 - of these unpredictable but ultimately bountiful lands.
这变化莫测而又极其慷慨的大草原 - Grass can survive some of the harshest conditions on earth,
青草可以在地球上最为极端的环境下生长 - flood, fire and frost, and still flourish.
经受洪水 火灾和冰霜的考验仍然生机盎然 - So it is that grasslands provide a stage
所以草原为地球上 - for the greatest gatherings of wildlife on planet earth.
最壮观的野生动物群提供了舞台 - Next time, we venture to the newest habitat on Earth,
下一集 我们向地球上最新的栖息地进发 - our cities.
我们的城市 - To reveal the extraordinary ways
揭示在这个人造的世界中 - that animals survive in this man-made world.
动物们神奇的生存方式 - [The End]
[本集结束]
行星地球 第二季 第五集 Planet Earth S02E05 草原
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