006 独木舟穿越湿地

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Will stared at the blank piece of paper in front of him and sighed

威尔盯着面前那张白纸，叹了口气。

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" Wetlands are useless. I don't want to write a report on them!

“湿地毫无用处。我才不想写湿地的报告呢！

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I'd rather hang out in the backyard." He grabbed his phone and headed outside

我宁愿到后院玩。”他抓起手机，往外走去。

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Will got comfortable in his favorite spot, the hammock

威尔在他最喜欢的地方——吊床上舒舒服服地躺了下来。

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After a few minutes of rocking back and forth, he dozed off

来回摇晃了几分钟后，他睡着了。

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Soon an annoying buzzing woke him up." Stupid mosquitoes," Will grumbled

很快，一阵烦人的嗡嗡声吵醒了他。“可恶的蚊子，”威尔咕哝道。

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" I wish they'd all die." He opened his eyes and saw that he wasn't in the hammock anymore but in a canoe

“我真希望它们全都死光。”他睁开眼睛，发现他已经不在吊床里了，而是在一艘独木舟里。

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And dozens of hungry mosquitoes were circling him

而且几十只饥饿的蚊子正围着他转。

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" Actually if mosquitoes died, many other species would die too — ones you like," QT said

“其实如果蚊子全死了，很多其他物种也会死——包括你喜欢的那些，”QT说。

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" Mosquitoes are an important part of the ecosystem."

“蚊子是生态系统的重要组成部分。”

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Will got up and sat on the canoe's bench." A part of what?"

威尔起身坐上独木舟的座位。“什么的一部分？”

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" An ecosystem is a community of plants and animals and the environment they live in," explained QT

“生态系统是植物、动物及其所生存环境组成的群落，”QT 解释说。

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" Each species within an ecosystem depends on the other species for its survival

生态系统中的每个物种都依赖其他物种才能生存。

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If mosquitoes weren't around, the birds and fish that eat them would disappear

如果没有蚊子，吃它们的鸟和鱼就会消失。

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And then the species that eat those birds and fish would die off too."

接着，吃那些鸟和鱼的物种也会相继灭绝。”

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" I guess I don't want that...," Will said

“我想我不希望那样……”威尔说。

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" Each species is part of the ecosystem's food chain

“每个物种都是生态系统食物链的一部分。

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Food chains show how species are connected. Algae and plants form the bottom of any food chain

食物链显示了物种之间如何相连。藻类和植物构成所有食物链的底端。

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They're called producers because they can make their own food from sunlight

它们被称为生产者，因为它们可以利用阳光自己制造食物。

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Creatures that eat other plants and animals are called consumers

以其他动植物为食的生物则称为消费者。

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Consumers that only eat plants are called herbivores

只吃植物的消费者叫做食草动物。

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Those that eat both plants and animals are called omnivores

既吃植物又吃动物的消费者叫做杂食动物。

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And those that only eat other animals are carnivores."

而只吃其他动物的叫做食肉动物。”

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Will peered into the water." I see what you mean

威尔向水中望去。“我明白你的意思了。

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Those little fish are eating plants. And that bird just ate one of the fish!

那些小鱼在吃植物。那只鸟刚刚吃掉了一条鱼！

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And — whoa! — that alligator would have eaten the bird if he were a little quicker!"

还有——哇！——那条鳄鱼要是再快一点，就会把那只鸟吃掉了！”

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" Alligators are at the top of the food chain," QT said." Very few species can prey on them

“鳄鱼处于食物链的顶端，”QT说，“很少有物种能捕食它们。

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When alligators — and all other creatures — die, decomposers, like bacteria and fungi, break down the dead bodies

当鳄鱼——以及所有其他生物——死亡时，分解者，比如细菌和真菌，会分解尸体。

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They return the energy and nutrients at the top of the food chain to the bottom

它们将食物链顶端的能量和养分送回到底层，

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so plants have what they need to grow and start the whole cycle again."

这样植物就有了生长所需的养分，可以重新开始整个循环了。”

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" There are so many animals here! There must be a lot of different food chains," Will guessed

“这里有这么多动物！一定有很多不同的食物链，”威尔猜测道。

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" You're right. Some plants are eaten by mice, which are eaten by snakes, which are eaten by hawks

“对。有些植物被老鼠吃，老鼠被蛇吃，蛇又被鹰吃。

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And some plants are eaten by deer, which are then eaten by panthers

有些植物被鹿吃，然后鹿被美洲狮吃。

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The many connections between all the food chains in an ecosystem make up a food web."

生态系统中所有食物链之间的许多联系构成了一个食物网。”

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" Did you say ' panthers'?" Will asked in surprise." Where are we?"

“你说‘美洲狮’？”威尔惊讶地问，“我们在哪儿？”

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" We are in the Everglades, a huge wetland in southern Florida

“我们在佛罗里达州南部的大沼泽地，一片巨大的湿地。

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Right now we are in a freshwater marsh, a large part of the Everglades

现在我们在一片淡水沼泽里，这是大沼泽地的主要部分。

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Believe it or not, panthers used to be common around here."

信不信由你，美洲狮过去在这附近很常见。”

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QT projected a panther sneaking up on a rabbit

QT投影出一只美洲狮悄悄靠近一只兔子。

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" Now they're endangered and we're unlikely to see one."

“现在它们濒危了，我们不太可能看到。”

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" Maybe we can see better from that tower," Will said, paddling the canoe toward it." But what exactly is a wetland?"

“也许从那个塔上能看得更清楚，”威尔说着，把独木舟划过去。“但湿地究竟是什么呢？”

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" It's just what it sounds like: an area that is covered by water for the majority of the time

“就是字面意思：大部分时间被水覆盖的区域。

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Wetlands are pretty shallow, usually no more than a meter deep. There are two main types

湿地相当浅，通常不超过一米深。主要有两种类型。

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Coastal wetlands — as you can probably guess — are close to a coast

沿海湿地——你可能猜得到——靠近海岸。

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Fresh water and salty water mix there, so only species that can tolerate water that's a little salty can survive

淡水和咸水在那里混合，所以只有能耐受微咸水的物种才能生存。

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Inland wetlands are, well, farther inland. They usually form when rain floods a riverbed or another low, flat area

内陆湿地，嗯，更靠内陆。它们通常在雨水淹没河床或其他低洼平坦地区时形成。

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Wetlands exist on every continent, except for Antarctica, so there is a huge variety of different habitats

除了南极洲，湿地存在于所有大陆，因此有种类繁多的不同栖息地。

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For instance, wetlands where mostly grasses grow — like this one — are called marshes, and those where trees grow are called swamps."

例如，主要生长草本植物的湿地——像这个——叫做草沼，而生长树木的叫做树沼。”

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The canoe reached the shore, and Will got out, stepping onto a path to the tower

独木舟靠岸，威尔出来，踏上通往塔的小路。

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When he reached the viewing platform, he said," There's so much land! Why don't they do something useful with it?"

当他到达观景台时，他说：“有这么多土地！为什么不拿来做点有用的事呢？”

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" Wetlands are useful!" QT exclaimed." They have several important jobs. For one they protect us from floods

“湿地很有用！”QT喊道。“它们有几项重要工作。其一是保护我们免受洪水侵袭。

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When a heavy rainfall comes, wetlands act like a sponge, absorbing the extra water and releasing it slowly."

当大雨来临时，湿地就像海绵一样，吸收多余的水分并缓慢释放。”

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" I guess that's useful," Will admitted." What else do wetlands do?"

“我想那是有用的，”威尔承认。“湿地还有什么作用？”

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" They clean water as it passes through, absorbing a lot of nutrients and pollutants

“当水流过时，它们净化水，吸收大量营养物质和污染物。

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Let's continue to the coast, and you'll see another benefit of wetlands."

让我们继续前往海岸，你会看到湿地的另一个好处。”

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As Will paddled along, the scenery began to change; the marsh became a maze of small islands and trees

威尔继续划桨，景色开始变化；草沼变成了小岛和树木组成的迷宫。

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" I've never seen trees growing in water before," commented Will

“我以前从未见过长在水里的树，”威尔评论道。

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" We are in a mangrove swamp," said QT," another habitat in the Everglades

“我们在一片红树林沼泽里，”QT说，“大沼泽地的另一个栖息地。

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It demonstrates another major role of wetlands: many species live here and migrating birds stop here to rest

它展示了湿地的另一个主要作用：许多物种在这里生活，候鸟在此停歇。

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Plant roots also keep the soil from being swept away by the flow of water and even make it possible for new land to build up."

植物根系还能防止土壤被水流冲走，甚至让新的陆地得以形成。”

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Will noticed something big and gray swimming nearby." What's that?" he asked

威尔注意到附近有个灰色大东西在游动。“那是什么？”他问。

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QT scanned the underwater creature and replied," That is a manatee

QT扫描了水下的生物，回答道：“那是海牛。

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They're harmless herbivores; don't worry. They live close to the shore here in Florida

它们是无害的食草动物，别担心。它们生活在佛罗里达这片海岸附近。

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Sailors long ago thought these animals were mermaids."

很久以前的水手认为这些动物是美人鱼。”

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Will stopped paddling to watch the manatee." It doesn't look like a mermaid to me!"

威尔停止划桨，看着海牛。“对我来说它可不像美人鱼！”

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Soon the gentle rocking of the boat put him to sleep

很快，小船的轻柔摇晃让他入睡了。

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When he opened his eyes, he was back in the hammock, still surrounded by mosquitoes

当他睁开眼时，他回到了吊床上，仍然被蚊子包围。

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" I guess mosquitoes aren't totally bad. And wetlands aren't useless after all," he said and ran upstairs to write his report

“我想蚊子也不全坏。湿地终究不是无用的，”他说着跑上楼去写报告。