BBC听力 | 广袤草原 13

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, and in turn the fungus feeds the ants.

真菌以腐烂的叶片为食，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, that's a mind-boggling amount of grass.

都在做相同的事，它们消耗的草数量惊人。

It's estimated that over one third of the grass that grows on Earth will be harvested by an insect.

据估计，地球上超过三分之一的草都会被这种昆虫采去。

In northern Australia, termites memorialise their industry in sculpture.

在澳大利亚北部，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, which is why their builders are called compass termites.

全部建成南北走向，因此它们的建筑者被称为罗盘白蚁。

These castles of clay protect their builders from extremes of heat and seasonal floods experienced on many grasslands.

这些粘土造就的城堡保护着它们的主人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, break down dead grass and extract the nutrients.

白蚁与大多数食草动物不同，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。

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