纪录片《我们的地球》 第156期 富饶丛林(11)（在线收听）

With so much rain, it's not surprising that many of the world's largest rivers are found in rainforests.

有这么多的降水量，世界上多数的大河都在雨林里产生也就不足为奇了。

Inside the forest, the high humidity creates the perfect conditions for a strange world where life is built on decay.

雨林深处，十分潮湿的环境非常适合一些生命在腐殖质上生长。

Amoeba-like slime moulds cruise the surface, feeding on bacteria and rotting vegetation.

象这种粘菌类变形虫正在地表上巡航，它们以细菌和地衣为生。

Fungi also flourish on decay.

真菌类也以腐殖质为生。

These are the fruiting bodies of the fungi,

这些仅仅是真菌的一个子实体，

the only visible sign of a vast underground network of fungal filaments.

看不见的地表下还有它的广大的菌丝网络。

In temperate forests, the build-up of leaf litter creates rich stores of nutrients.

在温带森林里，落叶形成的腐殖质层可以贮藏养分。

That, however, doesn't happen here.

可是这里不会发生这种事。

Nutrients that reach the soil are leeched out by the rain,

土壤中的养分会被雨水冲走，

but fungi are connected to tree roots by their underground filaments, and by quickly consuming the dead,

真菌用地下菌丝连接在树根上，它们很快吃掉死植物，

they help to recycle crucial minerals straight back into the trees.

真菌因此帮助树木直接供给树木所需的矿物质。

And this recycling happens faster here than anywhere else on the planet.

这种生态循环的速度，比地球上其他地方要快得多。