BBC Earth｜水生植物的空间争夺战

The race for space among water plants
BBC Earth｜Water Worlds｜The Green Planet

This is the largest inland water world on Earth. The Pantanal. For a few months every year, it provides water plants with ideal conditions, but, all too soon, it becomes a battleground. Plants are racing to claim their space on the surface.
这是地球上最大的内陆水域——潘塔纳尔湿地。每年有几个月，这里为水生植物提供了理想的生长条件，但很快，这里就会变成战场。植物们正竞相争夺着水面上的空间。

The water lettuce rapidly expands its network of hanging roots so that it starts absorbing nutrients before other competitors arrive. Water hyacinth appears. Its leaves are carried on stalks filled with air that also make it virtually unsinkable.
水浮莲迅速扩展其悬挂根系，以便在其他竞争者到来之前开始吸收养分。水葫芦出现了，它的叶子被充满空气的茎支撑着，这也使其几乎不会沉下去。

The race for space intensifies. A new competitor arrives, Ludwigia. It spreads by developing a chain of tiny rafts. And jostles for space with the densely packed leaves of mosaic plants.
空间争夺战愈演愈烈。新的竞争者出现了——丁香蓼属（菱叶丁香蓼）。它通过开了花一连串微小的筏子来扩散。并利用其密集排列的镶嵌性的植物叶片争夺空间。

All are racing to claim as much sunlight as possible. They flower quickly before the floodwaters recede. And these surface dwellers also have competitors. Including one that has been waiting in the depths and is now stirring.
所有植物都在竞相获取尽可能多的阳光。它们在洪水退去之前迅速开花。而这些生活在水面的植物也有竞争对手。包括一个一直在深处等待，现在开始行动的竞争者。

It's a monster. It's well armed. It clears space for itself by wielding one of its buds. Like a club. And now it dominates the surface. This is a leaf of the giant water lily. It expands by over 20 centimetres a day and eventually measures more than two metres across. Its immense leaves are supported by a network of air-filled struts and protected by spines two centimetres long.
这是一个怪物。它装备精良。它通过挥舞其中的一个芽来为自己清理空间，就像一个棍棒。现在它主宰了水面。这是一片王莲的叶子。它每天扩展超过20厘米，最终直径超过两米。它巨大的叶子由充满空气的支杆支撑，并由两厘米长的刺保护。

The leaves float high in the water and their surfaces are dotted with tiny holes, drains, that help them ensure that rainwater doesn't accumulate and sink them. Nutrients from the fertile mud below are carried up by tubes in its stem to fuel the leaf's expansion.
这些叶子高高地漂浮在水面上，表面上布满了小孔和排水管，以帮助它们确保雨水不会积聚在一起而使叶子沉入水底。下面肥沃淤泥中的营养物质通过茎干中的管子输送上来，以促进叶子的扩张。

Over the next few months, the lily will produce some 40 or so of these gigantic leaves. And as each one reaches the surface and expands, more and more light is taken from those plants that are trying to grow beneath.
在接下来的几个月里，这种睡莲将产生大约40片这样的巨大叶子。随着每片叶子到达水面并扩张，在底下试图生长的植物就会被夺走越来越多的光照。

Competitors are pushed aside. Some are crushed, or skewered. Eventually, its immense leaves press their margins against one another, totally cutting off the light from the plants beneath them. The battle is over. And victory is total.
竞争对手被推到一边。有的被压碎，有的被刺穿。最后，它巨大的叶片将叶缘紧紧贴在一起，完全遮住了叶下植物的光线。战斗结束了。胜利是彻底的。

词汇表
Pantanal [ˌpænˈtænəl] 潘塔纳尔湿地（位于巴西，是世上最大的湿地）
claim [kleɪm] 争夺
battleground ['bætlɡraʊnd] 战场
water lettuce [ˈletɪs] 水浮莲，水生菜
competitor [kəmˈpetɪtə(r)] 竞赛者，竞争对手
water hyacinth [ˈhaɪəsɪnθ] 水葫芦，凤眼莲
stalk [stɔːk]（植物的）茎，秆
unsinkable ['ʌn'sɪŋkəbl] 永不沉没的；不会下沉的
intensify [ɪnˈtensɪfaɪ] 加剧，加强
Ludwigia [ˈluːdvɪɡiə] 丁香蓼属
raft [rɑːft] 筏，木排，漂浮物
jostle  [ˈdʒɒs(ə)l] 推挤，争夺
densely packed 密集的，紧密排列的
mosaic [məʊˈzeɪɪk] 镶嵌性的，拼贴的
recede  [rɪˈsiːd] 退却，减弱
dweller [ˈdwelə(r)] 居住者，栖身者
stir [stɜː(r)] 行动，活动
wield  [wiːld] 运用，挥舞
bud [bʌd] 芽，花蕊，蓓蕾
giant water lily 王莲（具有世界上水生植物中最大的叶片，最多可承受六七十千克重的物体）
air-filled strut [strʌt] 充满空气的支杆
spine [spaɪn] （动植物的）刺，刺毛
be dotted with  [dɒt] 点缀着，遍布
nutrient [ˈnjuːtriənt] 养分，营养物
fertile mud [ˈfɜː(r)taɪl] [mʌd] 肥沃的淤泥
stem [stem]（花草的）茎；柄
fuel [ˈfjuːəl] 加剧，刺激
gigantic/immense  [dʒaɪ'ɡæntɪk] [ɪ'mens] 巨大的
push aside 推开，拨开
skewer [ˈskjuːə(r)] 刺穿，串住

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