59 L6-Wonderful Ecosystems

Oxford Read and Discover level 6 Wonderful Ecosystems by Louise & Richard Spilsbury

牛津阅读和发现6级奇妙的生态系统路易丝和理查德·斯皮尔伯里

Introduction There are millions of living things on Earth, from the smallest plants to enormous whales. These plants and animals live in different places, like oceans, rainforests, and deserts. These different places and all the things that live in them are called ecosystems. What ecosystems are there where you live? What ecosystems do you know? What lives in these ecosystems? Discover! Now read and discover more about wonderful ecosystems on Earth!

地球上有数百万种生物，从最小的植物到巨大的鲸鱼。 这些植物和动物生活在不同的地方，比如海洋、雨林和沙漠。 这些不同的地方和生活在其中的所有东西都被称为生态系统。 你生活的地方有什么样的生态系统? 你知道哪些生态系统? 这些生态系统中生活着什么? 发现!现在阅读和发现更多关于地球上奇妙的生态系统!

Chapter 1 What Are Ecosystems? In an ecosystem there are living things, like plants and animals, and things that are not living, like rocks, water, and air. Together, these things make an ecosystem. Living Together The different parts of an ecosystem work together and use each other. For example, in a garden ecosystem, plants use the land, water, light, and air to live. Bees visit plants to drink nectar from their flowers. When bees do this, they also take pollen from one plant to another. Pollen helps flowers to make seeds that can become new plants. Discover! A bee can visit 100 flowers in just a few hours! Food Chains All living things need food. In most ecosystems, plants use sunlight to make their food from carbon dioxide in the air and water. Animals eat plants or other animals that eat plants. Decomposers are living things that feed on things like dead leaves or dead animals. Food chains show us how plants and animals in an ecosystem work together. They show us what eats what in an ecosystem. In the food chain above, a grasshopper eats grass, a snake eats the grasshopper, and a buzzard eats the snake. When the buzzard dies, its body falls onto the land. There, decomposers, like bacteria and fungi, feed on the buzzard. When they do this, some of the nutrients from the buzzard's body go into the land. Plants, like grass, then use these nutrients to help them to grow.

第一章什么是生态系统? 在生态系统中，有生物，如植物和动物，也有无生命的东西，如岩石、水和空气。 这些东西一起构成了一个生态系统。 生态系统的不同部分一起工作，互相利用。 例如，在花园生态系统中，植物利用土地、水、光和空气来生存。 蜜蜂到植物上采花蜜。 当蜜蜂这样做时，它们也把花粉从一株植物带到另一株植物。 花粉帮助花产生种子，种子可以长成新的植物。 发现!一只蜜蜂可以在几个小时内采完100朵花!所有生物都需要食物。 在大多数生态系统中，植物利用阳光从空气和水中的二氧化碳中获取食物。 动物吃植物或其他吃植物的动物。 分解者是一种以枯叶或死去的动物为食的生物。 食物链向我们展示了生态系统中的植物和动物是如何协同工作的。 它们向我们展示了生态系统中什么吃什么。 在上面的食物链中，蚱蜢吃草，蛇吃蚱蜢，兀鹰吃蛇。 秃鹰死后，它的身体会掉到地上。 在那里，细菌和真菌等分解者以秃鹰为食。 当它们这样做的时候，秃鹰身体里的一些营养物质进入了陆地。 植物，如草，然后利用这些营养来帮助它们生长。

Different Ecosystems Different ecosystems are different sizes. Some ecosystems are big, like an ocean or a forest. Others are small, like a pond or a tree. There are thousands of plants and animals in a forest, but a dead tree can be a busy ecosystem, too! Fungi and other plants grow on it and many small animals live in it and feed on it. There are lots of different ecosystems because of the weather and the type of land in them. For example, few plants grow in deserts because it doesn't rain there often and so it's too dry for most plants. Many trees grow in rainforests because the weather there is rainy and warm. Living in Ecosystems Some animals live in only one ecosystem. Pandas live only in bamboo forests because bamboo is the only food that they eat. Other animals can live in different types of ecosystem, like bees that can live in forests, gardens, and other places. Many animals are adapted to their ecosystem. For example, monkeys have long arms and legs for climbing trees in a forest, and polar bears have thick fur to keep them warm in frozen ecosystems. Discover! Some living things share the same food in an ecosystem by feeding at different times. For example, owls hunt for rabbits at night, and hawks hunt for rabbits in the day.

不同的生态系统不同的生态系统有不同的规模。 有些生态系统很大，比如海洋或森林。 其他的是小的，像池塘或树。 森林里有成千上万的植物和动物，但一棵死树也可能是一个繁忙的生态系统!真菌和其他植物生长在上面，许多小动物生活在上面并以它为食。 由于天气和其中的土地类型，有许多不同的生态系统。 例如，很少有植物生长在沙漠里，因为那里不经常下雨，所以对大多数植物来说太干燥了。 许多树木生长在热带雨林，因为那里的天气多雨和温暖。 生活在生态系统中有些动物只生活在一个生态系统中。 熊猫只生活在竹林里，因为竹子是它们唯一的食物。 其他动物可以生活在不同类型的生态系统中，比如蜜蜂可以生活在森林、花园和其他地方。 许多动物适应了它们的生态系统。 例如，猴子有长长的胳膊和腿，可以在森林里爬树，北极熊有厚厚的皮毛，可以在冰冻的生态系统中保暖。 发现!在一个生态系统中，有些生物通过在不同的时间进食来共享相同的食物。 例如，猫头鹰在晚上捕食兔子，而鹰在白天捕食兔子。

Chapter 2 Hot Deserts When we think of deserts, we imagine rocks and sand and a place that's very hot and dry. It's difficult to live in a hot desert, but some plants and animals are adapted to this ecosystem. Desert Plants Deserts are dry because it almost never rains. Desert plants collect the rain and store it so that they can live during the dry season. Cactus plants have stems that become fat when they are full of water. They also have sharp spikes to stop thirsty animals breaking the stems to drink the water inside. The spikes don't stop birds making nests on the cactus plants! Desert Food Chains Like other food chains, desert food chains start with plants. Desert bats drink nectar from cactus flowers, and insects and other small animals eat leaves or seeds from desert plants. Scorpions and lizards eat insects, like crickets, and other small animals. Animals that hunt and eat other animals are called predators. Some big predators in the desert are hawks, snakes, and foxes. Meerkats are desert animals that eat plants and insects, but they also eat scorpions. In their tail, scorpions have venom— a juice that can kill other animals. So how do meerkats eat scorpions and live? They quickly break off the tail and throw it away. Then it's safe for the meerkat to eat the scorpion!

当我们想到沙漠时，我们会想到岩石、沙子和一个非常炎热干燥的地方。 在炎热的沙漠中生活是很困难的，但是一些植物和动物已经适应了这种生态系统。 沙漠植物沙漠之所以干燥，是因为几乎从不下雨。 沙漠植物收集雨水并储存起来，这样它们就可以在干旱季节生存。 仙人掌植物的茎在充满水的时候会变肥。 它们也有锋利的刺，以防止口渴的动物折断茎喝里面的水。 尖刺并不能阻止鸟儿在仙人掌上筑巢!和其他食物链一样，沙漠食物链始于植物。 沙漠蝙蝠喝仙人掌花的花蜜，昆虫和其他小动物吃沙漠植物的叶子或种子。 蝎子和蜥蜴吃昆虫，比如蟋蟀和其他小动物。 猎食其他动物的动物被称为掠食者。 沙漠中的一些大型食肉动物是鹰、蛇和狐狸。 猫鼬是一种以植物和昆虫为食的沙漠动物，但它们也吃蝎子。 蝎子的尾巴上有毒液——一种可以杀死其他动物的汁液。 那么猫鼬是如何吃蝎子生存的呢? 他们迅速折断尾巴，扔掉了。 这样猫鼬吃蝎子就安全了!