探索亚马逊 雨林顶端.docVIP

Journey into Amazonia: The Big Top NGC全民英檢:探索亞馬遜－雨林頂端 播出時間:11月5日 星期六 @11:00-12:00 The rainforest of Amazonia- where life in all its beauty and myriad forms reigns supreme. Less known then the surface of Mars, its inhabitants stranger than science fiction... this is Earths final, unexplored frontier. This is Amazonias Big Top! The worlds mightiest river breaks through the canopy of the largest tropical rainforest on the planet. Combined with its tributaries, the Amazon drains into an area of almost seven million square kilometres- more than half of South America. Like a giant circus tent nine times the size of Texas, Amazonias tree covered world hosts the greatest variety of plants and animals on the planet. Sixty meters above the ground, less studied than the sea floor... Until recently, this incredible spectacle defied even the most intrepid scientists and explorers. So many of its riches have yet to be recorded that it is believed that this bizarre and beautiful canopy could house half of all the worlds species. In addition to millions of insects, Amazonias impressive cast of characters includes at least 300 different mammals. At least one hundred seventy-five different lizards... Over four hundred reptiles and amphibians... Tree climbers of every shape and size, And a third of the worlds birds. These magnificent creatures all have their own unique tricks and talents, costumes and camouflage, and command performances. A 100 years ago the American explorer, William Beebe, wrote of the Amazon: Yet another continent of life remains to be discovered, not upon the earth, but one or two hundred feet above it, extending over thousands of square miles... There awaits a rich harvest for the naturalist who overcomes the obstacles- gravitation, ants, rotten trunks- and mounts to the summit of the jungle trees. Since Beebe marvelled at this incredible spectacle, scientists have had to multiply- many times over- all previous estimates of the extent of life in these treetops.