Symbiosis: A surprising tale of species cooperation - David Gonzales

Simbiose: unha sorprendente historia de cooperación entre especies - David Gonzales

Translator: Xusto Rodriguez Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

Are you familiar with the word symbiosis?

Sóache a palabra "simbiose"?

It's a fancy term for a partnership between two different species,

É unha palabra formal para referirse á asociación entre dúas especies distintas

such as bees and flowers.

como as abellas e as flores.

In a symbiosis, both species depend on each other.

Nunha simbiose, ambas as especies dependen unha da outra.

I want to tell you about a remarkable symbiosis

Quero falarvos dunha simbiose sorprendente

between a little bird, the Clark's nutcracker,

entre un pequeno paxaro, o quebranoces de Clark,

and a big tree, the whitebark pine.

e unha grande árbore, o piñeiro de casca branca.

Whitebark grow in the mountains of Wyoming, Montana

O piñeiro medra nas montañas de Wyoming, Montana

and other western states.

e outros estados do oeste dos EE. UU.

They have huge canopies and lots of needles,

Ten unha copa enorme e unha chea de arume

which provide cover and shelter for other plants and animals,

que acubilla e protexe outras plantas e animais,

and whitebark feed the forest.

e amais, o piñeiro de casca branca alimenta o bosque.

Their cones are packed with protein.

As súas piñas están cheas de proteínas.

Squirrels gnaw the cones from the upper branches

Os esquíos morden as piñas das pólas máis altas,

so they fall to the ground,

o que as fai caer ao chan,

and then race down to bury them in piles, or middens.

e despois descenden para soterralas en montonciños, chamados "middens".

But they don't get to keep all of them;

Pero non son quen de gardalas todas;

grizzlies and black bears love finding middens.

aos osos "grizzlies" e os osos negros encántalles atopar "middens".

But there's more to a symbiosis than one species feeding another.

Pero a simbiose é máis ca que unha especie alimente a outra.

In the case of the Clark's nutcracker, this bird gives back.

No caso do quebranoces de Clark, o paxariño dá algo a cambio.

While gathering its seeds, it also replants the trees.

Mentres apaña as sementes, tamén replanta árbores.

Here's how it works: using her powerful beak,

E faino así: co seu forte peteiro,

the nutcracker picks apart a cone in a treetop,

o quebranoces escolle unha piña da copa da árbore,

pulling out the seeds.

e quítalle as sementes.

She can store up to 80 of them in a pouch in her throat.

Pode almacenar ata 80 nunha especie de peto que ten na gorxa.

Then she flies through the forest

Despois voa polo bosque

looking for a place to cache the seeds

buscando un lugar onde agachalas no chan,

an inch under the soil in piles of up to eight seeds.

a uns 2 cm de fondura, en moreas de ata 8 sementes.

Nutcrackers can gather up to 90,000 seeds in the autumn,

Os quebranoces poden apañar ata 90.000 sementes no outono,

which they return for in the winter and spring.

e volven por elas durante o inverno e a primavera.

And these birds are smart.

Estes paxaros son intelixentes.

They remember where all those seeds are.

Lémbranse de onde están todas as sementes.

They even use landmarks on the landscape --

Ata usan referencias na paisaxe

trees, stumps, rocks --

--árbores, cachopas, rochas--

to triangulate to caches buried deep under the snow.

para triangular os acochos soterrados debaixo da neve.

What they don't go back and get, those seeds become whitebark.

As sementes que non van recoller, convértense en piñeiros de casca branca.

This symbiosis is so important to both species

Esta simbiose é tan importante para as dúas especies

that they've changed, or evolved, to suit each other.

que ambas cambiaron ou evolucionaron para adaptarse unha a outra.

Nutcrackers have developed long, tough beaks

Os quebranoces desenvolveron peteiros longos e rexos

for extracting seeds from cones,

para extraer as sementes das piñas,

and whitebarks' branches all sweep upwards

e as pólas dos piñeiros víranse cara a arriba

with the cones at the very ends,

e teñen as piñas na punta de todo,

so they can offer them to the nutcrackers as they fly by.

para ofrecérenllas aos quebranoces cando estes pasan voando.

That's a symbiosis:

Velaí unha simbiose:

Two species cooperating to help each other for the benefit of all.

Dúas especies cooperando para axudarse en beneficio mutuo.