Dead stuff: The secret ingredient in our food chain - John C. Moore

Gjerat e Vdekura: Perberesi sekret ne zinxhirin tone ushqimor - John C. Moore

Translator: Iris Xholi Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

If someone called you scum,

Nese dikush do t'ju therriste, "felliqesire",

you'd probably be offended,

me shume gjasa do te ofendoheshit,

but scientifically,

por shkencerisht,

they might not be far off.

edhe ato mund te mos jene shume larg te njejtes gje.

Have you ever thought about

A keni menduar ndonjehere se

where your food comes from?

prej nga vjen ushqimi qe konsumoni?

You might say it comes from

Mund te thoni se ai vjen nga

plants, animals, or even fungi,

bimet, kafshet ose edhe kerpurdhat,

but you'd probably rather not

por perpiqeni te mos mendoni

think about the rotting organisms and poop

se jane organizmat e dekompozuar dhe jashteqitja

that feed those plants, animals, and fungi.

ato qe ushqejne keto bime, kafshe dhe kepurdha.

So really, you and most of the matter in your body

Pra, ne te vertete, ju dhe pjesa me e madhe e mases ne trupin tuaj

are just two or three degrees of separation

jane vetem dy ose tre perqind larg

from things like pond scum.

te qenurit llum pellgu.

All species in an ecosystem,

Te gjitha speciet ne nje ekosistem,

from the creatures in a coral reef

duke filluar me krijesat e gunave koralore

to the fish in a lake

tek peshqit ne liqen

to the lions on the savannah,

luaneve ne savane,

are directly or indirectly

jane te ushqyer, ne menyre te drejtperdrejte

nourished by dead stuff.

ose jo te drejtperdrejte, nga gjera te vdekura.

Most of the organic matter in our bodies,

Pjesa me e madhe e perberesve organike ne trupat tone,

if we trace it back far enough,

nese e ndjekim aq larg sa duhet,

comes from CO2 and water

vjen si rezultat i CO2 (dioksid karboni) dhe ujit

through photosynthesis.

nepermjet fotosintezes.

Plants use the energy from sunlight

Bimet e perdorin energjine nga drita e diellit

to transform carbon dioxide and water from the environment

per te transfromuar dioksidin e karbonit dhe ujin nga ambjenti

into glucose and oxygen.

ne glukoze dhe oksigjen

That glucose is then transformed

Kjo glukoze, me pas transformohet

into more complex organic molecules

ne molekula organike me komplekse

to form leaves, stems, roots, fruit, and so on.

per te krijuar gjethe, dege, rrenje, fruta e keshtu me rradhe.

The energy stored in these organic molecules

Energjia e ruajtur ne keto molekula organike

supports the food chains with which we're familiar.

mbeshtet zinxhiret ushqimor te cilet te gjithe i njohim.

You've probably seen illustrations like this

Ndofta keni pare ilustrime si ketu

or this.

ose ketu.

These green food chains

Keto zinxhire te gjelbert ushqimore

start with living plants at their base.

fillojne me bimet e gjalla ne bazamentin e tyre.

But in real-life terrestrial ecosystems,

Por, ne jeten e vertete te ekosistemeve ne toke,

less than 10% of plant matter

me pak se 10% e bimesise

is eaten while it's still alive.

konsumohet sa eshte ende e gjalle.

What about the other 90?

Po me 90% tjeter cfare ndodh?

Well, just look at the ground

Mjafton te shihni token

on an autumn day.

ne nje dite te zakonshme vjeshte.

Living plants shed dead body parts:

Pemet e gjalla, lene tu bien pjeset e vdekura:

fallen leaves, broken branches,

gjethe te rena, dege te thyera,

and even underground roots.

madje dhe rrenje nentokesore.

Many plants are lucky enough

Shume bime jane me fat

to go their whole lives without being eaten,

sepse jetojne pa u ngrene,

eventually dying and leaving remains.

dhe shuhen natyrisht duke lene pas mbetje.

All of these uneaten, undigested, and dead plant parts,

Te gjitha keto pjese te pa ngrena, te patretura dhe te vdekura pjese bimesh,

that 90% of terrestrial plant matter?

ai 90% i bimeve ne toke?

That becomes detritus,

Ajo behet detrit,

the base of what we call the brown food chain,

ajo qe ne e quajme zinxhiri i kafenjte i ushqimit,

which looks more like this.

qe ngjason me teper me kete.

What happens to plants

Cfare u ndodh bimeve

also happens to all other organisms up the food chain:

i ndodh te gjithe organizmave ne zinxhirin ushqimor:

some are eaten alive,

disa i hane te gjalle,

but most are eaten only

por pjesa me e madhe hahet

when they're dead and rotting.

pasi ato kane vdekur dhe dekompozohen.

And all along this food chain,

Dhe pergjate gjithe ketij zinxhiri ushqimor,

living things shed organic matter

gjallesat leshojne mase organike

and expel digestive waste

dhe nxjerrin jashte mbetje te tretshme

before dying and leaving their remains to decay.

para se te vdesin dhe te kalben.

All that death sounds grim, right?

Gjithe kjo e folur per vdekje ngjason e zymte apo jo?

But it's not.

Po ja qe nuk eshte keshtu.

All detritus is ultimately consumed

Te gjitha mbetjet ne fund konsumohen

by microbes and other scavengers,

nga mikrobe dhe kafshe qe ushqehen me kerma,

so it actually forms the base of the brown food chain

duke krijuar keshtu bazen e zinxirit te kafenjte ushqimor

that supports many other organisms,

qe mbeshtet shume organizma te tjere,

including us.

perfshire dhe ne.

Scientists are learning

Shkencetaret po mesojne

that this detritus

qe keto mbetje

is an unexpectedly huge energy source,

jane nje burim papritshmerisht i madh energjie,

fueling most natural ecosystems.

duke ushqyer keshtu pjesen me te madhe te ekosistemit natyror.

But the interactions within an ecosystem

Por nderveprimet ne nje ekosistem

are even more complex than that.

jane edhe me komplekse se kaq.

What a food chain really represents

Ajo qe nje zinxhir ushqimor perfaqeson

is a single pathway of energy flow.

eshte nje rruge e shtruar ku buron energji.

And within any ecosystem,

Dhe brenda cdo ekosistemi,

many of these flows

shume prej ketyre burimeve

are linked together

jane te nderlidhur

to form a rich network of interactions,

dhe krijojne nje rrjet te pasur nderveprimesh,

or food web,

ose me mire thene nje rrjet ushqimor,

with dead matter supporting that network at every step.

ku masa e vdekur e mbeshtet ate rrjet ne cdo hap.

The resulting food web

Rrjeti ushqimor qe del nga kjo

is so connected

eshte kaq i lidhur

that almost every species

sa pothuajse cdo specie

is no more than two degrees from detritus,

nuk eshte vec disa hapa distance nga mbetjet,

even us humans.

madje edhe ne humanet.

You probably don't eat rotting things,

Ju ndoshta nuk ushqeheni me gjera te kalbura,

poop, or pond scum directly,

jashteqitje, llum ujrash ne menyre te drejteperdrejte,

but your food sources probably do.

por burimet e juaja te te ushqyerit ndoshta e bejne kete.

Many animals we eat

Shume kafshe qe ne hame

either feed directly on detritus themselves,

ose ushqehen drejtperdrejte me mbetje,

like pork, poultry, mushrooms, shellfish,

si derri, pula, kerpurdha, butaket,

or catfish and other bottom feeders,

mustaket ose ushqyes te tjere fundesh,

or they are fed animal by-products.

ose te ushqyer me nenprodhime kafshesh.

So, if you're thinking nature is full of waste,

Pra, nese mendoni se natyra eshte e mbushur me mbetje,

you're right.

keni te drejte.

But one organism's garbage is another's gold,

Por plehrat e nje organzmi, jane floriri i nje tjetri,

and all that rotting dead stuff

dhe i gjithe ai material i kalbur

ultimately provides the energy that nourishes us

sherben si burim energjie qe na ushqen ne

and most of life on Earth,

dhe pjesen me te madhe te jetes ne toke,

as it passes through the food web.

teksa kalon permes rrjetes se ushqyerit.

Now that's some food for thought.

Kjo po qe ishte ushqim per te menduarin.