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

Mrtve stvari: tajni sastojak u našem lancu ishrane - Džon K. Mur (John C. Moore)

Prevodilac: Mile Živković Lektor: Anja Saric

If someone called you scum,

Kada bi vas neko nazvao smećem,

you'd probably be offended,

verovatno biste se uvredili,

but scientifically,

ali s naučne tačke gledišta,

they might not be far off.

oni ne bi puno pogrešili.

Have you ever thought about

Da li ste ikada razmišljali o tome

where your food comes from?

odakle potiče naša hrana?

You might say it comes from

Možda ćete reći da potiče

plants, animals, or even fungi,

od biljaka, životinja, ili čak gljiva,

but you'd probably rather not

ali o njoj radije ne biste mislili

think about the rotting organisms and poop

kao o organizmima koji trunu i izmetu

that feed those plants, animals, and fungi.

kojim se hrane te biljke, životinje i gljive.

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

Zapravo, vi i većina materije u vašem telu

are just two or three degrees of separation

ste zapravo odvojeni dva ili tri stepena

from things like pond scum.

od stvari poput otpada iz bare.

All species in an ecosystem,

Sve vrste u jednom ekosistemu,

from the creatures in a coral reef

od stvorenja na koralnom grebenu

to the fish in a lake

do riba u jezeru

to the lions on the savannah,

i lavova u savani,

are directly or indirectly

direktno ili indirektno

nourished by dead stuff.

zavise od mrtvih stvari.

Most of the organic matter in our bodies,

Većina organske materije u našim telima,

if we trace it back far enough,

ako je ispratimo dovoljno daleko,

comes from CO2 and water

dolazi iz CO2 i vode

through photosynthesis.

kroz fotosintezu.

Plants use the energy from sunlight

Biljke koriste energiju iz sunčeve svetlosti

to transform carbon dioxide and water from the environment

da pretvore ugljen-dioksid i vodu iz okoline

into glucose and oxygen.

u glukozu i kiseonik.

That glucose is then transformed

Glukoza se onda pretvara

into more complex organic molecules

u kompleksnije organske molekule

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

kako bi stvorila lišće, stabljike, korenje, plodove i ostalo.

The energy stored in these organic molecules

Energija koja se skladišti u ovim organskim molekulima

supports the food chains with which we're familiar.

održava lance ishrane koji su nam poznati.

You've probably seen illustrations like this

Verovatno ste videli ilustracije poput ove

or this.

ili ove.

These green food chains

Ovi zeleni lanci ishrane

start with living plants at their base.

u osnovi počinju sa živim biljkama.

But in real-life terrestrial ecosystems,

Ali u pravim zemaljskim ekosistemima,

less than 10% of plant matter

manje od 10% materija iz biljaka

is eaten while it's still alive.

se jede dok su one još žive.

What about the other 90?

Šta je sa drugih 90?

Well, just look at the ground

Pa, samo pogledajte u tlo

on an autumn day.

na jesenjem danu.

Living plants shed dead body parts:

Žive biljke odbacuju mrtve delove tela:

fallen leaves, broken branches,

opalo lišće, slomljene grane,

and even underground roots.

čak i podzemno korenje.

Many plants are lucky enough

Mnoge biljke su dovoljno srećne

to go their whole lives without being eaten,

da prođu ceo život a da ih neko ne pojede,

eventually dying and leaving remains.

na kraju uginu i od njih ostanu ostaci.

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

Svi ovi nepojedeni, nesvareni i mrtvi delovi biljke,

that 90% of terrestrial plant matter?

tih 90% zemaljske biljne materije?

That becomes detritus,

To postaje nanos,

the base of what we call the brown food chain,

osnova onoga što zovemo smeđim lancem ishrane,

which looks more like this.

što izgleda kao ovo.

What happens to plants

Ono što se dešava sa biljkama,

also happens to all other organisms up the food chain:

dešava se i sa drugim organizmima u lancima ishrane -

some are eaten alive,

neki se jedu dok su živi,

but most are eaten only

ali većina se jede samo

when they're dead and rotting.

kada su mrtvi i truli.

And all along this food chain,

Uz sav ovaj lanac ishrane,

living things shed organic matter

živa bića odbacuju organsku materiju

and expel digestive waste

i izbacuju otpad iz digestivnog trakta

before dying and leaving their remains to decay.

pre nego što uginu i njihovi ostaci se raspadnu.

All that death sounds grim, right?

Sva ta smrt zvuči prilično tmurno, zar ne?

But it's not.

Ali nije.

All detritus is ultimately consumed

Sam nanos na kraju konzumiraju

by microbes and other scavengers,

mikrobi i drugi lešinari,

so it actually forms the base of the brown food chain

tako da on zapravo čini osnovu smeđeg lanca ishrane

that supports many other organisms,

koja izdržava mnoge organizme,

including us.

uključujući i nas.

Scientists are learning

Naučnici saznavaju

that this detritus

da je ovaj nanos

is an unexpectedly huge energy source,

neočekivano velik izvor energije,

fueling most natural ecosystems.

i snabdeva većinu prirodnih ekosistema.

But the interactions within an ecosystem

Ali interakcije unutar ekosistema

are even more complex than that.

su kompleksnije i od toga.

What a food chain really represents

Lanac zapravo predstavlja

is a single pathway of energy flow.

jedinstvenu putanju toka energije.

And within any ecosystem,

Unutar bilo kog ekosistema,

many of these flows

mnogi od ovih tokova

are linked together

su povezani

to form a rich network of interactions,

kako bi sačinili bogatu mrežu interakcija

or food web,

ili mrežu hrane,

with dead matter supporting that network at every step.

gde mrtva materija izdržava tu mrežu tokom celog procesa.

The resulting food web

Mreža hrane koja nastane

is so connected

je tako povezana

that almost every species

da je skoro svaka vrsta

is no more than two degrees from detritus,

na ne više od dva stepena od nanosa,

even us humans.

čak i mi ljudi.

You probably don't eat rotting things,

Verovatno ne jedete stvari koje trunu,

poop, or pond scum directly,

izmet ili direktan otpad iz bare,

but your food sources probably do.

ali izvori vaše hrane to verovatno rade.

Many animals we eat

Mnoge životinje koje jedemo

either feed directly on detritus themselves,

se ili direktno same hrane nanosom,

like pork, poultry, mushrooms, shellfish,

poput svinjetine, živine, gljiva i ostriga

or catfish and other bottom feeders,

ili somova i drugih članova dna lanca ishrane,

ili ih hrane životinjskim nusproduktima.

or they are fed animal by-products.

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

Tako da, ako mislite da je priroda puna otpada,

you're right.

u pravu ste.

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

Ali smeće za jedan organizam je zlato za drugi,

and all that rotting dead stuff

a sve te mrtve stvari koje trunu

ultimately provides the energy that nourishes us

na kraju pružaju energiju koja održava nas

and most of life on Earth,

i većinu života na Zemlji,

as it passes through the food web.

dok prolazi kroz mrežu hrane.

Now that's some food for thought.

Eto nečega za razmišljanje.