英语听力：自然百科 大堡礁 珊瑚礁至雨林(23)

（单词翻译）

Bacteria break down the trapped sediment¹ and other organic material, helping² create tons and tons of sticky mud, a whole new home for wild life.

细菌分解掉这些沉积物和其他有机物质，最后一起变成成吨的淤泥，淤泥成就了又一个全新的栖息地。

In a perfect world mud should be thick and glutinous³ and as rich as dark chocolate, and it should also stink⁴ to high heaven, but this is extremely important stuff to the great barrier reef, one teaspoon⁵ full of this mud contains 10 million bacteria.

在正常情况下，这些淤泥极为粘稠，粘稠得就像黑巧克力一样，味道也臭得熏天。正是这些淤泥对大堡礁起着极其重要的作用。每茶勺的淤泥里都含有千万计的细菌。

All those bacteria are potential food, and although they are many species that eat mud directly, those that do operating in large numbers, legions of creatures perform the unglamorous but crucial task of breaking down the globe, mud welks and fiddler crabs⁶ both eat the mud, and their waste is the vital product and spoons an entire food chain.

而这些细菌正是一种潜在的食物。虽然地球上以泥为食的生物不是很多，而那些以泥为食的都以庞大的群体数量现身。这个生物军团的任务单调乏味，但却是分解粘土的关键步骤。泥螺和招潮蟹都是吃泥高手，它们的排泄物是形成整个食品链的重要产品。

Once it's in the water, clouds of shrimp⁷ devour⁸ it, the nutrients⁹ that start in the mud are now swimming around in small easy to catch parcels.

涨潮后，水中的粪便就成为虾群的食物。原本淤泥中的养分，现在变成四处游动的小且好抓的虾形养料包。