1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:25,000 © anoXmous @ http://thepiratebay.sx/user/Zen_Bud 1 00:00:37,090 --> 00:00:38,050 Trees. 2 00:00:38,340 --> 00:00:43,850 Surely among the most magnificent of all living things. 3 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:49,020 Some are the largest organisms on Earth 4 00:00:49,060 --> 00:00:55,020 dwarfing all others, and these are the tallest of them all. 5 00:01:07,790 --> 00:01:13,290 The deciduous and coniferous woodlands that grow in the seasonal parts of our planet 6 00:01:13,460 --> 00:01:17,050 are the most extensive forests on Earth. 7 00:01:25,510 --> 00:01:29,600 Their sheer extent stuns the imagination. 8 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:44,950 The barren snows of the Arctic. 9 00:01:44,990 --> 00:01:49,870 A thousand miles from the North Pole, and heading south. 10 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,750 This is the very first place that trees can grow. 11 00:01:59,590 --> 00:02:02,340 To begin with the conifers are sparse 12 00:02:02,630 --> 00:02:05,800 but soon they dominate the land. 13 00:02:14,140 --> 00:02:17,690 This is the Taiga Forest. 14 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:25,490 There are as many trees here, as in all the world's rainforests combined. 15 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:32,080 The Taiga circles the globe and contains a third of all the trees on Earth. 16 00:02:32,410 --> 00:02:39,710 It produces so much oxygen, that it refreshes the atmosphere of the entire planet. 17 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,300 At the Taiga's northern extent 18 00:02:46,430 --> 00:02:51,220 the growing season can last for just one month a year. 19 00:02:51,770 --> 00:02:56,770 It can take fifty years for a tree to get bigger than a seedling. 20 00:03:10,410 --> 00:03:12,410 It's a silent world 21 00:03:12,790 --> 00:03:15,000 where little stirs 22 00:03:16,750 --> 00:03:22,840 But there are occasional signs of life. Stories written in the snow. 23 00:03:24,260 --> 00:03:29,890 The prints of an Arctic fox and the hare it might've been stalking. 24 00:03:35,350 --> 00:03:39,440 A female polar bear and her two cubs. 25 00:03:49,740 --> 00:03:55,000 Some animals are so difficult to glimpse that they're like spirits. 26 00:03:55,290 --> 00:04:01,250 One could live a lifetime in these woods and never see a lynx. 27 00:04:04,460 --> 00:04:08,470 The cat must roam hundreds of miles in search of prey 28 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:12,600 and may never visit the same patch of forest twice. 29 00:04:14,390 --> 00:04:17,850 It's the very essence of wilderness. 30 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:29,240 With so few prey animals here, life for a hunter is particularly hard. 31 00:04:31,570 --> 00:04:36,040 Creatures are scarce because few can eat conifer needles. 32 00:04:36,910 --> 00:04:39,250 The moose is an exception. 33 00:04:44,460 --> 00:04:46,420 Growth is so difficult 34 00:04:46,550 --> 00:04:50,930 that conifers protect their precious leaves by filling them with resin. 35 00:04:51,050 --> 00:04:56,310 That reduces water loss, but it also makes them very distasteful. 36 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:10,950 At least the conifer's seeds are edible 37 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,450 but they're protected within armor plated cones 38 00:05:14,740 --> 00:05:18,160 and it takes a specialist to reach them. 39 00:05:20,500 --> 00:05:22,670 The crossbill's extraordinary beak 40 00:05:22,870 --> 00:05:28,550 can prise apart the scales, so that it's tongue can extract the seeds. 41 00:05:32,050 --> 00:05:33,640 Birds are fortunate. 42 00:05:33,890 --> 00:05:37,890 When the seasonal crop is gathered, they can fly south 43 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:47,480 But one animal is so expert at survival in this frozen forest 44 00:05:47,730 --> 00:05:52,200 that it stays here and is active all year long. 45 00:05:54,740 --> 00:05:59,490 In local folklore, the wolverine is a link to the spirit world 46 00:05:59,660 --> 00:06:02,460 and a cross between a bear and a wolf. 47 00:06:02,790 --> 00:06:06,750 In reality, it's a huge weasel. 48 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:13,630 It's bulk helps to conserve body heat and also broadens it's menu. 49 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:19,260 It's so big and powerful, it can even bring down an adult caribou. 50 00:06:20,810 --> 00:06:26,230 For it's size, it's said that the animal can eat more in one sitting than any other 51 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:30,150 which is why it's also known as the glutton. 52 00:06:47,710 --> 00:06:52,010 Being gluttonous here is a very effective strategy. 53 00:06:52,050 --> 00:06:56,260 It's wise to eat all you can, when you can 54 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,930 and when even a glutton can't eat more 55 00:07:01,010 --> 00:07:06,520 it stores what's left for later, in the surrounding deep freeze. 56 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,240 Spring in the ice forest. 57 00:07:27,540 --> 00:07:32,130 The capercaillie can also digest conifer needles 58 00:07:32,300 --> 00:07:35,920 but feeding is not it's priority at the moment. 59 00:07:38,430 --> 00:07:42,930 Like gladiators, the males square up for a battle. 60 00:07:53,900 --> 00:07:59,200 Each may have just a single chance to impress a female. 61 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:04,540 Neither can afford a lapse in concentration. 62 00:08:29,060 --> 00:08:33,150 The injured loser may not survive. 63 00:08:37,940 --> 00:08:40,740 The inhabitants of this great wilderness 64 00:08:40,740 --> 00:08:45,370 may live and die without ever having contact with humanity. 65 00:08:45,990 --> 00:08:48,540 Long may it be that way. 66 00:08:58,380 --> 00:09:01,970 The northern forest may be the largest on Earth 67 00:09:01,930 --> 00:09:06,180 but to see coniferous trees that have reached their full potential 68 00:09:06,430 --> 00:09:10,390 you must travel a thousand miles south of here. 69 00:09:15,980 --> 00:09:18,740 The Pacific Coast of North America. 70 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:31,250 The land of hemlock, douglas fir and giant redwood. 71 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,510 Here, water is never locked up in ice 72 00:09:42,550 --> 00:09:44,390 and even if rains fail 73 00:09:44,590 --> 00:09:50,390 the needles can extract moisture from the fogs that roll in from the sea. 74 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,320 The Sun's energy powers these forests 75 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:07,030 not for one month as it does in the Taiga but for half the year. 76 00:10:15,830 --> 00:10:20,380 These conifers grow at ten times the rate of those near the Arctic 77 00:10:20,670 --> 00:10:24,090 and they live for thousands of years. 78 00:10:33,940 --> 00:10:36,940 One grove of redwoods in California 79 00:10:36,980 --> 00:10:41,150 contains three of the tallest trees on Earth. 80 00:10:46,410 --> 00:10:52,660 This one is over a hundred meters high, the size of a thirty story building. 81 00:11:20,940 --> 00:11:26,410 These forests were growing here long before humans walked the Earth. 82 00:11:26,610 --> 00:11:29,950 They were in their prime twenty million years ago 83 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:36,000 and existed before the Swiss Alps or the Rocky Mountains were even raised. 84 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:55,180 There is more living matter in a forest of giant conifers, than in any tropical rainforest 85 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:59,060 but it's all contained within the trees. 86 00:11:59,310 --> 00:12:02,860 These are as inedible as those in the Taiga 87 00:12:03,070 --> 00:12:08,570 so animals are still scarce, but they are present. 88 00:12:11,950 --> 00:12:19,420 A pine marten. It's spring, the best time of year for a marten to find food. 89 00:12:34,850 --> 00:12:41,900 Bird's eggs are a seasonal snack and for a short time, there's plenty of them 90 00:12:43,270 --> 00:12:46,230 Sometimes perhaps, too many. 91 00:12:49,490 --> 00:12:55,490 But to live here permanently, the marten needs a more reliable food source. 92 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:58,620 Squirrels fit the bill. 93 00:12:58,830 --> 00:13:03,750 They thrive here on the pine cones and although these are also seasonal 94 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:07,670 they can be stored and eaten throughout the year. 95 00:13:11,970 --> 00:13:14,970 The squirrels are busy mating 96 00:13:18,770 --> 00:13:24,560 Good news for the hunter. A distracted squirrel, is a vulnerable squirrel. 97 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,700 But, this time, the amorous couple is safe. 98 00:13:34,910 --> 00:13:40,330 There is a loner stocking his larder, who will be the easier target. 99 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:20,700 Early summer, and great grey owl chicks are fledging. 100 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,830 Adults can only raise young here 101 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:30,760 in years when the seasonal vole crop is big enough to support them. 102 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:39,560 The moment has arrived for their first flight. 103 00:14:44,270 --> 00:14:50,820 Leaping from the world's tallest trees is not for the faint hearted. 104 00:15:16,050 --> 00:15:21,930 If you're going to fall here it's quite a good idea to do it in stages. 105 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,580 The ground is no place for an owl. 106 00:15:46,210 --> 00:15:51,250 If he's to climb to the top of his class he'll need to persevere 107 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:57,590 So now, let's have another go. 108 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:22,830 The American conifer forests may not be the richest in animal life 109 00:16:23,030 --> 00:16:26,290 but their trees are extraordinary. 110 00:16:26,790 --> 00:16:33,380 This giant sequoia, a relative of the redwood, is the largest living thing on Earth. 111 00:16:33,750 --> 00:16:39,510 Known as General Sherman, it's the weight of ten blue whales. 112 00:16:49,270 --> 00:16:57,570 Higher up in the nearby mountains, bristlecone pines, the oldest organisms on the planet. 113 00:16:59,070 --> 00:17:02,990 Some have been here for five thousand years. 114 00:17:02,950 --> 00:17:06,080 They were alive before the pyramids were built 115 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:11,880 and were already three thousand years old when Christ was born. 116 00:17:16,250 --> 00:17:24,300 Across the Equator, in the southern hemisphere there are forests that mirror those of the north. 117 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:26,390 Here in South America 118 00:17:26,430 --> 00:17:31,850 araucaria trees or monkey puzzles are like the conifers of the Taiga. 119 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,570 They have waterproof scales, instead of needles 120 00:17:35,570 --> 00:17:41,070 and their cones look a little different but the principles are the same. 121 00:17:45,370 --> 00:17:51,710 Slender billed parakeets rather than crossbills, extract their seeds. 122 00:17:59,420 --> 00:18:06,760 Where the growing season is longerm, there are alerce trees the redwoods of the south. 123 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:28,240 As in the frozen north, the Valdivian forests of Chile support very few animals 124 00:18:28,540 --> 00:18:32,160 but that is the end of the similarity. 125 00:18:35,380 --> 00:18:40,420 This is a bizarre world of miniature creatures. 126 00:18:42,670 --> 00:18:50,100 The pudu, the world's smallest deer feeds on the giant leaves of the gunnera plant. 127 00:18:57,150 --> 00:19:01,320 The female is just thirty centimeters high at the shoulder 128 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:05,450 and her infants are hardly bigger than kittens. 129 00:19:22,210 --> 00:19:28,760 The male must stay alert. There are hunters here who would snatch his young. 130 00:19:30,510 --> 00:19:34,270 Another miniature. The kodkod cat. 131 00:19:37,770 --> 00:19:44,440 It's the smallest cat in all the Americas and a young pudu would be a feast for it 132 00:19:45,610 --> 00:19:51,120 But, with the male on guard, the kodkod must lower his sights. 133 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:00,040 Moths are hatching. They're the last of the summer. 134 00:20:00,340 --> 00:20:04,510 The tiny cat should be able to score with these. 135 00:20:07,010 --> 00:20:10,260 No one knows why the creatures here are so small 136 00:20:10,300 --> 00:20:14,810 but at least they can survive on meager rations. 137 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:45,130 You might call this a game of cat and moth. 138 00:21:08,950 --> 00:21:15,660 As winter approaches in Chile spring is arriving in the northern hemisphere. 139 00:21:23,420 --> 00:21:27,840 These are the deciduous forests of Homme. 140 00:21:28,550 --> 00:21:31,640 Dormant throughout the winter, they now undergo 141 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:36,600 one of the most magical transformations in the natural world. 142 00:21:48,530 --> 00:21:53,740 By late spring the landscape is wrapped in a vibrant fresh green. 143 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:58,370 Here, instead of conifers, there are broad leaved trees 144 00:21:58,620 --> 00:22:03,380 and that makes the character of this forest entirely different. 145 00:22:07,550 --> 00:22:12,300 Being broad, these leaves trap much more light than needles 146 00:22:12,550 --> 00:22:16,930 but they're also thin, soft and edible. 147 00:22:35,910 --> 00:22:39,580 And others can eat the leaf eaters. 148 00:23:01,770 --> 00:23:08,900 It's spring in the great broad leaved forests of Eastern Europe and Asiatic Russia. 149 00:23:09,820 --> 00:23:12,940 The mandarin ducks are courting. 150 00:23:26,290 --> 00:23:29,880 The female mandarin nests in a tree hole 151 00:23:30,050 --> 00:23:35,340 and when it's time for everyone to leave she leads the way. 152 00:23:38,010 --> 00:23:41,930 The ducklings are only twenty four hours old. 153 00:23:44,100 --> 00:23:48,480 It's a long drop, and a few calls of encouragement are required. 154 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:05,210 Two down seven to go. 155 00:24:39,490 --> 00:24:41,740 There are still two missing. 156 00:25:03,810 --> 00:25:06,100 All present and correct. 157 00:25:06,890 --> 00:25:09,850 But they won't be safe until they reach water 158 00:25:10,060 --> 00:25:13,940 and the forest pool is almost a mile away. 159 00:25:49,850 --> 00:25:53,060 By June the days are at their longest 160 00:25:53,190 --> 00:25:58,820 and all across the northern hemisphere the broad leaves are hard at work. 161 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:13,380 On the east coast of North America it seems like any other summer's evening 162 00:26:15,630 --> 00:26:19,050 but tonight is special. 163 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,850 After seventeen years underground 164 00:26:26,140 --> 00:26:28,930 creatures are stirring. 165 00:26:34,900 --> 00:26:40,150 The nymphs of the periodical cicada have been biding their time. 166 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:47,450 Now they march like zombies towards the nearest tree, and start to climb. 167 00:26:55,170 --> 00:26:58,000 At first, there are merely thousands 168 00:26:58,340 --> 00:27:03,260 but soon, more than a billion swarm all over the forest. 169 00:27:03,430 --> 00:27:08,220 The biggest insect emergence on the planet is underway. 170 00:27:39,090 --> 00:27:44,720 They invade the upper branches, where they climb out of their external skeletons 171 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:48,760 and assume their adult winged form. 172 00:27:57,020 --> 00:28:03,360 At first they're white and soft, but they have until dawn to complete their transformation. 173 00:28:17,830 --> 00:28:24,710 After an absence of seventeen years, the forest is now overrun by cicadas. 174 00:28:32,930 --> 00:28:37,600 The adults are clumsy and very edible. 175 00:28:46,820 --> 00:28:49,910 For turtles and other inhabitants of the forest 176 00:28:50,070 --> 00:28:53,870 this is a feast they're lucky to see once in their lifetime 177 00:28:53,950 --> 00:28:57,210 and they gorge themselves while they can. 178 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,010 Times have never been so good. 179 00:29:13,350 --> 00:29:19,520 The cicadas have no defenses and virtually offer themselves to their attackers. 180 00:29:29,530 --> 00:29:32,450 The stream of insects is so relentless 181 00:29:32,490 --> 00:29:37,410 that soon all the predators are full to the point of bursting 182 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,380 and still the cicadas come. 183 00:29:51,550 --> 00:29:57,520 With the predators overwhelmed the survivors can achieve their purpose. 184 00:30:00,140 --> 00:30:05,770 After mating, the adults lay their eggs and then their job is done. 185 00:30:06,230 --> 00:30:11,570 In just a few days they will all die and the forest will fall silent. 186 00:30:11,990 --> 00:30:18,410 The cicadas here, will not be heard again for another seventeen years. 187 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:34,930 Having fed the predators, the cicadas leave one final gift for the forest itself. 188 00:30:35,050 --> 00:30:41,230 The nutrients in a generation of cicadas are returned to the soil, all at once 189 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:45,150 and the trees enjoy a marked spurt in growth. 190 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:51,150 This may be the single largest dose of fertilizer in the natural world. 191 00:31:12,380 --> 00:31:15,890 In the great broad leaf forests of Eastern Europe 192 00:31:16,010 --> 00:31:24,520 the days are beginning to shorten, and a primeval sound heralds the onset of autumn. 193 00:31:42,290 --> 00:31:46,880 Male red deer are starting their rut. 194 00:31:52,130 --> 00:31:56,470 The air is heavy with the scent of females. 195 00:32:07,810 --> 00:32:09,690 The rules are simple. 196 00:32:10,110 --> 00:32:12,360 Winner takes all. 197 00:33:06,540 --> 00:33:11,710 Across the northern hemisphere the deciduous forests are changing. 198 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:17,970 Leaves that have provided food and shelter since the spring, are now shed. 199 00:33:22,390 --> 00:33:29,020 In the broad leaf forests of Russia winter is particularly severe 200 00:33:33,610 --> 00:33:38,610 but there will always be some who benefit from hardship. 201 00:33:42,450 --> 00:33:46,330 Black vultures scavenge from the carcass of a seeker deer 202 00:33:46,410 --> 00:33:49,250 that has died of cold or starvation. 203 00:33:49,540 --> 00:33:52,000 These endangered birds are visitors. 204 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:57,670 They've come down from the north to escape the even colder conditions in Siberia. 205 00:34:35,210 --> 00:34:37,210 An Amur leopard. 206 00:34:37,380 --> 00:34:40,220 The rarest cat on Earth. 207 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:43,930 Winter is a difficult time for this hunter. 208 00:34:44,010 --> 00:34:48,310 There are no leaves for cover and no young prey animals. 209 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:54,400 This female has the added pressure, of having to provide for her one year old cub. 210 00:34:54,690 --> 00:35:00,110 It'll be another twelve months, before he'll be able to fend for himself. 211 00:35:12,660 --> 00:35:16,630 The bickering vultures have abandoned the carcass. 212 00:35:16,630 --> 00:35:20,380 It's a valuable discovery for the leopards. 213 00:35:25,050 --> 00:35:30,020 But the cub doesn't share it's mother's sense of urgency. 214 00:35:59,460 --> 00:36:03,170 The vultures have left behind plenty of good meat 215 00:36:03,510 --> 00:36:05,930 but it's stiff with frost. 216 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:14,140 The mother works to open the hide, and make feeding a little easier for her cub. 217 00:36:25,780 --> 00:36:30,240 There are only forty Amur leopards left in the wild 218 00:36:32,490 --> 00:36:35,370 and that number is still falling. 219 00:36:36,420 --> 00:36:41,130 The harshness of the winter here hinders their increasing numbers. 220 00:36:41,340 --> 00:36:45,590 It takes one of these females longer to raise her young to independence 221 00:36:45,630 --> 00:36:48,430 than it does a leopard in Africa. 222 00:36:56,270 --> 00:37:00,520 If the mother can sustain her cub for a few more weeks 223 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:06,360 spring will bring an increase in prey and her task will lighten. 224 00:37:11,490 --> 00:37:15,040 For all the inhabitants of this seasonal forest 225 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,710 the long, cold wait is nearly over. 226 00:37:31,140 --> 00:37:35,390 Spring in a deciduous woodland is special. 227 00:37:39,270 --> 00:37:44,360 With no leaves overhead, the rays of the sun strike the forest floor directly 228 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:48,740 and their warmth rouses plants from their winter sleep. 229 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:58,540 The ground living plants are in a hurry. 230 00:37:58,660 --> 00:38:03,670 Before long the trees above will come into leaf and steal their light. 231 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,390 Their flowers decorate the forest floor 232 00:38:16,430 --> 00:38:21,690 as they advertise their sweet nectar to the newly emerged insects. 233 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:43,290 The spring blooms of the deciduous woodlands have no equivalent 234 00:38:43,420 --> 00:38:48,050 in either the great conifer forests, or the tropical jungles. 235 00:38:53,010 --> 00:38:57,060 Within a matter of weeks the canopy has closed 236 00:38:57,010 --> 00:39:02,230 and only a few wheeling shafts of light penetrate the woodland. 237 00:39:10,570 --> 00:39:15,410 In the treetops, the broad leaves rapidly expand to their full size 238 00:39:15,530 --> 00:39:19,370 to make the most of summer while it lasts. 239 00:39:25,290 --> 00:39:30,050 Then, after a few months, the days begin to shorten again 240 00:39:30,260 --> 00:39:34,630 and the trees must shut down and shed their leaves in preparation 241 00:39:34,630 --> 00:39:38,010 for the cold dark time ahead. 242 00:39:42,430 --> 00:39:48,150 Great tracts of North America flush red as the season progresses. 243 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:53,780 The effect is so spectacular and so extensive 244 00:39:53,990 --> 00:39:56,950 that it can be seen from space. 245 00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:18,220 The threat of winter frost is not the only reason for trees to shed leaves. 246 00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:25,480 These forests stand in the tropics. 247 00:40:25,730 --> 00:40:28,520 Here day length never changes 248 00:40:28,690 --> 00:40:31,020 but the dry season is so severe 249 00:40:31,110 --> 00:40:34,280 that the trees can't afford to loose the amount of water 250 00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:40,030 that would evaporate from their broad leaves, so the leaves must be shed. 251 00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:02,470 The forest resembles a European woodland in mid winter 252 00:41:02,850 --> 00:41:08,400 but the heat is overpowering, and it's inhabitants, unfamiliar. 253 00:41:12,190 --> 00:41:18,160 For the creatures of India's teak forests, these are desperate times 254 00:41:19,450 --> 00:41:21,700 but salvation is at hand. 255 00:41:21,950 --> 00:41:25,120 The mahwa tree is about to bloom. 256 00:41:29,460 --> 00:41:33,800 It's flowers are full of liquid making them irresistible. 257 00:41:41,010 --> 00:41:45,970 The mahwa is an oasis in a hot dry desert. 258 00:41:56,320 --> 00:42:02,070 Those that fly or climb are not the only ones to get a share. 259 00:42:05,240 --> 00:42:08,370 Chital deer follow the langur monkeys 260 00:42:08,580 --> 00:42:11,790 collecting the flowers that fall. 261 00:42:17,340 --> 00:42:23,680 The monkeys welcome the deer, for deer are unrivaled at spotting predators. 262 00:42:25,100 --> 00:42:29,270 If they are relaxed, it must be safe to come down to the ground 263 00:42:29,350 --> 00:42:31,980 and gather the food that lies there 264 00:42:42,780 --> 00:42:47,490 but it's not wise to travel far from the sentinels. 265 00:43:41,170 --> 00:43:43,050 Tropical Madagascar. 266 00:43:43,680 --> 00:43:45,680 The wet season. 267 00:43:52,310 --> 00:43:56,270 It's now that the baobab trees regrow their leaves 268 00:43:56,480 --> 00:44:02,530 and collect water to store in their huge trunks, ready for the dry season ahead. 269 00:44:23,970 --> 00:44:27,590 The prehistoric shape of these trees is rightly famous 270 00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:31,560 but few have ever witnessed the baobab's real magic 271 00:44:31,770 --> 00:44:36,350 for that happens at night and high in the treetops. 272 00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:49,120 Flush with water, the baobab prepares itself for an unforgettable display. 273 00:45:05,630 --> 00:45:11,600 Once started the foot long flowers can open fully in less than a minute. 274 00:45:56,350 --> 00:46:01,440 As the flowers open, the creatures of the forest wake. 275 00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:17,370 The mouse lemurs have been hibernating throughout the dry season. 276 00:46:17,700 --> 00:46:22,130 With the return of rains it's time to get busy. 277 00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:31,380 A dozen share this tree hole, but there's plenty of room. 278 00:46:31,380 --> 00:46:36,350 The world's smallest primate is no bigger than your hand. 279 00:46:41,650 --> 00:46:47,690 High in the branches above, the baobab's nectar is starting to flow. 280 00:47:01,500 --> 00:47:04,960 A drink of this sugary energy packed liquid 281 00:47:05,170 --> 00:47:09,630 is an ideal way for the lemurs to start their day. 282 00:47:13,220 --> 00:47:18,930 Liquid oozes from the flower's center and trickles down the petals 283 00:47:35,070 --> 00:47:38,950 But the nectar is not intended for lemurs. 284 00:47:42,500 --> 00:47:49,000 These giant hawk moths are the drinkers the tree needs to attract. 285 00:47:58,180 --> 00:48:06,310 As they sip, moving from tree to tree, so they transfer pollen and fertilize the flowers. 286 00:48:20,120 --> 00:48:24,460 Nectar was an excellent first course for the lemurs 287 00:48:24,710 --> 00:48:27,880 but moths are the main dish. 288 00:48:29,170 --> 00:48:31,960 The moths are very important to the lemurs 289 00:48:32,130 --> 00:48:39,100 for they will replenish the fat reserves that the lemurs need to survive the barren dry season. 290 00:48:46,900 --> 00:48:50,440 The lemurs might seem to be a pest for the baobab. 291 00:48:50,570 --> 00:48:53,990 They kill it's pollinators and rob it of it's nectar 292 00:48:54,110 --> 00:48:56,910 but they do give something in return. 293 00:48:57,030 --> 00:49:02,540 For, as the wrestle with the moths, their fur inevitably becomes dusted with pollen 294 00:49:02,790 --> 00:49:06,620 so they, too, become pollinators. 295 00:49:28,770 --> 00:49:35,570 As the alternation of wet and dry seasons brings change to some tropical forests 296 00:49:35,690 --> 00:49:42,120 so the progression of summer to winter dictates life in more temperate regions. 297 00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:54,630 Whether trees have needles or broad leaves 298 00:49:54,760 --> 00:50:00,720 it is their ability to survive annual change, that has enabled them to cover 299 00:50:00,720 --> 00:50:03,430 such vast areas of the Earth 300 00:50:03,600 --> 00:50:05,850 and made the seasonal forests 301 00:50:06,060 --> 00:50:11,650 the greatest forests of all. 269 00:50:20,237 --> 00:50:35,237 © anoXmous @ http://thepiratebay.sx/user/Zen_Bud