During four weeks of the summer, the saguaros bloom at night to attract visitors.
在夏季的4个星期里,弁庆柱在晚上开花,吸引了不少拜访者。
The pollen and nectar with which these flowers are loaded, attract long-nosed and long-tongued bats.
这些花中装满了花粉和花蜜,吸引了长鼻蝠和长舌蝠。
The bats left Mexico a few days earlier to escape the heat of summer
蝙蝠数日前离开墨西哥以躲避酷暑
and are on their way north to the southern United States.
正向北飞往美国南部
To get there, they have to cross the Sonoran Desert.
要想到达那里,它们必须穿越索诺兰沙漠。
But the desert is so big that for most of the year they would be unable to cross it.
不过这片沙漠很大,它们一年中大部分时间都无法穿越这里。
Now, with the saguaro in bloom, they can refuel on the way.
现在,有了正在开花的弁庆柱,它们便能在旅途中得到休整。
So the saguaro's success in developing a way to store water
看来弁庆柱进化出的这种成功的储水方式,
is now crucial to most of the animals that live or even travel through this land.
如今已关系到大部分在此生活和旅行的动物。
The scarcity of rain determined the shape of this icon of the desert.
缺少雨水的环境塑造了这些沙漠中的图标
But water, scarce though it is, has also, like the wind, shaped the land itself.
尽管水很少,但它也和风一样,造就了各种地形。