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The hippopotamus is an animal very important to the health of Africa's rivers and lakes. Their dung, or solid waste, helps Africa's aquatic ecosystem. But researchers warn that hippo populations are decreasing. They say that could damage ecosystems.
河马对维护非洲河流和湖水的生态平衡起着非常重要的作用。他们的排泄物能够当水生植物的养料。但是，研究者已经发出警告：河马的数量正在减少，这可能破坏生态平衡。
The hippopotamus is the third-largest land mammal, after the elephant and rhinoceros. Hippos spend as much as 16 hours a day in the water. They go on land at night to feed. They eat more than 200 kilograms of tropical grasses at each feeding. They return to the water where they release their waste.
河马是陆地上第三大的哺乳动物，仅次与大象和犀牛。河马大约一天有16个小时都呆在水里。他们晚上上岸进食。每次进食他们大概要吃掉200千克的热带草。他们返回水中进行排泄。
Douglas McCauley is an assistant professor of several environmental and life sciences. He and his team at the University of California, Santa Barbara, decided to study the waste of hippos.
Douglas McCauley是几个环境和生命科学家的助教。在圣巴巴拉加利福尼亚大学的他和他的团队决定研究河马的排泄物。
"Well, we started looking at hippopotamus and realized that a big part of the story was their poop - was this vast amount of nutrients and energy that are moved across systems via their eating and their defecation."
“我们开始观察河马，并意识到他们的排泄物里有大文章。他们通过进食和排泄将数量巨大的能量和营养物质进行转化。”
He says scientists are interested in how hippos cross the line of ecosystems. He says living in both the land and water worlds means hippos are important providers of nutrients.
他说：科学家对河马如何跨越生态系统的界限。能同时居住在水里和陆地上河马意味着它是很重要的供能者。
"Because they're eating lots and lots of stuff on land and then taking that all back to the place where they rest in the water -- in lakes and rivers -- and then basically dunging that all out. And it turns out to be a huge amount of material and energy and nutrients of this sort of natural fertilizer that is moved across these boundaries."
“因为他们要吃很多很多陆地上的东西，然后它们又把这些东西排回到水里，湖中或河里，基本上就把吃进去的都排出来了。这也就变成了很大数量的能量和营养物质，成了自然界天然的肥料。”
Every year, hippos provide over 60,000 kilograms of dung to African lakes and rivers.
每年，河马都要向非洲的湖和河排放大约60000千克的肥料。
Douglass McCauley says the dung is also used as a communication device. He says a more powerful male hippo will throw dung from its tail to a less powerful male.
Douglass McCauley表示：排泄物也能用作沟通的工具。更强壮的河马会用尾巴向弱小的河马甩粪便。
The study also showed that some species of river fish need the dung in their diets. Mr. McCauley says some of the nutrients in the dung are the building materials of life. Some fish get the nutrients by eating the dung directly. Others feed on insects that eat the dung.
他们的研究也表明：河里一些特定的鱼需要河马的排泄物作为它们的食物。McCauley说：排泄物里的营养物质能为生命提供养料。一些鱼之间通过吃粪便来获取养料。其他的则以以排泄物为食的昆虫作为食物。
But as researchers learn more about the importance of hippos, there are fewer of them. Mr. McCauley says hippo numbers are dropping across sub-Saharan Africa. He says there has been a 10 to 20 percent drop in the past 10 years.
但是，随着研究员对河马研究的进一步深入，它们的数量在减少。McCauley说：非洲sub-Saharan河里的河马数量已经下降。在过去的10年时间里，河马的数量大概下降了10%到20%。
"And beyond how many there are they're in a lot fewer places. There are entire countries that have completely lost hippopotamus -- Egypt, for example.
“而且他们数目的分布也很不均匀。有许多地方河马已经完全绝迹了——比如埃及。”
Douglas McCauley says humans are responsible for most of the drop in the hippo population through hunting and habitat loss as human populations spread. He says animals often lose to humans in the competition for water.
Douglas McCauley表示：人类应该对河马数量的减少负最大责任，因为人类不断猎杀和破坏河马的栖息地。而且在和人类争夺水资源的问题上，动物也经常出于劣势。
"They have to have water. Well, guess what? Everybody else wants water."
“河马生存必须要有水，但是，人类也要用水。”
Mr. McCauley says careful thought must be given to the control of water, both for humans and wildlife. He says there should be enough water for all if it is dealt with intelligently. He said the future of humans, wildlife and ecosystems are closely tied together.
McCauley说：我们必须要思考水源的控制问题，为了人类和动物。如果能够合理处理好水资源的问题，那么人和动物都能享有丰富的水源。人类、野生动物和生态系统的未来是紧密结合的。
I'm Marsha James.
我是Marsha James
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