Lost Worlds: Life in the Balance Page #2

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shelter is the priority.

Science will have to wait

Roraima is a natural laboratory

for studying the adaptation

of species to harsh environments.

Fabian is the team's plant specialist

All over Roraima, there are these

beautiful miniature gardens.

Most of the summit is bare rock,

so the rain runs off quickly.

Plants only grow in depressions

where water and soil can accumulate.

If we carefully examine these

little islands,

we see that they are just lying

like rugs on top of the rock.

The soil is mostly sand,

with very few nutrients.

But it still supports an

incredible amount of life,

probably most of it exists only on

this mountain, and no where else.

In this nutrient-poor environment,

plants have evolved different

strategies for survival...

Some have become carnivorous,

trapping and consuming insects.

Other carnivorous plants lure insects

with vivid color and attractive scent

And their pitcher-shape is also

a perfect trap.

Thousands of slippery hairs cover

the inside of the pitcher.

It's only a matter of time

before the victim

slips into the bowl

of rainwater where...

larvae and other organisms

break down the insect,

the plant absorbs the nutrients

in the water.

Roraima seems like a great place

for amphibians,

with ponds and streams everywhere.

But at first we saw nothing at all.

And our tests showed that the water

is as poor a food source as the soil.

Any creatures living here have to be

very resourceful.

Then we found our first amphibians:

Tadpoles feeding on clusters

of unhatched eggs.

The mother frog apparently produced

extra eggs,

so her offspring would have

plenty to eat!

Nearby, we saw a frog laying eggs

in a plant -

the only carnivorous bromeliad

known to science.

The water below is full of

captured insects.

Once her eggs hatch, the tadpoles

can make a feast of this soup...

and maybe the plant

gets something too -

like nitrogen from

their waste products.

At dusk, we heard a sound

we never heard before...

definitely amphibian,

but strange...

We look for it until the sound stop.

In the morning we heard it again.

Celsi recorded the sound,

but we never saw the creature

that made it...

Later, we did come across something

truly unique.

A tiny black toad,

threatened by a tarantula.

It didn't jump...

it just walked away...

and climbed the rock.

When the tarantula moved on, the toad

curled itself up and rolled down again.

Now, that I've never seen before!

Why would nature produce a tiny toad

that walks and rolls

instead of jumping?

No doubt,

we still have a lot to learn...

People often ask me why we should

care about creatures like this.

Well, it may have something we need -

like chemicals or medicines.

Or maybe because it's living proof

of nature's ability

to diversify and survive...

in ways we never even imagined.

It's a long way from the Lost World

of Venezuela

to the suburbs of New York,

but the diversity of life here is just

as fragile and just as important

Like the life of remote

rain forests and mountains,

the creatures in our backyard all

play their part in the balance

of relationships that

keeps the world healthy.

Insects need flowers,

flowers need insects,

and we need the food

that pollination produces.

In just one square meter,

young explorers on a field trip

can find a lot of life.

If they look hard enough,

they'll find things even scientists

haven't seen before.

We all need to know what lives here...

what it does...

and what it means to us.

But as we take up more and

more space on the Earth,

we may tip the balance of life...

without even knowing it

It wouldn't be the first time.

The lost city of Tikal was

discovered just over a century ago,

buried in the tropical forest

of Guatemala.

Experts still debate what happened to

this metropolis of kings and priests,

warriors and farmers...

where the rare black jaguar,

sacred to the Mayans,

can sometimes be seen at dawn.

New studies suggest that,

if we could imagine Tikal as it was,

we might see that

its expanding population

had stripped away the forest

for miles around...

exhausted the soil, water,

and food supply...

with famine, warfare...

and collapse not far behind.

Over a thousand years,

the forest has returned...

but the high civilization

of the Mayans is no more.

Did the people of Tikal

lose their life-support system...

without ever understanding it?

Surrounded by the marvels

of a modern city,

we believe we are masters

of our destiny.

But everything in our homes, everything

that keeps us alive, comes from nature.

A hundred years ago,

the people of New York

had the foresight to preserve

a critical part

of its life-support system...

the mountain forests and soil

that clean its drinking water.

Thirty years ago, the marine ecosystem

off the California coast

began to restore itself...

because we had the wisdom

to protect the sea otter.

When we protect nature,

we protect ourselves.

After more than a week on Roraima,

soaked by the rain,

we've flown to another tepuy for

a few days work on its summit

We'll be on our way home soon...

But in a sense, this is our home.

The air is fresh...

and the waters flow endlessly.

These places give us life...

and remind us that we are just

a small part of nature.

Could frogs be

a kind of bellweather

for the health of the planet?

If so, things are okay up here.

Will it stay this way?

I'd like to think that

places like this

to be here for my children.

Maybe our work here will help us to

understand the world we have...

and the world we have to lose.

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