All language subtitles for Life.2009.S01E09.1080p.BluRay.x265-RARBG

A'i'i'en borough:
Plants have a family tree

stretching back
nearly half a billion years.

They have developed an extraordinary
range of strategies to survive.

This tree is a bristlecone pine.

It's taken thousands of years
to reach this size.

It has seen empires rise and fall,

kings, queens and presidents
come and go,

and may have seen the sun rise
more than one and a half million times.

Bristlecone pines are the oldest
living things on earth.

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant.

It will be full-grown,
30 metres tall, in just 90 days.

Like animals, plants are constantly
competing for food

striving to produce offspring

and battling against predators.

They will deceive

and in some cases they will even hunt.

We often don't notice
such dramatic behaviour

because to our eyes,
it happens so slowly.

But if time is compressed
and you shift perspective

to the plant's point of view,
their world comes spectacularly to life.

The events in this woodland
can build to a view of half a year

in less than a minute.

Like animals,
plants need food and water.

But what sets them apart
is their struggle for light.

Plants must have light in order to grow

and will do anything to get
as much as they need.

The forest might appear to be
the perfect place for plants to thrive.

Yet down here on the forest floor

is one of the hardest places imaginable
for a young plant to begin its life.

The canopy above is so thick that only
a little sunlight can filter through.

For this sapling,
too little light means death.

But plants on the forest floor
need not be passive.

If the light won't come to them,
they can go to the light.

But they still have a problem.

The light is 50 metres above them.

So they must climb.

It's much easier to use another plant
as scaffolding.

But they won't get very high
unless they can hold on tight.

Like fingertips searching for a hold,

this Ivy's adhesive pads grip the bark.

Instead of sticking to the trees,
some climbers use sharp claws.

The cat's claw creeper hooks
its tendrils into the tiniest crevices

and hauls itself to the top.

With every metre it climbs,
the light gets a little stronger,

fuelling more growth.

This tendril of a passion flower
seems to flail aimlessly in midair,

but in fact it's searching
for an anchor point.

Its tendril coils on itself
pulling the plant towards its support.

In a matter of just days,
these climbers make it to the canopy.

Now, with light in plentiful supply,
these plants are able to flower.

Other plants have a different strategy
to find the light they need

in the crowded forest.

These are air plants.

They grow on the upper branches
of tall trees

and spend their whole lives
basking in the light.

But growing 50 metres above the ground
does have its drawbacks.

Most plants get water and nutrients
through their roots in the ground.

For an air plant, with their roots
planted in the treetops,

this isn't an option.

But they have a solution.

First, the bare roots have
an extraordinary ability

to soak up water like blotting paper.

The slightest rain or mist,
and they absorb every drop.

They also have a way
of gathering nutrients.

Their roots trap falling leaves,
which eventually rot

and provide the plants with their own
personal supply of compost.

Twenty thousand different plants,

orchids, bromeliads and ferns
have taken up this remarkable lifestyle.

For a plant to thrive,
it must not only get enough nutrients

but also the right balance of nutrients.

The soil in this water-logged bog is
very poor quality, lacking in nitrogen.

But these strange plants
have an ingenious strategy.

Their leaves are covered in tentacles
tipped with droplets

of what appears to be morning dew.

These droplets give the plant its name,
the sundew.

They're sweet smelling and attractive
to many insects.

But the y're also extremely sticky.

Mosquitoes emerge in huge numbers
from the boggy water

and the sundews are ready.

The sundew's tentacles
are living fl ypaper.

Struggling only makes matters worse.

With each contact,
the plant tightens its grip.

As more and more tentacles
envelope the prey,

the droplets spread across its body.

Eventually the insect is smothered
and drowns in sticky fluid.

Digestive enzymes break down the body
into a nitrogen-rich meal,

which is absorbed by the plant.

Without animal tissues,
this plant would not survive.

But there's another carnivorous plant

that's an even more
sophisticated predator.

The Venus flytrap.

Like the sundew,
it makes itself very attractive,

oozing nectar
across the brim of each leaf.

But any visiting insect had better
watch out for these six tiny hairs.

This fly has to tread carefully.

If it strikes one hair,

it can carry on feeding

but a timer has been set.

A second strike in less than 20 seconds
and the fly is doomed.

An electrical impulse is triggered

and the leaf snaps shut
in just a fraction of a second.

The tips lock together like prison bars.

If the fly is very big or very small,
it ma y just manage to escape.

But most are trapped

and die.

Ten days later, the trap reopens.

All that remains is a husk.

The plant has finished its meal

and resets itself for its next victim.

But there is one time of year

when the I/enus fl ytrap needs
some of the visiting insects to live.

It needs their help to be pollinated.

It sends up flowers on tall stems,

well away from the danger
of the traps below.

Here, insects can feed safely on nectar.

In return, they provide a vital service,

carrying pollen from flower to flower.

But the truce is only temporary.

When pollination is over,
it's back to business as usual.

8096 of plant species on earth
have flowers.

Flowers ha ve just one role,

to enable the plant
to produce offspring.

Colour, perfume, nectar and shape

all act to make a flower irresistible.

Sunflowers grow to face the rising sun.

The warmth of the rays
speeds the production of nectar

and this lures pollinators.

One after another,
hundreds of individual florets

produce pollen-co vered stamens.

And like most flowers,

sunflowers establish
a close relationship with animals

in order to ensure their reproduction.

As these bees busily feed on nectar,

they unwittingly brush against
the stamens, collecting pollen,

and then carry it from flower to flower.

The sunflower is fertilised.

In the sun-drenched fields
of southern France,

the flowering season is a long one.

But not all plants have this luxury.

Cradle mountain in tasmania
is blasted by bitter antarctic winds.

To reproduce,
the richea honey bush must flower.

But the delicate parts of the flowers
risk being damaged by the cold.

The plant appears
to have an ingenious solution.

The flower petals fuse together,

forming an insulated protective case
around its stamens.

However, this creates another problem.

The flower case is so well sealed

that unfortunately,
it also keeps out pollinating insects.

During brief sunny spells,
the flowers warm up

and suddenly start producing nectar.

This attracts a bird,
the black curra wong.

It has the strength to rip open
the flowers' outer casing

and gets its reward of nectar.

At the same time, it exposes
the delicate stamens to waiting insects.

With luck, there's enough time
for pollination

before the biting wind
kills the flowers.

For some plants, the relationship with
their pollinators is not collaborative,

it's war.

Butterflies, and in such numbers,

would seem to be perfect pollinators
for any flower.

The sandhill milkweed blooms every
spring in the Sandy meadows of Florida.

It times its flowering perfectly
to match the arrival

of monarch butterflies
migrating here from Mexico.

The monarchs search out milkweed plants,

but they have something
other than pollination on their minds.

Rather than collect pollen, this female
lays her eggs on the milkweed leaf.

This is the only plant
the caterpillars can eat.

But the milkweed
has a defence mechanism.

As a caterpillar bites into a vein,

a kind of latex swells out,
engulfing it.

If the caterpillar isn't quick
it will drown,

or find its jaws glued together.

The plant's defence is so effective
that only one third

of the monarch caterpillars make it
through the first day.

But the caterpillars that survive
grow in size and strength.

And they go for the jugular.

By carefully chewing
through the main vein,

the caterpillar drains the leaf of latex

and cuts off its supply.

The milkweed's leaf is now defenceless
and the caterpillar eats in safety,

before preparing to pupate
into a butterfly.

But after about 70 days,

it becomes clear why the plant
has endured this onslaught.

A newly hatched monarch

simply can't resist the nectar-filled
cups of the milkweed flowers.

As it moves across the flower heads,

its feet slide
between grooves in the petals,

where the flower's pollen sacs
are waiting.

As it flies off

the monarch's feet hook out the pollen
and carry it to the next flower,

and pollination is achieved.

Although the milkweed
has paid a heavy price,

in the end, it used the monarch
to get its way.

Here in Dominica,
there's a plant that is so manipulative

that it has enslaved its pollinator.

The bright red structures
of the heliconia

are actually modified Lea ves.

These are its flowers.

They may be small, but they play
a very important role,

keeping nectar well-guarded
at the very bottom of their long stems.

The purple-throated carib hummingbird,
with its long, curved beak,

is the only bird capable of reaching
this energy-rich food.

But cleverly, the heliconia rations
the amount of nectar it produces

to force the hummingbird into returning
to the flower time and time again.

Every time it makes a visit, it picks up
more pollen on its beak and feathers.

The hummingbird is like an addict.
Not only does it never stray,

but it will aggressively defend
the flowers from thieves.

The plant is the master
in this relationship.

To ensure it gets pollinated heliconia
has made the hummingbird its prisoner.

A plant's problems don't end
once it's been pollinated.

Plants need to spread their seeds
as far away as possible,

otherwise the adults will be in direct
competition with their offspring.

Here in South Africa,

one flower achieves this
by performing a remarkable trick.

The plant waits dormant underground
for more than a year.

The first hea vy rains for many months

are the trigger the plant
has been waiting for.

Brunsvigia burst into flower.

Their timing is perfect.

These conditions are ideal
for insects, too.

The flowers enjoy a few days
of frenzied pollination.

But it's not long
before the searing heat returns.

The flowers start to wilt,
shrivel and die.

Brunsvigia now needs to disperse
its seeds widely,

yet the flowers still have their seeds
trapped inside.

But the flower isn't finished yet.

There are strong winds
that blow across this landscape.

They snap the dry, dead stalks,
sending each and every plant

cartwheeling across the ground,
casting seeds as it goes.

With the heat threatening
to dry them out,

the seeds' germination
has to be immediate.

Deep in the forests of Borneo,

some plants also use the wind
to disperse their seeds

but in a completely different way,
by giving their seeds wings.

Some are helicopters that twist and turn
their way down to the ground.

But there is one that has a design
that enables it to travel

greater distances than all the others.

This is a lsomitra.

Its football-sized pod is packed full
of hundreds of extraordinary seeds.

Each is an almost
aerod ynamicall y perfect glider

that can be supported
by even the slightest breeze.

Its paper-thin upswept wings

allow it to travel hundreds of metres
through the forest.

Once the seed hits the ground,
the wings rot away

and the seed starts to germinate.

A newalsomitra vine starts to grow up
towards the canopy and into the light,

well away from its parents.

There are other ways to disperse seeds

and plants have evolved different
tactics, depending on where they live.

In the desert of a rizona lives a master,
the saguaro cactus.

In the cool of the night,
the cacti open their radiant flowers.

They are soon visited by
nectar-feeding bats.

And as the bats move from
cactus to cactus, they pollinate them.

Each flower only lasts a night.

But over three weeks, each cactus
will produce more than 200 flowers.

Every pollinated flower immediately
begins to form a fruit at its base,

packed with thousands of seeds.

The mature saguaro cacti
are superbly adapted to survive

out in the intense heat
of the sonoran desert.

But their seeds are delicate
and must find shade

or they will scorch to death
before they germinate.

The seeds are covered with
succulent, sweet flesh,

a meal that all sorts of
desert creatures find irresistible.

White-winged doves are among
the first to reach the ripening fruit.

The seeds survive in the birds' stomachs

and will be carried many miles before
being deposited in their droppings,

their own little packet of fertiliser.

But the cactus doesn't
just rely on birds.

Fallen fruit provides a bonanza
for creatures on the ground.

Foraging ants quickly gather
seeds and flesh,

that's if a tortoise
doesn't get there first.

The greater range of animals
the cactus can get to eat its fruit,

the more likely the seeds within

will be carried to the perfect place
to germinate.

The ants carry the seeds underground
into their nests,

often excavated among
the roots of trees.

The tortoise, too, will head for shade.

It spends much of its day
cooling off under trees,

where it's sure to leave
undigested seeds in its dung.

Now the seeds wait
for the rains to come.

Of the 40 million or so seeds
a cactus produces in its lifetime,

the chances are that only one
will develop into a plant

that outlives its parent.

If it was lucky enough to find shade,

a seed will still take 70 years
to become a five-centimetre-tall cactus.

To reach the size of its parents,
possibly 70 metres,

will take at least a hundred years.

Plants can survive in the most unlikely
and inhospitable places on earth.

Here on socotra,
a remote island in the arabian sea,

the dry season is brutal.

But this strange tree
has a strategy to survive it.

The dragon's blood tree.

The key to their success
lies in their bizarre shape.

They live on the mountaintops
where there's little soil,

but there are critical compensations.

Occasional morning mists
sweep across the high ground.

The mist condenses on
the skyward-pointing waxy leaves.

The droplets run down to the centre
of the trunk

and down to its roots.

Water is so precious that the tree
cannot afford to waste any.

Drops that do escape and fall
to the ground are not totally lost.

The tree's huge, densely-packed crown
acts as a parasol.

It shades the ground so effectively

it allows time for the water
to seep into the sand.

And it also shades the network of roots
that lie just under the surface.

Another plant shares this parched desert
but survives in a very different way.

The desert Rose.

In really harsh conditions, it jettisons
its leaves to minimise water loss.

Strangely, it chooses this time
to flower.

Its bulbous trunk is like a barrel
that stores water all year round.

It's so Hardy
it can grow out of bare rock.

It might seem that conditions can't get
much tougher for the plant than here.

But for some,
the conditions are even harsher.

Six hours ago,
here on the coast of a ustralia,

this tree was high and dry
on a Sandy beach.

For almost all plants,
saltwater is lethal,

so submersion of this tree's roots by
the tide twice a day should kill it.

Yet this red mangrove is flourishing.

The retreating tide reveals the key
to surviving the sea's assault.

The mangrove's roots
are covered in warty growths.

The growths surround pores
that take in oxygen from the air

when the roots are above water.

But the pores become useful
in a quite different way

when they are submerged again.

They allow water into the plant

but filter out 9996 of the salt
as it passes through.

Any salt that gets in
is pumped into a few sacrificial leaves

that turn yellow and are discarded.

Plants can not only deal with being
poisoned, parched and scorched

but they can also survive being frozen.

In the world's northern forests,

the changing of the seasons
creates its own challenges.

As summer moves to Autumn,

plants prepare themselves
for the toughest time of the year.

Broad-Lea ved trees unveil
what seems to us a colourful spectacle.

But for these plants,
it's the beginning of a series

of urgent and drastic survival
strategies to cope with the coming cold.

They begin by pulling all the water
and nutrients within their leaves

back into the trunk.

The last rays of useful sunlight
are channelled

into making a sugary antifreeze
that will protect the body of the tree.

The green pigment,
chlorophyll, disappears,

leaving purples, reds,
oranges and yellows.

Finally, the leaves die
and the trees discard them.

As temperatures drop below freezing,

the plants of broad-Lea ved forests
settle down to hibernate until spring.

Pine trees can survive
much colder conditions.

They have antifreeze
in the leaves themselves

that means that they can
keep them all winter.

The needle-like leaves
also have a thick, waxy coating

that limits any water loss
through pores.

The winters here are long and hard.

The trees have to survive temperatures
of down to minus 40 centigrade

for five months.

But one pine tree is capable of
surviving even harsher conditions.

These pines live at the limit of life,

above 3, 000 metres in the mountains
of western america.

Almost continuous freezing temperatures
and savage winds make life so tough

that these bristlecones only manage to
grow for six weeks of the year.

Everything is about conserving energy.

They hardly ever shed their needles,
which can last more than 30 years.

After centuries of being
blasted by storms,

a full-grown tree still survives with
only a strip of bark a few inches wide.

These trees live life
at such a slow pace

that they can reach great age.

Some are over 5, 000 years old.

It's been said of the bristlecones

that to live here is to take
a very long time to die.

As the northern spring approaches,

the warming temperatures and increased
day length release the land from winter.

Plants that have lain dormant
begin to grow again.

These have overwintered

buried in the mud
at the bottom of this frozen lake.

The retreating ice allows
the water to warm,

and this white water Lily to flourish
for another season.

And as all the trees come out
of their winter rest,

the vivid green of new Lea ves
returns to the land.

From the frozen north
to the southern deserts,

the spring bloom symbolises
the success of plants

in surviving against the odds.

But the most successful type
of flowering plant

is one that makes up 2096
of all plant life on the planet...

Grass.

There are 70, 000 different species.

Today, they form the diet of many
thousands of different animals.

And a few grasses
particularly rich in nutrients

have developed a relationship
with one animal,

and together the two
have changed the world.

Ten thousand years ago
we humans started to cultivate rice

in order to harvest
its food-rich seeds.

Now half of the world's population
depends on it.

But there is one other grass that has
spread even further across the planet

due to its relationship with humans,

wheat.

It underpinned the development
of western civilisation.

Today, it covers more of the land
than any other kind of plant.

Plants have been residents on land
longer than animals

and have had nearly
half a billion years to evolve.

During that time, the y've diversified
into countless forms

and have colonised every habitat.

As well as collaborating with animals,

plants are sometimes their masters,
exploiting them to their own advantage.

Plants capture energy from the sun,

and all life on land directly
or indirectly depends on them.

So ultimately, plants fuel
the diversity of life on earth.

Ati'en borough: To see the behaviour
of plants as they struggle to survive

presented a unique challenge.

The ”plants” team
had to employ many techniques,

including time-lapse
and high-speed photography.

They filmed in jungles,
deserts, swamps and plains.

But they also spent many hours shooting

in a converted barn
just outside exeter...

All under the watchful eye of
green-fingered cameraman Tim Shepherd.

Filming plants in time-lapse
takes so long,

and is so susceptible to changes
in light levels and weather conditions,

that some key sequences
had to be filmed in this studio.

In time-lapse, a camera
takes a series of pictures

over an extended period of time,

so when played back,
the action appears speeded up.

These sunflowers actually take
three days to open,

but are seen opening
in a matter of seconds.

The most complex time-lapse
the team attempted

showed an entire growing season in an
English woodland in one continuous shot,

a shot that took two years to create.

If you would come over here,

because I think
this is going to be the spot.

A'i'i'en borough:
As the producer, Neil Lucas,

leads Tim and Mick connaire,
the graphic designer,

out to the location,
he explains his idea.

Well, this is one that I thought...

- That's a lot of rock.
- Which is just here.

I think that'd be great to have
the brambles growing along.

A'i'i'en borough: It will be
a tracking shot through the wood

with plants growing, flowers blooming,

and the woodland coming to life
over the course of a year.

We're condensing that one year
down into less than a minute.

We're going to have to have them all
coming out at the same time,

and that's going to be multiple passes,
isn't it?

How long does a white foxglove
take to grow?

Well, if we start with the...
Just before the bud's about to open

and you've got the whole long spike,

from top to bottom
that's probably about three weeks.

So even if you wanted to, you couldn't
shoot the plants actually here

because, I mean, three weeks,

the weather's going to change,
you've got the day-night...

And alsojust leaving
the equipment here running, it's...

It's not feasible, is it?

You just have to imagine the changes
that would happen here in three weeks.

- Yeah.
- And if that was alljoined together

and one frame
the plant might be there

and you take a shot of it an hour later

and if the wind's blowing
it's over here somewhere

and then you join
those two shots together...

It just wouldn't work.

So what we've got to do is,
not only have we got to

produce a move that is exactly the same,
a repeatable move,

a track that can be built exactly
the same again in a studio...

Yeah.

Build exact models
of every object in here

so we can put plants
in the right places

and then time everything so they grow

just as the camera happens to be
pointing at them.

- Tim: Yes.
- Okay.

Ati'en borough: The scale
of the challenge is dawning on them.

Months of planning lie ahead.

The following spring,
the team head back to the wood.

With no road access,
manpower is the only way

to get the tonnes of equipment
into position.

Everyone's wondering how this will
turn out, including the locals.

Go up about an inch...

It's straight now.
We can start like that.

The position now is 221556.

I think you've done it wrong.

Woman: You want to do it here?
How are we going to get it done?

That's pulled it, hang on.
That's pulled it terribly.

- Did that snap?
- No.

It's pulled this wheel round.

Ati'en borough: Two days of
building, levelling, test runs

and even a few minor disasters,

and finally the track is ready to run.

Okay, that's... that's pretty close.

If you move your...
Can you see that little bit of lichen?

Go to 8,900.

A'i'i'e n Bo ro u g h:
A ccuracy is Paramount.

Yeah, I mean,
whatever we shoot in the studio,

it's got to match
this landscape exactly.

So unless we know precisely where
everything is relative to the camera,

there's no way of placing the plants
in the studio in the right place.

So we have to measure
the hell out of it.

Oh, bloody hell, it's spot on.
Look at that.

So, 250. Okay.

And I think we've done it wrong.

A'i'i'en borough: Shot by shot
and step by step,

the camera inches its way
back up the 30-metre track.

Well, that's working.

A'i'i'en borough: This is
only the background shot.

There is still a huge amount
of other filming to be done.

The track has to be rebuilt exactly as
it is on location back in the studio,

a task that will take weeks
to get right.

Right in front of the tree
at the end of the rock.

Ati'en borough: Using the detailed
measurements taken in the wood

the position, size and shape of every
structure has to be matched precisely.

Man: Three or four points...
Man 2: Thirty, 35...

Minus 35, yeah.

Ati'en Bo roug h: The slightest discrepancy
will put the team back to square one.

Chicken wire and polystyrene form
the rocks and trees of the woodland.

Blue screen is used to cover
every inch of the set

to allow the original shot to be
mapped on later in graphics.

Once built and with the plants placed
in their exact locations,

filming can start.

The stars of the show
finally make an appearance.

Timing is everything.

With each plant taking up to
three weeks to flower,

there's only one chance
of getting it right.

A year later and thankfully,
so far all had gone to plan.

The final stage is to bring
all the pieces together seamlessly,

a challenging task for
any graphic designer.

We've got things overlapping

that wouldn't necessarily grow
at the same time.

But all the growth of each individual
plant is absolutely accurate,

it's exactly what they would do, we've
just seen it in a shorter space of time.

Um, that big rock in the foreground
at the end of the shot

that we wanted to
try and get stuff climbing along,

well that's worked really, really well.

This is the bramble pass here,
we had to measure it so carefully

so we know exactly where
these things were,

how round they were,
how deep they were from the camera.

And then when
we take the blue out of that

you can see that the plants
start to sit into the shot

exactly where we wanted them to be,

thingsjust appearing
from behind the tree,

- crawl along the top of the rock.
- It's fantastic.

So here they go.
And if I switch those off,

you can see just how neatly
they slot into the shot.

If we play it you can see that

everything's sticking in pretty well.

Ati'en borough: Ninety-six layers,
75 tracks and two years later,

the shot is finally complete.

A 60—second shot that proved to be
one of the most complex ever attempted

in natural history filmmaking.