The Secret Life of Epiphytes — Mini Jungles in the Canopy скачать в хорошем качестве

The Secret Life of Epiphytes — Mini Jungles in the Canopy

Jungles within jungles. Miniature lakes in the treetops. The rainforest is a complex and multilayered place, with plants, fungi, animals, and more clinging to every possible surface, and these not only use their environment, but actually shape it, and become themselves a micro-habitat for other organisms to live in. Today we’ll look at two examples: bromeliads and epiphylls. Bromeliads are a picturesque family of plants, many of whom form pools of water between their leaves that house and help many animals in the rainforest. Epiphylls are tiny plants, algae, lichens, etc that grow on leaf surfaces. They look like they would be a problem for the plants they are growing on. And in some ways they are, stealing light, amongst other things. But there are also a few potential hidden advantages for the host plant. Image Credits: Ostracods and Copepods: Bromeliad Crustacean Study: Mercado-Salas NF, Khodami S, Martínez Arbizu P. Copepods and ostracods associated with bromeliads in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. PLoS One. 2021 Mar 18;16(3):e0248863. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248863. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Monkey Eating Bromeliad: Gómez-Escamilla, Ivonne & Baños, Bruno & Espejo-Serna, Adolfo & Ferrari, Ana. (2017). The use of epiphytic Bromeliads by Ateles geoffroyi Kuhl (Primates, Mammalia) in Chiapas, Mexico. 66. 26-33. Frog (Gastrotheca riobambae): Patomena, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Frog (Phyllodytes melanomystax): Amanda Santiago F. L. Silva, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Jamaican Bromeliad Crab (Metopaulias depressus): Richard C. Hoyer/Birdernaturalist Salamander (Bolitoglossa savagei): Dick Culbert, flickr.com, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Snake (Sibon nebulatus): Franz Xaver, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Share-Alike 3.0 Unported Spider (Cupiennius getazi): budowski, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Lizard on Flower: Terry Lucas, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Unported Bromeliads: with Dead Leaves Inside: Derek Keats, flickr.com, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 with Red Tips: Cultivar413, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic Covering Tree: Cultivar413, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic Epiphylls: Kevin Faccenda, iNaturalist, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 John Robert McPherson, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Share-Alike 4.0 International Scott Robinson, flickr.com, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 (x2) Fungus on Cow Dung: Александра11112000Гидромет, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Algae and Bacteria Under Microscope: SecretDisc, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Share-Alike 3.0 Unported Amoeba alba: Dalinda Bouraoui, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Share-Alike 3.0 Unported Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes sp.) rajah14, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Share-Alike 3.0 NepGrower Filmed Mainly Around the Following Locations: Mandor Gardens, near Machu Picchu, Peru Tamandua Biological Station, near Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica (and a little bit in Rarotonga, Cook Islands) Studies Referenced in Video: Richardson, B. A. (1999). The bromeliad microcosm and the assessment of faunal diversity in a neotropical forest1. Biotropica, 31(2), 321–336. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.1999.tb00144.x Armbruster, P., Hutchinson, R. A., & Cotgreave, P. (2002). Factors influencing community structure in a South American tank bromeliad fauna. Oikos (Copenhagen, Denmark), 96(2), 225–234. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2002.960204.x