ORDERLINESS IN THE LAWLESS FOREST

This fig grows at the MOE Dairy Farm Camp

Aerial roots embrace the host tree tightly



A shelter provider for flora and fauna

You can  rapel down the roots

 

My Roots,  My Home

















Nodules where the fruits used to hang from



  





Fig fruits

 





This strangling fig might encase
 me if I stay here longer

 






















A MURDERER IN THE FOREST?

I spent a whole afternoon and enjoyed a reflective walk at our famous Botanical Gardens. I was wearing my geographical lens and busy looking out for learning possibilities.  Taking the rain forest trail of the gardens, I let the forest immerse and talk to me.  My multi-sensory organs set out to work instantly. I stopped by for a breather and came face to face with this huge strangling fig which is suffocating a tree. In the forest, survival is vital and strategising the right moves is a basic instinct for the eco-system to maintain its balance.

This huge strangling fig encloses the tree tightly, encases it and finally will kill it one day.  Our mental model might conclude that in the lawless forest, the mighty rules over the weak. But wait, don't just write off the strangler fig as a murderer. It does contribute to the forest community like a big brother for it to keep on living.

These strangler figs are tall canopy trees which can grow to a majestic height of 150 feet. Their branches interlock one another, forming an umbrella-like function.  As a result, the wind  below the canopy is still. In order to pollinate, the other trees bear bright and colourful flowers to attract the pollinators as pollination and wind-seed dispersal are limited.

How then from its minuscule-sized seed does the fig reach the canopy stage? The story is not strange when you know that the lawless forest offers survival to one another. The rain forest floor is strewn with a thick layer of leaf-litter. It could hinder seeds dispersal by wind or animals from germinating and anchoring their first roots. There is little light but a lot of competition for water and nutrients from the other rich diversity of species.

Strangler figs have made a remarkable adaptation to avoid these shortcomings. Unlike most plants, strangler figs start out their lives as epiphytes in the crook of a tree or on its branches where old leaves and rain water collect. Epiphytes are not parasitic plants and they make their own food. Animals feed on the fig's fruits. The tiny, sticky seeds are deposited high in a tree by animal droppings. Since these seeds are not affected by the animal's digestive tract, they soon germinate with sufficient light and moisture.

The strangler fig gives no mercy to others and possesses an aggressive growth habit that insures its survival in the rain forest. The seedlings grows slowly at first, getting their nutrients from the sun, rain and leaf litter that has collected on the host. Most epiphytes like the bird nest ferns have similar characteristic on obtaining their own food too.  

The stranglers next send out many aerial roots that cascade or dangle down the trunk of the host tree from its branches. Once the roots hit the ground, they sink deeper and put on a growth spurt, competing with the host tree for water and nutrients. They also send out a network of roots that encircle the host tree and fuse together. At this stage the fig tree reminds me of a bird being caged with no way of escape to taste freedom again.  

The fig's roots grow thicker, squeezing the trunk of its host and severing off its flow of nutrients.  Its canopy grows wider, robbing the host tree of sunlight. The host dies off due to stiff competition for sunlight, nutrients and strangulation. What's left of the host  is just a hollow centre while the fig continues to maximise its gigantic growth with thicker roots. Its appearance like a shroud can give a ghostly appearance at dusk and twillight. 

Besides being a food and shelter provider, the flowers of the fig tree attract wasps.   These insects enter the cyconia of the flowers through an opening at the bottom of the fruit. The wasps get down to work by pollinating the flowers and laying their eggs in the ovaries of the flowers.  These ensures the continuity of seed production and supply of food for the rest of the animal kingdom. 

The weak do find dependence and protection from the strong ones in the natural forest setting. The beauty of such life-line is that some of these strong flora and fauna do not take advantage of the weaklings. Rather they tap the benefits from the relationship for each other's growth and survival. Balancing of the eco-system is important for the forest sustainability and continuity of the various life cycles as this would have an impact on us.

If the micro and macro organisms of the Tropical Forest can sustain their existence and survival in the wilderness, and be able to add value through a symbiotic relationship that benefits both parties, why can't we, homo sapiens?