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Jungle creatures and plant life
Though man is still destroying much of the world's jungles, those who try to preserve them are helped by the creatures that live in them. Their presence provides natural conservation.
Canopy beetles and forest floor pigs that eat seeds have a huge impact on the forest. By eating many of the seeds around a parent tree, they prevent the species from overgrowing.
Bats are extremely important. A single colony of insect-eating bats can consume a quarter of a million kilos of insects in one night. Hundreds of trees are pollinated by nectar-eating bats. Fruit bats are magnificent seed dispersers. They can visit six species of fruit trees and travel over 30 kilometres in one night.
Termites are vital ecosystem engineers, breaking up fallen leaves, branches and trees and conditioning the forest soil. On any one fallen trunk there can be a dozen different types working on their part of the demolition process.
Ants are everywhere - up, on, in and under trees. Leaf-cutter ants march foliage cuttings through the understorey to their nests, where they feed them to fungi. Megaponera ants patrol the floor in small teams, searching for termite mounds which they raid and pillage. Army ants and driver ants live in colonies of millions. Their strategy is to form an ant carpet and move through the forest in a swarm, grabbing anything that crosses their path.
In most jungles, the top predator is a big cat. South America has jaguars, Africa has leopards and in south-east Asia there are tigers and the rarely-sighted clouded leopard. The big cats feed mainly on larger ground herbivores, but some follow their prey into the trees. Ambush is their chief hunting method, not pursuit, so they tend to work alone and they do very well. Lions live on grass plains not in jungles.
Primates, including monkeys, apes, lemurs and some nocturnal animals like the bush babies, are supremely adapted to tree-dwelling. Binocular vision helps them judge distance, gripping hands and feet can grab branches and an intelligent brain deals with the challenges of their high-rise habitat. For most, the staple diet is fruit but others feast on leaves, insects, seeds, flowers and even the resin that drips from damaged trunks.
The jungle canopy is also home to an amazing array of canopy birds. Most spend their entire lives among the branches. They feed on the bounty of insects, fruit, flowers, seeds and small animals in the canopy. As well as feeding, they find homes there - nesting among the epiphytes or in holes in the trees.
20070223-junior--toys4you.jpgAnd here's the link!
We have this beautiful Royal Langnickel painting by numbers set for you to win, courtesy of the Model Shop. It has everything you need to create this colourful jungle scene.
Just tell us one country where you would find jungle conditions.
Send your answer, together with your name, age and address, to Junior News by March 2.
Canopy beetles and forest floor pigs that eat seeds have a huge impact on the forest. By eating many of the seeds around a parent tree, they prevent the species from overgrowing.
Bats are extremely important. A single colony of insect-eating bats can consume a quarter of a million kilos of insects in one night. Hundreds of trees are pollinated by nectar-eating bats. Fruit bats are magnificent seed dispersers. They can visit six species of fruit trees and travel over 30 kilometres in one night.
Termites are vital ecosystem engineers, breaking up fallen leaves, branches and trees and conditioning the forest soil. On any one fallen trunk there can be a dozen different types working on their part of the demolition process.
Ants are everywhere - up, on, in and under trees. Leaf-cutter ants march foliage cuttings through the understorey to their nests, where they feed them to fungi. Megaponera ants patrol the floor in small teams, searching for termite mounds which they raid and pillage. Army ants and driver ants live in colonies of millions. Their strategy is to form an ant carpet and move through the forest in a swarm, grabbing anything that crosses their path.
In most jungles, the top predator is a big cat. South America has jaguars, Africa has leopards and in south-east Asia there are tigers and the rarely-sighted clouded leopard. The big cats feed mainly on larger ground herbivores, but some follow their prey into the trees. Ambush is their chief hunting method, not pursuit, so they tend to work alone and they do very well. Lions live on grass plains not in jungles.
Primates, including monkeys, apes, lemurs and some nocturnal animals like the bush babies, are supremely adapted to tree-dwelling. Binocular vision helps them judge distance, gripping hands and feet can grab branches and an intelligent brain deals with the challenges of their high-rise habitat. For most, the staple diet is fruit but others feast on leaves, insects, seeds, flowers and even the resin that drips from damaged trunks.
The jungle canopy is also home to an amazing array of canopy birds. Most spend their entire lives among the branches. They feed on the bounty of insects, fruit, flowers, seeds and small animals in the canopy. As well as feeding, they find homes there - nesting among the epiphytes or in holes in the trees.
20070223-junior--toys4you.jpgAnd here's the link!
We have this beautiful Royal Langnickel painting by numbers set for you to win, courtesy of the Model Shop. It has everything you need to create this colourful jungle scene.
Just tell us one country where you would find jungle conditions.
Send your answer, together with your name, age and address, to Junior News by March 2.