This page is an extract of a script that is part of the video series
"The Living Landscape-an Australian Ecosystems Series".
Visit all ecosystems.

Did you know the Strangler Fig is one of the best known of all rainforest plants. It actually grows around another tree - and may eventually kill its host.

A FEMALE FIG-BIRD FEASTS ON RAINFOREST FIGS
A strangler fig starts to grow when a bird or possum dropping, containing the strangler fig seed, lodges somewhere high in the host tree. If nutrients, water and sunlight are present, the seed germinates and soon sends long, thin roots down the trunk of the host tree to the forest floor.

Once the roots reach the nutrient-rich leaf litter below, the strangler fig grows quickly. A network of roots envelops the host, and up in the canopy, the strangler fig begins to compete with the host tree for the precious light. In time, the strangler fig can grow to over 45 metres, and the host tree can be overwhelmed, and die.

LARGE UPRIGHT LEAVES OF THE 'BIRD-NEST' FERN
The bird's nest fern is another plant that attaches itself to a host, though, unlike the strangler fig, it doesn't present a threat to its host. The bird's nest fern is an epiphyte, a plant that grows on another plant, or a rockface, or even a solid enough vine, without taking nutrients from its host.

A 'BIRD-NEST' FERN CAN GROW ON A ROCK
The fern's roots follow the tiny cracks and irregularities in its host's surface, providing a support system. The bird's nest ferns shape has evolved to collect and store water and nutrients. It does look like a nest, or a basket, and leaves and other litter collect in its structure. As they break down the spongy interior retains the nutrients, as well as rainwater, and the plant is able to draw on these.
The animals of the rainforest can be divided into several groups: diurnal or nocturnal; ground or tree dwelling.

A MALE SCRUB TURKEY (no relation to the North American bird)
On ground level live larger birds like scrub turkeys, lyrebirds and cassowaries; mammals like dingos, wallabies and bandicoots; and some reptiles. In the canopy live insects, bees and butterflies feeding on the flowers, and birds like cockatoos and wompoo pigeons. There are also birds of prey, like wedge tailed eagles and owls.

The middle layer is a kind of interchange area. Animals and birds pass through on their way to the canopy, or in their search for food: green catbirds, thrushes, robins; possums and tree kangaroos.

A MALE SCRUB TURKEY WITH ITS MOUND
On the ground, scrub turkeys use the leaf litter of the rainforest in a special way. The male builds, and fiercely defends, a nesting mound - a huge pile of leaf litter, about four metres in diameter by one metre high. Inside the mound, fermentation of vegetable matter generates heat. The male can regulate the temperature of the mound by raking it with his claws, covering cool sections and opening up sections that are too hot. When the temperature is just right, the male allows the female to approach for mating, and to lay eggs in holes in the mound. The eggs have a 50-day incubation period, and the male continues to adjust the temperature of the mound in that time. But, despite the scrub turkey's efforts, many eggs are lost to predators. The carpet snake is one. It's a non-venomous, constricting snake that can grow as long as four metres. It coils around its prey, crushes it, and swallows it whole. It hunts lizards, birds, small mammals - and eggs.

A MALE SATIN BOWER-BIRD WITH ITS BOWER
Another rainforest bird that builds is the male satin bower bird. It constructs a bower, a platform of fine sticks and twigs with two walls that arch inwards and sometimes meet overhead. This is not a nest, but a display area. The bower bird decorates the walls of the bower with a mixture of vegetable juices or charcoal combined with the birds saliva.

BLUE DRINKING STRAWS AND OTHER BLUE OBJECTS ARE USED TO DECORATE THE 'BOWER'. THIS IS NOT A NEST.
Decorations are often added, usually blue in colour - feathers, flowers, berries, shells. If humans are about, the satin bower bird picks up their discarded items, too - blue bags, blue string and glass, packets and envelopes, even drinking straws. In spring, the male uses the decorated bower for spectacular dance displays.