Trees for Peace
Treetops - Aerial Ecosystem
Abercio V Rotor, PhD
Trees for Peace: Aerial Ecosystem on a Maze of Treetops - painting in acrylic (30" x 48") by Dr AV Rotor 2021. Courtesy of Congressman Deogracias Victor "DV" B Savellano, Deputy Speaker
and District Representative Ilocos Sur, 1st District
Flocks of birds make the treetops their abode, build nests at the interlacing branches, rearing their young until they are weaned and independent to fly. Many come back the next nesting season, with the generation born earlier - and with transients, specially those on their migratory route, make a rich biodiversity of feathered species.
Food, mate, comfortable home, among other elements and amenities of Nature like shelter from wind and rain, coolness of shade, elevated oxygen level, security from ground enemies, safety through anonymity by camouflage and mimicry, notwithstanding - these make the treetops a perfect place for many organisms to form an ecological system.
A hole in the sky like a tunnel speaks of spirituality, not in the religious sense but of interconnectedness of the ecosystem with a divine design and purpose, the primordial source of energy, the sun, and elements that contribute to homeostasis or dynamic balance, symbolized by white doves, emissary of peace and unity, and the aurora like fragments of rainbow.
The treetops have many eyes in the dark - nocturnal creatures on the move, fireflies mingling with the stars peeping through, phosphorescent fungi and protists, reflections of the surrounding world, or in one's imagination a fairy tale, a fantasy land, or simply a dream of a naturalist's world - and in the dark echo magical sounds of fiddling, croaking, calling, singing, and deep stillness in between.
The treetops demonstrate the workings of the four major components of an ecosystem - food chain, food web, food pyramid and organic-inorganic cycle - in a built-in pattern and interrelationship that insure the integrity of the ecosystem, and the perpetual cycle of living and non-living matters that makes the earth a living planet.
Food chains link predator-prey relationships like birds feeding on insects, so with reptiles and rodents, and on top of the ladder lords the hawk and eagle; while a food web constitutes interacting food chains, in the imaginary model of a spider web where all parts are interconnected, each organism playing a particular role.
Hierarchy on the treetops is further shown in a pyramid whereby organisms are classified according to "pecking order", in ascending dominance; the ones at the apex are superior, yet vulnerable to collapse if the pyramid loses stability at its base occupied by a host of organisms constituting various food chains and food webs.
Survival though is not in competition alone, in Darwinian law of survival of the fittest, but cooperation is equally important particularly where colonies and populations are involved, such as termites, ants and bees; or the symbiosis of red ants and aphids, alga and fungus forming lichen communities - these being a vital part of the treetops' ecosystem.
Symbiosis or mutualism is give-and-take relationship, but sharing may not be equitable such as orchids, ferns, and bryophytes clinging on trunks and branches, while its opposite, parasitism is exemplified by bark borers, caterpillars, scale insects, mealybugs, mistletoes, twig borers, and the classical balete that strangles and kills a whole tree, for which it is named strangler's fig.
The crown of this parasitic giant, balete becomes a part of the treetops, often rising as emergent, taller than the canopy layer and remaining evergreen throughout the year - even after its host tree has decayed leaving a continuous hollow described in Johann David Wyss' novel Swiss Family Robinson, which became as beautiful towering treehouse of the stranded family.
The treetops follow the seasons in the tropics, which are generally wet and dry, but also show semblance of the four seasons: autumn or fall at the onset of the cold wind or Siberian High called amihan, when deciduous trees shed their leaves, and spring at the onset of the rainy season when plants resume growth after the dry season, popularly known as summer.
When typhoon strikes the treetops serve as windbreak, save very strong winds which prune old and weak branches, thinning the crowns to regrow into fresh and thicker ones, inviting the return of the tenant-organisms and arrival of new ones, while the lifecycle of many is cut off temporarily - but soon regeneration puts back the integrity of the disturbed ecosystem.
Lianas and epiphytes add to the dense cover from trunk to treetops simulating that of a jungle: bromeliads, ferns and orchids add to the diversity and aesthetics of the scene, help create a miniclimate, and aerial gardens and ponds for midges, frogs, guppies, and help fertilize the trees and other plants with dead leaves and other materials they trap to become compost.
On the ground, litters of organic matter are built layer after layer, year after year where countless organisms live - earthworm, rodents,
herbivores like goats; termites convert wood into soil, so with fungi and Rhizobia; ground plants and shrubs though overshadowed, momentarily grow abundant during deciduous period, they indeed are part of the scenario of multi-storied vegetation similar to the rainforest, the richest biome. ~
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