Battle For The Light

AT THE EQUATOR dawn arrives with astonishing speed. In the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo, it’s the tops of giant dipterocarp trees which catch the first rays of intense sunlight. After 12 hours darkness the abrupt return of the light is greeted by the operatic displays of the gibbons; just part of a dawn chorus as varied and overpowering as any on the planet. Nurtured by equatorial heat and year-round rainfall, the forest stretches up to 80 metres tall. The huge canopy trees have straight pillar-like trunks and umbrella-shaped crowns, which influence all the lives below. Not only do these “selfish giants” catch much of the sunlight and monopolise the nutrients from the forest floor; their leaves produce poisons making them unpalatable. So their massive resources are locked away from most forest creatures. What’s more the gaps between their gigantic trunks create aerial canyons that must be crossed – in astounding ways.