1 00:00:12,779 --> 00:00:16,806 It appears out of the dawn of time... 2 00:00:32,098 --> 00:00:37,035 ...a creation of the sun, caldron of life. 3 00:00:42,675 --> 00:00:44,836 This is the tropical forest 4 00:00:45,078 --> 00:00:49,242 nature at her most extravagant. 5 00:00:56,356 --> 00:00:59,757 Sustained by the partnership of animal and plant, 6 00:00:59,926 --> 00:01:03,384 it has produced more than half the species on earth. 7 00:01:03,630 --> 00:01:09,967 It is a sea of green... seemingly spellbound... changeless. 8 00:01:11,004 --> 00:01:12,938 But look again. 9 00:01:15,775 --> 00:01:21,372 Behind the green curtain are countless battles for survival. 10 00:01:22,682 --> 00:01:28,314 Into this complex world has come a rare breed of adventurer. 11 00:01:31,157 --> 00:01:35,116 Scientific knowledge is the treasure they seek, 12 00:01:37,697 --> 00:01:42,327 and to find it, they're not afraid to go out on a limb. 13 00:02:23,476 --> 00:02:26,843 This is a place unlike any other in the world. 14 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,708 Panama's Barro Colorado Island, 15 00:02:29,949 --> 00:02:34,181 known as BCI to the scientists who journey here. 16 00:02:41,027 --> 00:02:44,224 A protected realm in the middle of the Panama Canal, 17 00:02:44,464 --> 00:02:49,834 BCI is home to the Smithsonian's Tropical Research Institute. 18 00:02:50,069 --> 00:02:52,936 Scientists come to this island from all over the globe 19 00:02:53,173 --> 00:02:57,303 to unravel the mysteries of life in the tropical forest. 20 00:02:58,511 --> 00:02:59,637 It is an adventure beyond 21 00:02:59,879 --> 00:03:04,816 the reach of one person, or one lifetime. 22 00:03:05,051 --> 00:03:11,786 BCI's a very special place for me just because the more I come here, 23 00:03:12,025 --> 00:03:14,118 the more familiar I get with the island. 24 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,386 It's just home, it's comfortable, it's exciting. 25 00:03:22,735 --> 00:03:25,932 I think Barro Colorado Island offers for me a lot of things 26 00:03:26,172 --> 00:03:28,003 that I would not find in any other place. 27 00:03:28,241 --> 00:03:30,175 It's a really highly diverse forest, 28 00:03:30,476 --> 00:03:32,376 the research facilities are just fantastic, 29 00:03:32,612 --> 00:03:34,136 you come there, you go out and do the work, 30 00:03:34,380 --> 00:03:35,677 and Barro Colorado Island is protected 31 00:03:35,915 --> 00:03:39,646 so that your work is not destroyed at all. 32 00:03:43,256 --> 00:03:45,087 I discover things. 33 00:03:45,325 --> 00:03:47,156 In the tropics you may be a person 34 00:03:47,393 --> 00:03:48,485 who's discovered something 35 00:03:48,728 --> 00:03:51,697 that not a single human being in the history 36 00:03:51,931 --> 00:03:55,526 of the world has bothered to notice. 37 00:04:02,809 --> 00:04:07,075 Here unfolds one of nature's great puzzles. 38 00:04:08,414 --> 00:04:11,178 How does the tropical forest manage to support 39 00:04:11,417 --> 00:04:17,617 such a remarkable community of life and sustain itself at the same time? 40 00:04:19,959 --> 00:04:24,055 One thing is certain, at the heart of it all are the trees 41 00:04:24,297 --> 00:04:27,232 A single tree, as it drives towards the light, 42 00:04:27,467 --> 00:04:30,925 affects the lives of countless creatures. 43 00:04:33,106 --> 00:04:36,166 But life is a struggle here for every creature 44 00:04:36,409 --> 00:04:37,967 and the odds that any one seed 45 00:04:38,211 --> 00:04:41,237 will grow into a Titan are astronomical. 46 00:04:41,481 --> 00:04:46,441 It takes luck and strategy to make it to the top. 47 00:04:50,923 --> 00:04:52,720 For people, getting to the top 48 00:04:52,959 --> 00:04:57,123 always requires some special precautions. 49 00:04:57,664 --> 00:05:00,497 Biologist Deedra McClearn has learned to seek 50 00:05:00,733 --> 00:05:04,430 the forest's answers on its own terms. 51 00:05:05,605 --> 00:05:09,302 Even if it means following her slingshot all the way up... 52 00:05:09,542 --> 00:05:13,410 ...into the crown of one of the forest's giants. 53 00:05:19,052 --> 00:05:23,113 This is a dipteryx, one of the great ones. 54 00:05:23,990 --> 00:05:27,551 It rises head and shoulders above the ocean of leaves around it, 55 00:05:27,794 --> 00:05:30,957 more than a hundred feet tall. 56 00:05:32,532 --> 00:05:33,794 From its majestic flowers will come fruit, 57 00:05:34,033 --> 00:05:36,365 and from the fruit, perhaps an offspring 58 00:05:36,602 --> 00:05:39,332 that will survive to take the place 59 00:05:39,572 --> 00:05:44,509 of its parent among a procession of giants. 60 00:05:46,412 --> 00:05:50,872 Climbing has taught Deedra to respect trees as individuals. 61 00:05:51,117 --> 00:05:53,278 Since I've started climbing I like dipteryx, 62 00:05:53,519 --> 00:05:57,114 because it's a beautiful tree, it's emergent, 63 00:05:57,357 --> 00:05:59,689 it comes above all the rest of the trees, 64 00:05:59,926 --> 00:06:01,450 they often have great views, 65 00:06:01,694 --> 00:06:04,322 and the wood is really hard and solid. 66 00:06:04,564 --> 00:06:06,794 I feel safe climbing a dipteryx, 67 00:06:07,033 --> 00:06:10,366 chain saws won't cut down a dipteryx. 68 00:06:16,209 --> 00:06:17,676 I have a lot of different emotions 69 00:06:17,910 --> 00:06:20,378 associated with actually climbing a tree. 70 00:06:20,613 --> 00:06:22,672 One of them is familiarity. 71 00:06:22,915 --> 00:06:25,110 If it's a tree that I've climbed before, 72 00:06:25,351 --> 00:06:26,375 I feel comfortable, 73 00:06:26,619 --> 00:06:31,386 it's a very satisfying sort of feeling to make a good assent. 74 00:06:31,624 --> 00:06:32,283 If it's a tree that 75 00:06:32,525 --> 00:06:35,085 I haven't climbed before or it's given me troubles, 76 00:06:35,328 --> 00:06:36,886 or I'm worried about a branch, 77 00:06:37,130 --> 00:06:40,293 then it can be very nerve-racking. 78 00:06:42,268 --> 00:06:45,465 Deedra climbs into the canopy to release a coati 79 00:06:45,705 --> 00:06:48,572 a tropical cousin of the raccoon. 80 00:06:48,975 --> 00:06:50,067 I know you. 81 00:06:50,410 --> 00:06:53,538 She captures coatis just to let them go. 82 00:06:55,848 --> 00:07:04,256 I have caught you 15 times and you always thrash around. 83 00:07:04,490 --> 00:07:06,355 Just wait a second. 84 00:07:08,594 --> 00:07:10,186 She's curious how an animal 85 00:07:11,097 --> 00:07:16,160 who isn't a born climber manages to survive ten stories up. 86 00:07:16,402 --> 00:07:18,563 I think coatis are really interesting 87 00:07:18,805 --> 00:07:23,367 as climbing mammals because they're not perfect. 88 00:07:23,609 --> 00:07:26,373 They're kind of clumsy, they're not graceful leapers, 89 00:07:26,612 --> 00:07:28,307 they can't hang by their tail, 90 00:07:28,548 --> 00:07:32,814 they don't have exclusively manipulative hands 91 00:07:33,052 --> 00:07:34,781 to grasp onto branches, 92 00:07:35,021 --> 00:07:37,489 but they do really well. 93 00:07:38,658 --> 00:07:41,422 One of the things that really surprised me was that 94 00:07:41,661 --> 00:07:46,428 they actually will jump quite a far distance going down. 95 00:07:48,401 --> 00:07:51,564 It'll launch itself into a tree 96 00:07:51,804 --> 00:07:54,204 and it doesn't really know where it's going to grab on, 97 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:56,271 it just, I think, assumes that 98 00:07:56,509 --> 00:07:59,740 it'll be able to find something when it hits that... 99 00:08:02,114 --> 00:08:04,674 The coati has a lot of company up here... 100 00:08:04,917 --> 00:08:06,885 ...with good reason. 101 00:08:07,253 --> 00:08:10,017 The canopy is the forest's powerhouse. 102 00:08:10,256 --> 00:08:11,723 This is where leaves transform 103 00:08:11,958 --> 00:08:15,223 light into the stuff of life itself. 104 00:08:15,461 --> 00:08:17,258 The canopy creates its own world, 105 00:08:17,497 --> 00:08:20,955 with lands and waters, prey and predators. 106 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,294 It overflows with flowers, greenery, and fruit 107 00:08:24,537 --> 00:08:28,337 food for all who can live at these heights. 108 00:08:29,509 --> 00:08:31,374 Earthbound for years, scientists could 109 00:08:31,611 --> 00:08:35,513 only guess what went on up here - until now. 110 00:08:35,748 --> 00:08:38,546 The canopy is the last frontier on earth 111 00:08:38,784 --> 00:08:41,617 and it's only been the last 10 or 15 years 112 00:08:41,854 --> 00:08:43,845 that people have really gotten up into the trees 113 00:08:44,090 --> 00:08:47,821 and started looking at the insects and looking at the leaves, 114 00:08:48,060 --> 00:08:49,652 and actually there still hasn't 115 00:08:49,896 --> 00:08:51,523 been that much mammal work up in the canopy, 116 00:08:51,764 --> 00:08:53,197 but it's a different life zone. 117 00:08:53,432 --> 00:08:55,059 It's like going to the bottom of the ocean. 118 00:08:55,301 --> 00:08:57,462 You can't tell what's up here 119 00:08:57,703 --> 00:09:01,400 from working on the ground and it's different. 120 00:09:02,575 --> 00:09:05,442 Bold researchers like Deedra are proving how different 121 00:09:05,678 --> 00:09:09,944 the tropical forest is from our preconceptions of the jungle. 122 00:09:10,182 --> 00:09:13,913 For one thing, it is not always steamy and wet 123 00:09:16,088 --> 00:09:21,287 Like many tropical forests, BCI has a long dry season. 124 00:09:21,527 --> 00:09:24,496 Food is now becoming scarce. 125 00:09:24,730 --> 00:09:27,563 Even coatis, who will eat just about anything 126 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,860 are hard pressed to fill their bellies. 127 00:09:37,977 --> 00:09:41,310 They gather under the majestic dipteryx, waiting. 128 00:09:41,547 --> 00:09:45,313 Now, when they need it most, the tree will bear its fruit. 129 00:09:45,551 --> 00:09:50,454 For dipteryx this is the beginning of the long struggle to reproduce. 130 00:09:55,595 --> 00:09:58,120 Howler monkeys gather in its crown. 131 00:09:58,364 --> 00:10:02,596 Here is a banquet that will stave off hunger for many. 132 00:10:03,469 --> 00:10:07,530 The timing is crucial. By fruiting during the dry season, 133 00:10:07,773 --> 00:10:12,472 the dipteryx guarantees that many will gather for the feast. 134 00:10:13,613 --> 00:10:16,446 Oddly enough, the tree wants its fruit to be eaten 135 00:10:16,682 --> 00:10:18,274 even though each fruit contains a seed 136 00:10:18,517 --> 00:10:21,350 that could bring forth the next generation. 137 00:10:21,587 --> 00:10:24,112 But why? 138 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:30,586 All these capuchin monkeys know is that food is nearly at hand. 139 00:10:30,830 --> 00:10:32,161 And if enough of them arrive, 140 00:10:32,398 --> 00:10:36,300 they could drive the howlers from this nutritious meal. 141 00:10:41,107 --> 00:10:42,802 What scientists have discovered 142 00:10:43,042 --> 00:10:45,977 is the fruit is actually an expensive bribe. 143 00:10:46,212 --> 00:10:47,179 If animals take it, 144 00:10:47,413 --> 00:10:51,509 they may carry the seed locked inside far from the parent tree. 145 00:10:51,751 --> 00:10:56,779 The further away the seed gets, the better its chance of surviving. 146 00:10:59,025 --> 00:11:01,016 With ripening fruit all around them, 147 00:11:01,260 --> 00:11:05,594 the canopy animals can now afford to be finicky eaters. 148 00:11:14,573 --> 00:11:16,473 Once they've had the ripest bit, 149 00:11:16,709 --> 00:11:20,008 they simply drop the fruit and move on to the next. 150 00:11:25,584 --> 00:11:27,779 But this rain of half-eaten fruit 151 00:11:28,020 --> 00:11:31,888 is of no help to the tree in its quest to reproduce. 152 00:11:32,758 --> 00:11:35,556 Its seedlings have little luck of thriving here 153 00:11:35,795 --> 00:11:38,229 in the shadow of the parent's crown. 154 00:11:38,464 --> 00:11:43,026 Still for the animals waiting below, it's manna from heaven. 155 00:12:00,352 --> 00:12:05,517 The coatis eat only the sweet flesh, they leave the seed intact. 156 00:12:08,461 --> 00:12:11,726 But others are waiting in the wings. 157 00:12:15,101 --> 00:12:17,626 Once the coatis have relieved their hunger, 158 00:12:17,870 --> 00:12:21,237 agoutis gingerly join the feast. 159 00:12:27,446 --> 00:12:29,607 Agoutis are rodents; they have teeth 160 00:12:29,849 --> 00:12:31,282 and jaws designed to gnaw right 161 00:12:31,517 --> 00:12:35,214 through the tough shell and devour the seed within. 162 00:12:36,055 --> 00:12:39,718 Squirrels, too, relish the giant seeds. 163 00:12:44,930 --> 00:12:47,956 Instead of creating new dipteryx trees, 164 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:52,000 the seeds simply feed a host of hungry visitors... 165 00:12:52,938 --> 00:12:54,462 ...even peccaries. 166 00:13:20,733 --> 00:13:26,638 Satiated, the coatis settle into some mutual grooming. 167 00:13:48,327 --> 00:13:50,192 In evening's golden light, 168 00:13:50,429 --> 00:13:55,958 butterflies and ants gorge upon the remains of the feast. 169 00:13:59,004 --> 00:14:01,438 It's been a good day for all the animals, 170 00:14:01,674 --> 00:14:04,837 but bad for the lordly dipteryx. 171 00:14:05,945 --> 00:14:09,210 Its potential offspring lie where they would have fallen away; 172 00:14:09,448 --> 00:14:12,542 nothing has carried them away. 173 00:14:20,593 --> 00:14:23,562 Has the tree's survival strategy failed? 174 00:14:23,796 --> 00:14:27,254 Is the next generation lost? 175 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:32,066 Is there no help under the sun for the dipteryx? 176 00:14:48,287 --> 00:14:54,226 Perhaps the moon can shed some light on the mystery of the dipteryx. 177 00:14:55,527 --> 00:14:57,927 Tropical nights weave their own magic 178 00:14:58,163 --> 00:15:02,224 and unveil a whole new cast of characters. 179 00:15:06,739 --> 00:15:11,403 Everywhere, there are bats, conjured out of the dark. 180 00:15:13,612 --> 00:15:18,106 Among the branches hunts a marsupial, a marmosa. 181 00:15:18,350 --> 00:15:22,650 Its prey is pint-size, like itself... 182 00:15:23,022 --> 00:15:28,153 ...a katydid camouflaged unsuccessfully as a leaf. 183 00:15:28,627 --> 00:15:30,561 Even while enjoying its meal, 184 00:15:30,796 --> 00:15:33,594 the marmosa must be wary... 185 00:15:34,700 --> 00:15:39,364 if it doesn't want to end up as dinner itself. 186 00:15:43,509 --> 00:15:47,468 Dipteryx seeds make a nutritious meal for a spiny rat, 187 00:15:47,713 --> 00:15:51,308 and a dangerous one as well. 188 00:15:54,753 --> 00:15:57,017 Gnawing on the tough seed makes enough noise 189 00:15:57,256 --> 00:16:02,057 to attract the unwelcome eye of a passing margay. 190 00:16:23,048 --> 00:16:25,812 The tiny forest cat enjoys its meal, 191 00:16:26,051 --> 00:16:30,920 until disturbed by yet another denizen of the dark. 192 00:16:33,625 --> 00:16:38,324 Only at night does Elizabeth Kalko venture out on her own quest. 193 00:16:38,564 --> 00:16:39,724 The Barro Colorado Island 194 00:16:39,965 --> 00:16:44,902 she knows is very different from the one most people see. 195 00:16:46,271 --> 00:16:48,967 The night is a totally different world from the daytime. 196 00:16:49,208 --> 00:16:52,541 We are just exposed to a wonderful orchestra of different sounds, 197 00:16:52,778 --> 00:16:54,609 of many insects and frogs, 198 00:16:54,847 --> 00:16:56,940 then you see the stars through the canopy 199 00:16:57,182 --> 00:17:00,174 and this is just an incredible atmosphere. 200 00:17:00,419 --> 00:17:02,387 And occasionally there are bats fluttering by 201 00:17:02,621 --> 00:17:05,317 and even touching you with their wings. 202 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:10,993 The night holds no fear for Elizabeth. 203 00:17:11,230 --> 00:17:14,825 She is in her element, and bats are her passion. 204 00:17:15,067 --> 00:17:19,663 She hangs nets of fine mesh over small streams, fishing for bats. 205 00:17:19,905 --> 00:17:22,897 She believes bats are the unsung heroes of the night, 206 00:17:23,142 --> 00:17:25,133 vital to the survival of dipteryx, 207 00:17:25,377 --> 00:17:27,937 and many other tropical giants. 208 00:17:29,014 --> 00:17:31,448 That's a short-tailed fruit bat, 209 00:17:31,683 --> 00:17:34,311 and although they are relatively easy to get out of these nests, 210 00:17:34,553 --> 00:17:36,783 one has to be very careful about their sharp teeth. 211 00:17:37,022 --> 00:17:41,254 Bats rely on forest trees for food and shelter, 212 00:17:41,927 --> 00:17:46,489 but they'll repay their hosts as they make their nightly rounds. 213 00:17:48,167 --> 00:17:59,704 Legs are free, whoops, don't bite me, be nice, all right. 214 00:18:02,648 --> 00:18:04,843 I don't think that bats are really ugly, 215 00:18:05,084 --> 00:18:06,312 I think that the misconception 216 00:18:06,552 --> 00:18:07,712 that bats are ugly comes from 217 00:18:07,953 --> 00:18:10,251 our very limited knowledge about bats. 218 00:18:10,489 --> 00:18:12,218 Most of the bats have very, very, very pretty faces 219 00:18:12,458 --> 00:18:15,518 and especially here we find bats with beautiful facial stripes, 220 00:18:15,761 --> 00:18:16,785 and colored ears, 221 00:18:17,029 --> 00:18:21,090 and they actually have large eyes and don't look ugly at all. 222 00:18:22,734 --> 00:18:26,465 But a bat is much more than just a pretty face. 223 00:18:26,705 --> 00:18:29,196 Sometimes when I set mesh nets and bats fly in, 224 00:18:29,441 --> 00:18:32,376 they bring a fruit with them and drop them in the mesh net 225 00:18:32,611 --> 00:18:37,548 and so I can tell what kind of bat has taken what kind of fruit. 226 00:18:38,350 --> 00:18:40,841 I know what this bat had for dinner. 227 00:18:41,086 --> 00:18:43,281 Let's get it out of the mesh net here. 228 00:18:43,522 --> 00:18:47,356 This is a fruit of the dipteryx. 229 00:18:47,659 --> 00:18:49,217 And the bat has carried the fruit 230 00:18:49,461 --> 00:18:52,157 in its mouth when it was hit into this net. 231 00:18:56,235 --> 00:18:59,466 It turns out that the fate of our majestic dipteryx 232 00:18:59,705 --> 00:19:03,664 rests upon the soft wings of a little bat. 233 00:19:11,683 --> 00:19:14,049 Drawn by the scent of ripe fruit, 234 00:19:14,286 --> 00:19:17,949 artibeus bats hover over the tree's canopy. 235 00:19:19,291 --> 00:19:23,625 Yet death lies in wait among these boughs. 236 00:19:27,566 --> 00:19:30,501 Luckily the bat's ability to "see" in the dark 237 00:19:30,969 --> 00:19:33,870 using sound not only pinpoints the fruit, 238 00:19:34,106 --> 00:19:37,542 it warns it of the hidden boa. 239 00:19:41,346 --> 00:19:44,315 Another bat flies, locates fruit, carries fruit away 240 00:19:44,550 --> 00:19:47,178 it tears it off the stem and carries it away. 241 00:19:47,419 --> 00:19:51,287 Still it's far too dangerous to eat it here. 242 00:19:59,831 --> 00:20:01,992 Only when it arrives at a safe roost, 243 00:20:02,234 --> 00:20:04,725 usually tucked under the fronds of a palm tree, 244 00:20:04,970 --> 00:20:07,234 does it stop to eat. 245 00:20:07,472 --> 00:20:08,029 Unknowingly, 246 00:20:08,273 --> 00:20:13,301 it has already performed a great service for our dipteryx. 247 00:20:15,714 --> 00:20:18,911 The bat has carried the fruit away from the dipteryx, 248 00:20:19,151 --> 00:20:20,846 beyond the reach of any diseases 249 00:20:21,086 --> 00:20:24,647 or parasites that may plague the parent tree. 250 00:20:29,094 --> 00:20:31,585 Once the bat gnaws off the sweet flesh, 251 00:20:31,830 --> 00:20:34,731 it lets the seed drop. 252 00:20:37,636 --> 00:20:39,695 Every night when the fruit is ripe, 253 00:20:39,938 --> 00:20:44,841 artibeus bats make several visits to our tree. 254 00:20:49,514 --> 00:20:51,414 And each time they return to the safety 255 00:20:51,650 --> 00:20:56,349 of the same feeding roost to enjoy their meal. 256 00:21:00,659 --> 00:21:01,819 After each trip, 257 00:21:02,060 --> 00:21:07,191 another dipteryx seed joins the little mound forming just below. 258 00:21:14,806 --> 00:21:16,103 Curiously enough, 259 00:21:16,341 --> 00:21:22,439 in this heap of discards lies the tree's best hope for a successor. 260 00:21:28,387 --> 00:21:31,982 Morning's light has scarcely revealed the half-eaten fruit, 261 00:21:32,224 --> 00:21:34,351 when they are discovered by an agouti. 262 00:21:34,593 --> 00:21:39,189 Have the precious seeds come this far, only to be wasted? 263 00:21:39,998 --> 00:21:43,365 But the agouti can't possibly eat all that it has found. 264 00:21:43,669 --> 00:21:46,797 And what it does next adds another piece to the puzzle 265 00:21:47,039 --> 00:21:50,475 of how dipteryx manages to survive. 266 00:21:55,714 --> 00:21:57,545 With the dry season continuing, 267 00:21:57,783 --> 00:22:01,651 the agouti stashes the remaining seeds for the hard times to come. 268 00:22:01,887 --> 00:22:03,718 Much like a squirrel buries a nut, 269 00:22:03,955 --> 00:22:07,049 it carefully hides them, one by one. 270 00:22:07,292 --> 00:22:11,729 Yet there will always be some it doesn't need or simply forgets. 271 00:22:20,972 --> 00:22:21,836 Unwittingly, 272 00:22:22,074 --> 00:22:29,810 the agouti has now planted the next generation of a tropical giant. 273 00:22:36,188 --> 00:22:38,850 As the dry season on the island gets worse, 274 00:22:39,091 --> 00:22:40,718 many canopy trees actually 275 00:22:40,959 --> 00:22:45,123 shed their leaves in a tropical version of autumn. 276 00:22:49,668 --> 00:22:53,035 For months, streams have been draining water away. 277 00:22:53,271 --> 00:22:58,470 And torrid heat continues to rob the forest of precious moisture. 278 00:23:06,818 --> 00:23:12,051 The remaining water collects in ever shrinking pools. 279 00:23:17,529 --> 00:23:20,225 More and more trees drop their leaves; 280 00:23:20,465 --> 00:23:21,898 it's a way to conserve water 281 00:23:22,134 --> 00:23:26,002 and cut their losses as the drought deepens. 282 00:23:30,075 --> 00:23:31,633 As always in the forest, 283 00:23:31,877 --> 00:23:33,435 there's an animal that's found a way 284 00:23:33,678 --> 00:23:35,771 to take advantage of every situation. 285 00:23:36,014 --> 00:23:42,180 It hides among the fallen leaves disappearing in plain sight. 286 00:23:48,627 --> 00:23:52,723 A caterpillar masquerading as a dead leaf. 287 00:23:57,169 --> 00:23:59,967 But there's no hiding from the army ants. 288 00:24:00,205 --> 00:24:03,072 Since many small creatures disappear in the dry season, 289 00:24:03,308 --> 00:24:07,210 army ants are forced to tackle prey many times their own size. 290 00:24:07,446 --> 00:24:11,439 They overwhelm them by sheer force of numbers. 291 00:24:18,089 --> 00:24:21,388 Treehoppers suck the remaining sap out of plants. 292 00:24:21,626 --> 00:24:23,526 But they're also under attack. 293 00:24:23,762 --> 00:24:26,162 A mother defends her brood from a wasp trying 294 00:24:26,398 --> 00:24:29,663 to steal one of her larvae for food. 295 00:24:38,410 --> 00:24:40,503 Each time the larvae wave their legs 296 00:24:40,745 --> 00:24:41,973 calling out an alarm, 297 00:24:42,214 --> 00:24:45,809 the mother treehopper strikes back at the wasp. 298 00:24:52,791 --> 00:24:57,558 By April, the dry season has turned cruel. 299 00:24:59,598 --> 00:25:03,364 Famine is only just kept at bay. 300 00:25:05,036 --> 00:25:09,769 The buds from the balsa tree are eaten before they can ever bloom. 301 00:25:10,909 --> 00:25:14,174 The whole forest seems to hold its breath... 302 00:25:14,412 --> 00:25:17,074 ...waiting for the rains. 303 00:26:07,599 --> 00:26:11,365 Over eight feet of rain may fall during the wet season. 304 00:26:11,603 --> 00:26:17,803 The first good drenching triggers an avalanche of change. 305 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:33,885 This wet new world is paradise for creatures... water loving... 306 00:26:34,125 --> 00:26:37,424 ...and waterlogged. 307 00:26:40,565 --> 00:26:44,968 Stan Rand, renowned frog man, is used to working in a deluge, 308 00:26:45,203 --> 00:26:47,171 but it does have its drawbacks. 309 00:26:47,405 --> 00:26:49,202 When you wear glasses such as I do, 310 00:26:49,441 --> 00:26:51,966 you don't see properly because your glasses 311 00:26:52,844 --> 00:26:55,677 get all wet from the rain on them 312 00:26:55,914 --> 00:26:59,008 and then they get all steamed up inside and you can't see anything. 313 00:26:59,651 --> 00:27:04,782 Luckily, sight is not the primary sense Stan uses in his work. 314 00:27:06,424 --> 00:27:09,757 To truly enter the frog's world, he must wait until dark 315 00:27:09,995 --> 00:27:13,328 and find his way through a landscape of sound. 316 00:27:14,299 --> 00:27:18,929 What you hear are the voices of all these frogs 317 00:27:19,170 --> 00:27:20,660 and on a good night there can be 318 00:27:20,905 --> 00:27:25,274 14, 15, 17, different kinds of frogs 319 00:27:25,510 --> 00:27:27,171 all calling at the same time, 320 00:27:27,412 --> 00:27:30,313 all audible from the same place. 321 00:27:32,851 --> 00:27:36,514 Only the males call, each in search of a mate. 322 00:27:36,755 --> 00:27:37,779 To be heard and recognized 323 00:27:38,023 --> 00:27:40,992 above all this amorous bedlam is a challenge, 324 00:27:41,226 --> 00:27:44,354 challenging, too, for Stan and his students. 325 00:28:43,288 --> 00:28:47,884 This is a young male pentadactylus like all frogs they eat live food, 326 00:28:48,126 --> 00:28:51,653 frogs and mice and insects and probably small birds, 327 00:28:51,896 --> 00:28:54,091 in fact, I know they eat small birds. 328 00:28:54,332 --> 00:29:00,396 And he's got a dorsal secretion that is really quite nasty. 329 00:29:01,506 --> 00:29:05,533 He got me. One of their defenses is this skin secretion... 330 00:29:05,777 --> 00:29:06,675 Group walks away 331 00:29:06,911 --> 00:29:11,314 For 30 years, Stan has lived in Panama not far from BCI. 332 00:29:11,549 --> 00:29:16,213 He's become totally attuned to the ups and down of a frog's life. 333 00:29:17,122 --> 00:29:21,786 He even understands why frogs use different calls at different times. 334 00:29:22,494 --> 00:29:24,462 There's a physalaemus male. 335 00:29:24,696 --> 00:29:26,357 You can tell he's calling by himself 336 00:29:26,598 --> 00:29:34,164 because he's just giving a simple whine call... oow, oow. 337 00:29:34,405 --> 00:29:37,238 If another male came in and began to call, 338 00:29:37,475 --> 00:29:40,535 he'd change his call adding chucks to his call, 339 00:29:40,779 --> 00:29:45,546 so he'd go, oow-chuck, oow-chuck- chuck. 340 00:29:45,884 --> 00:29:53,916 I can sometimes get him to answer me as if I were another male... 341 00:30:00,565 --> 00:30:01,190 See? 342 00:30:01,432 --> 00:30:03,696 He went from going oow to oow-chuck, 343 00:30:03,935 --> 00:30:11,364 oow-chuck, and now that I've stopped talking to him, 344 00:30:11,609 --> 00:30:15,545 he's going back to the simple whines. 345 00:30:22,654 --> 00:30:23,245 More frogs 346 00:30:23,488 --> 00:30:26,753 Male frogs make the added "chuck" sound to attract females. 347 00:30:26,991 --> 00:30:28,549 The females can tell from the pitch 348 00:30:28,793 --> 00:30:32,160 which male is the biggest and strongest. 349 00:30:34,399 --> 00:30:38,233 But male frogs have to think twice about sounding off. 350 00:30:38,469 --> 00:30:40,027 Because females aren't the only ones 351 00:30:40,271 --> 00:30:42,671 out there listening to the chucks; 352 00:30:42,907 --> 00:30:44,875 predators are too. 353 00:30:45,510 --> 00:30:50,948 So any male frog that wants to mate must gamble with his life. 354 00:31:08,433 --> 00:31:15,339 And with other, bigger frogs nearby a call can be a fatal attraction. 355 00:31:25,216 --> 00:31:27,878 But for those who survive long enough to mate, 356 00:31:28,119 --> 00:31:31,555 it's a gamble well worth taking. 357 00:31:32,457 --> 00:31:35,949 The male locks onto the female in a mating embrace. 358 00:31:36,194 --> 00:31:37,752 As he fertilizes the eggs, 359 00:31:37,996 --> 00:31:39,759 he whips the fluid released with the eggs 360 00:31:39,998 --> 00:31:43,331 into a meringue-like nest of bubbles. 361 00:31:54,078 --> 00:31:57,070 These tiny frogs mate in very shallow pools 362 00:31:57,315 --> 00:31:59,840 at the foot of dipteryx and other trees. 363 00:32:00,018 --> 00:32:03,283 The bubbles help keep the eggs moist and full of oxygen 364 00:32:03,521 --> 00:32:06,251 and beyond the reach of aquatic predators. 365 00:32:06,491 --> 00:32:07,924 Sometimes several pairs will 366 00:32:08,159 --> 00:32:12,653 cooperate in creating a frothy nursery for their young. 367 00:32:18,536 --> 00:32:22,973 Red-eyed tree frogs protect their brood differently. 368 00:32:23,207 --> 00:32:24,868 They live high in the canopy, 369 00:32:25,109 --> 00:32:30,240 more at home on dipteryx's spreading branches than in a pond. 370 00:32:32,183 --> 00:32:35,175 They come down only when it's time to mate. 371 00:32:35,420 --> 00:32:39,186 Then they must get their young close to water. 372 00:32:54,872 --> 00:32:58,000 The males descend to the lower eaves of the tree, 373 00:32:58,242 --> 00:33:01,678 where they call to the larger females. 374 00:33:13,257 --> 00:33:17,159 After mounting the female, the male hangs on tight. 375 00:33:17,395 --> 00:33:21,456 She's off on a search for just the right place to lay her eggs 376 00:33:21,699 --> 00:33:25,795 a leaf overhanging a small forest pool. 377 00:33:26,170 --> 00:33:27,797 Location is critical if it's too low, 378 00:33:28,039 --> 00:33:32,772 her brood could be washed away by the next storm. 379 00:33:37,315 --> 00:33:41,809 Sometimes the eggs are laid as high as 30 feet up. 380 00:33:57,835 --> 00:34:00,963 The eggs are encased in a jelly-like mass 381 00:34:01,205 --> 00:34:05,835 a gooey aquarium in which they'll develop into tiny tadpoles. 382 00:34:06,077 --> 00:34:10,241 Only then will they drop into the pool below. 383 00:34:18,022 --> 00:34:21,583 The young frogs rush to develop. 384 00:34:21,826 --> 00:34:24,386 And none too soon. 385 00:34:26,597 --> 00:34:31,591 A vine snake... three feet of elegant death. 386 00:34:35,039 --> 00:34:39,476 In just four days the eggs have become recognizable tadpoles, 387 00:34:39,710 --> 00:34:43,578 but they're not ready to take the plunge yet. 388 00:34:45,183 --> 00:34:49,552 Even so, they may not have the luxury of waiting. 389 00:34:53,257 --> 00:34:55,953 At this stage, the tadpoles can hatch. 390 00:34:56,194 --> 00:34:59,357 But in just a few more days their tails will be much longer, 391 00:34:59,597 --> 00:35:02,828 allowing them to swim better. 392 00:35:05,536 --> 00:35:09,199 And once they're in the pond, they'll need to be good swimmers. 393 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:14,377 Fish will find the premature tadpoles easy pickings. 394 00:35:24,088 --> 00:35:27,922 It's a deadly dilemma risk the snake's bite... 395 00:35:28,159 --> 00:35:31,595 or leap into the waiting mouths of the fish below. 396 00:36:21,078 --> 00:36:22,841 As if the fish weren't enough, 397 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:26,982 the tadpoles must contend with this monster in miniature. 398 00:36:27,218 --> 00:36:30,119 A dragonfly nymph, a youngster itself, 399 00:36:30,354 --> 00:36:33,949 is one of the fiercest creatures in this realm. 400 00:36:45,870 --> 00:36:47,269 But there will always be some 401 00:36:47,505 --> 00:36:53,466 who sidestep instant death and live to return to the trees. 402 00:37:01,052 --> 00:37:03,646 Despite all appearances to the contrary, 403 00:37:03,888 --> 00:37:06,584 even the dragonfly nymph will be transformed someday soon 404 00:37:06,824 --> 00:37:10,954 and take to the tropical air. 405 00:37:21,872 --> 00:37:28,334 Waking to a misty morning is an island wrapped in enchantment. 406 00:37:30,414 --> 00:37:32,848 The rains have cast their spell. 407 00:37:33,084 --> 00:37:37,783 And in the soil, the seeds of our dipteryx await a rebirth. 408 00:37:40,591 --> 00:37:46,086 But before that can happen, the forest must change once more. 409 00:37:59,076 --> 00:38:03,206 A carpet of forest litter, preserved in the dry air 410 00:38:03,447 --> 00:38:06,746 now moisture melts it away. 411 00:38:06,984 --> 00:38:07,780 In just a few days, 412 00:38:08,019 --> 00:38:09,179 the nutrients locked away 413 00:38:09,420 --> 00:38:13,288 in the dead leaves will be restored to the living. 414 00:38:23,668 --> 00:38:28,833 Fungi and molds course over the withered remains. 415 00:38:46,724 --> 00:38:48,214 Fungi are the middlemen, 416 00:38:48,459 --> 00:38:49,983 mining the bodies of the dead 417 00:38:50,227 --> 00:38:52,923 for riches which they supply to the living. 418 00:38:53,164 --> 00:38:55,928 Here everything is recycled, 419 00:38:56,167 --> 00:39:00,433 as a new generation rises from the moist earth. 420 00:39:24,595 --> 00:39:26,825 The seedlings respond in rhythm, 421 00:39:27,064 --> 00:39:29,555 spreading their leaves to catch the daylight, 422 00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:32,633 folding them at dark. 423 00:39:34,638 --> 00:39:37,129 Young vines grope for support. 424 00:39:37,375 --> 00:39:39,366 They've traded strength for length, 425 00:39:39,610 --> 00:39:43,842 and need help to climb towards the sky. 426 00:39:58,095 --> 00:39:59,892 But wherever they grow, 427 00:40:00,131 --> 00:40:05,228 they can't escape the hordes of hungry mouths that surround them. 428 00:40:11,175 --> 00:40:13,439 To protect themselves from being eaten, 429 00:40:13,677 --> 00:40:17,238 many tropical plants lace their foliage with poisons. 430 00:40:17,481 --> 00:40:18,345 But these new leaves haven't 431 00:40:18,582 --> 00:40:22,313 had the time to mount their chemical defense. 432 00:40:28,092 --> 00:40:32,961 Yet in the tropics, poison to one is a treat for another 433 00:40:33,197 --> 00:40:34,357 There's always some insect 434 00:40:34,598 --> 00:40:37,658 that can find an antidote to a plant's toxins. 435 00:40:37,902 --> 00:40:42,669 And from then on, it will be the only one they eat. 436 00:40:51,582 --> 00:40:54,574 Leafcutter ants have found another strategy. 437 00:40:54,819 --> 00:40:58,482 An army of workers seeks out only nontoxic plants 438 00:40:58,722 --> 00:41:02,158 any and all they can find. 439 00:41:20,077 --> 00:41:23,513 All herbivores are living recycling plants. 440 00:41:23,747 --> 00:41:26,807 They absorb just a small fraction of what they eat. 441 00:41:27,051 --> 00:41:28,848 The rest they return as manure 442 00:41:29,086 --> 00:41:33,614 rich fertilizer that feeds the growth of the forest. 443 00:41:35,559 --> 00:41:41,191 Unless if gets hijacked by a pair of industrious dung beetles. 444 00:41:41,665 --> 00:41:44,998 A monkey dropping is a mother lode for the dung beetles, 445 00:41:45,236 --> 00:41:46,999 who fashion it into a ball, 446 00:41:47,238 --> 00:41:51,004 a combination pantry and nursery for their young. 447 00:41:51,842 --> 00:41:53,810 They roll their stash away, 448 00:41:54,044 --> 00:41:57,878 looking for a place to bury it among all the new growth. 449 00:42:07,124 --> 00:42:12,289 A baby dipteryx enters this complex and competitive world. 450 00:42:13,097 --> 00:42:15,964 It started life as a tiny flower in the canopy, 451 00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:19,397 where it was pollinated and ripened into fruit. 452 00:42:19,637 --> 00:42:21,696 It was carried away in the claws of a bat, 453 00:42:21,939 --> 00:42:25,602 who ate its flesh, and discarded the seed. 454 00:42:25,843 --> 00:42:27,743 It was buried alive by an agouti, 455 00:42:27,978 --> 00:42:31,505 and has lain in wait for the rains for months. 456 00:42:31,749 --> 00:42:35,116 Now, its time has come! 457 00:42:43,527 --> 00:42:46,894 Only one in a thousand ever gets this far. 458 00:42:47,131 --> 00:42:51,864 The huge seed stored enough energy to unfurl a giant among seedlings 459 00:42:52,102 --> 00:42:56,505 nine inch tall, with lots of green. 460 00:42:58,709 --> 00:43:02,110 Lots of juicy green. 461 00:43:03,681 --> 00:43:06,548 But it is not a delicacy. 462 00:43:11,221 --> 00:43:14,850 Not even a food of first choice. 463 00:43:15,159 --> 00:43:18,185 But when other juicy edibles become scarce... 464 00:43:18,429 --> 00:43:22,627 ...baby dipteryx does end up on the menu. 465 00:43:29,940 --> 00:43:32,306 The parent tree has spent centuries, 466 00:43:32,543 --> 00:43:35,706 growing hundreds of feet and preparing millions of fruit, 467 00:43:35,946 --> 00:43:41,441 so at least one offspring will survive to reach the canopy. 468 00:43:41,952 --> 00:43:45,854 Yet all that effort can be gobbled up in seconds. 469 00:43:54,331 --> 00:43:57,198 It will never survive being stripped bare. 470 00:43:57,434 --> 00:44:02,633 And even those who remain intact need luck to prevail. 471 00:44:05,976 --> 00:44:08,376 They must have light to live. 472 00:44:08,612 --> 00:44:13,413 And light is hard to come by on the forest floor. 473 00:44:13,984 --> 00:44:17,511 Each and every ray must penetrate 474 00:44:17,755 --> 00:44:21,452 layers of foliage to reach a seedling below. 475 00:44:24,862 --> 00:44:28,525 Animals can search out light, 476 00:44:29,133 --> 00:44:34,730 but the seedlings, rooted in place, must wait for the sun. 477 00:44:34,972 --> 00:44:38,840 They make do with sun specks that flicker over the forest floor, 478 00:44:39,076 --> 00:44:43,479 illuminating them for just minutes each day. 479 00:44:57,261 --> 00:44:59,752 Even if it gets its moment in the sun... 480 00:44:59,930 --> 00:45:04,162 ...the fall of a single leaf can seal a seedling's doom. 481 00:45:11,208 --> 00:45:15,770 A new day in the forest sometimes brings disaster. 482 00:45:17,247 --> 00:45:21,877 If a new tree is to thrive, another must fall. 483 00:45:46,176 --> 00:45:48,167 For the plants that have struggled 484 00:45:48,412 --> 00:45:51,313 to survive in its shadow, perhaps for decades, 485 00:45:51,548 --> 00:45:54,711 this is a reprieve from a dark prison. 486 00:45:54,952 --> 00:45:58,388 A light gap has been torn in the fabric of the canopy. 487 00:45:58,622 --> 00:46:02,422 It has been centuries since this spot saw broad daylight. 488 00:46:02,659 --> 00:46:09,588 For seedlings starved for the sun it is a chance to grow and flourish. 489 00:46:12,803 --> 00:46:16,068 A race for the life-giving light has begun. 490 00:46:16,306 --> 00:46:17,898 There will be winners and losers 491 00:46:18,142 --> 00:46:22,238 as each plant tries to crowd out its neighbors. 492 00:46:25,349 --> 00:46:27,977 Into the new light comes another creature, 493 00:46:28,218 --> 00:46:30,186 biologist Phil Devries. 494 00:46:30,420 --> 00:46:32,581 Phil studies the world of the light gap 495 00:46:32,823 --> 00:46:36,691 and he's discovered some astonishing relationships here. 496 00:46:36,927 --> 00:46:38,394 Since I've been a small child 497 00:46:38,629 --> 00:46:40,722 I noticed plants and I noticed insects. 498 00:46:40,964 --> 00:46:43,296 I like being in nature and I like forests a lot. 499 00:46:43,534 --> 00:46:47,300 I can think of nothing more enjoyable 500 00:46:47,538 --> 00:46:50,405 than being surrounded completely on all sides 501 00:46:50,641 --> 00:46:53,633 and I literally mean up, down, any direction 502 00:46:53,877 --> 00:46:55,435 with life and that's what being 503 00:46:55,679 --> 00:46:59,581 in a tropical rain forest is all about. 504 00:46:59,817 --> 00:47:01,182 His love for this forest world 505 00:47:01,418 --> 00:47:06,287 is neatly matched to his quick eye and insatiable curiosity. 506 00:47:06,523 --> 00:47:09,651 I observe as much as I possibly can, 507 00:47:09,893 --> 00:47:12,327 and effectively what you're doing is you're asking, 508 00:47:12,563 --> 00:47:15,191 "Hello organism, what are you doing for a living 509 00:47:15,432 --> 00:47:18,993 and who do you interact with while you're out here doing your duties 510 00:47:19,236 --> 00:47:23,229 as a butterfly or an ant or a lizard or a plant?" 511 00:47:23,473 --> 00:47:27,000 I can use butterflies literally to move around in the forest 512 00:47:27,244 --> 00:47:29,838 and tell me what the vegetation is like. 513 00:47:30,080 --> 00:47:33,516 Phil has uncovered a light gap plant called a croton 514 00:47:33,750 --> 00:47:34,944 that's developed an unexpected 515 00:47:35,185 --> 00:47:37,380 relationship with two different insects, 516 00:47:37,621 --> 00:47:41,580 an ant and a butterfly caterpillar. 517 00:47:41,959 --> 00:47:44,120 Croton provides sugar secretions 518 00:47:44,361 --> 00:47:47,762 which attracts ants to little nectaries, 519 00:47:47,998 --> 00:47:50,762 and the ants when they're on the plant... 520 00:47:51,001 --> 00:47:56,962 ...deter herbivores, that is insects that eat leaves. 521 00:47:57,207 --> 00:48:01,075 The plant actually uses ants to guard its vulnerable leaves 522 00:48:01,311 --> 00:48:03,745 bribing them with a sugary nectar. 523 00:48:03,981 --> 00:48:08,941 The ants keep away any insect that might do their meal ticket harm. 524 00:48:09,186 --> 00:48:13,987 However, this is really what I'm looking for. 525 00:48:14,224 --> 00:48:16,283 It's an herbivore as well, 526 00:48:16,526 --> 00:48:18,653 but the ants don't bother it 527 00:48:18,896 --> 00:48:23,265 because it produces sugar secretions of its own. 528 00:48:24,835 --> 00:48:26,359 The butterfly caterpillar uses 529 00:48:26,603 --> 00:48:29,538 its sugar secretions just as the plant does 530 00:48:29,773 --> 00:48:32,435 as a tasty bribe. 531 00:48:33,110 --> 00:48:37,911 It keeps the ants well-fed in exchange for their protection. 532 00:48:41,285 --> 00:48:42,650 Back to ants & caterpillar 533 00:48:42,886 --> 00:48:45,480 The funny thing about this butterfly caterpillar is that 534 00:48:45,722 --> 00:48:47,553 it bribes these ants with a sugar secretion 535 00:48:47,791 --> 00:48:50,225 and the ants act like guard dogs 536 00:48:50,460 --> 00:48:53,827 and help protect it from it's own predators. 537 00:48:56,633 --> 00:49:00,091 In addition to producing sugar secretions for the ants, 538 00:49:00,337 --> 00:49:05,604 this caterpillar has another trick that's even more magic. 539 00:49:05,909 --> 00:49:09,037 Phil has made another remarkable discovery. 540 00:49:09,279 --> 00:49:12,180 These caterpillars can actually sing. 541 00:49:12,416 --> 00:49:13,940 To capture this amazing talent Phil 542 00:49:14,184 --> 00:49:19,315 has designed special audio equipment to record its calls. 543 00:49:19,856 --> 00:49:22,916 This gear I have here is an amplifier and a very, 544 00:49:23,160 --> 00:49:24,855 very sensitive microphone. 545 00:49:25,095 --> 00:49:27,529 I use this to listen to well, 546 00:49:27,764 --> 00:49:29,994 basically, sounds that nobody else can hear, 547 00:49:30,233 --> 00:49:33,464 and I'm listening to this caterpillar singing at the moment. 548 00:49:33,704 --> 00:49:35,365 And how these caterpillars produce 549 00:49:35,605 --> 00:49:38,096 Their songs is pretty interesting in that on the top 550 00:49:38,342 --> 00:49:41,539 of their head there are long bridges, 551 00:49:41,778 --> 00:49:43,405 and right above the head 552 00:49:43,747 --> 00:49:46,773 there's a collar where there are two little rods, 553 00:49:47,017 --> 00:49:49,315 and the two rods beat up and down on top of the head, 554 00:49:49,553 --> 00:49:50,952 and then the head moves in and out, 555 00:49:51,188 --> 00:49:53,713 and these little rods have little rings in them, 556 00:49:53,957 --> 00:49:56,152 and what they do is they hit the top of the head, 557 00:49:56,393 --> 00:49:57,553 and then it's rasping back 558 00:49:57,794 --> 00:50:00,388 and forth like a Latin American percussion instrument... 559 00:50:00,630 --> 00:50:05,897 Caterpillar on mic, Phil's fingers move it to branch 560 00:50:13,176 --> 00:50:16,339 I think it's fair to say, without gloating too much, 561 00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:21,083 I have the world's largest collection of caterpillar calls. 562 00:50:25,922 --> 00:50:26,854 Now let's see what happens 563 00:50:27,090 --> 00:50:30,526 when we reintroduce this caterpillar to the ants. 564 00:50:32,796 --> 00:50:34,058 Upon its return, 565 00:50:34,297 --> 00:50:38,961 the caterpillar puts its musical ability to another surprising use 566 00:50:39,202 --> 00:50:42,262 mimicking the calls of ants. 567 00:50:42,506 --> 00:50:45,634 The ants respond as we would, if we heard a cry for help. 568 00:50:45,876 --> 00:50:49,642 They rush over immediately. And help is always welcome. 569 00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:52,144 Danger is never far away. 570 00:50:57,387 --> 00:50:59,787 This guard ant earns its keep. 571 00:50:59,956 --> 00:51:01,856 An assassin bug could skewer 572 00:51:02,092 --> 00:51:04,492 the caterpillar and suck it dry. 573 00:51:04,728 --> 00:51:07,526 But it's no match for the ant. 574 00:51:11,868 --> 00:51:16,100 A parasitic wasp fares no better. 575 00:51:21,311 --> 00:51:22,539 In the tropical forest, 576 00:51:22,779 --> 00:51:25,577 every creature lives within an intricate web 577 00:51:25,816 --> 00:51:30,446 shifting always between harmony and struggle. 578 00:51:33,023 --> 00:51:34,684 The lesson that I've learned is 579 00:51:34,925 --> 00:51:39,726 that it's probably just scratching the surface of the number 580 00:51:39,963 --> 00:51:44,457 of interactions that you have in any light gap in the tropics. 581 00:51:44,701 --> 00:51:48,569 The picture that emerges from there is of staggering complexity 582 00:51:48,805 --> 00:51:51,296 when you think about how many species... 583 00:51:51,608 --> 00:51:56,068 there are of plants in the tropics, and insects in the tropics. 584 00:51:56,313 --> 00:51:58,042 It's very humbling to realize that, 585 00:51:58,281 --> 00:52:00,875 even though I know a little bit 586 00:52:01,118 --> 00:52:03,678 within the context of a tropical rain forest, 587 00:52:03,920 --> 00:52:06,650 I know absolutely nothing. 588 00:52:09,993 --> 00:52:11,824 This little dipteryx, of course, 589 00:52:12,062 --> 00:52:15,691 also knows nothing of the complex network of relationships 590 00:52:15,932 --> 00:52:17,866 that have brought it into the light. 591 00:52:18,101 --> 00:52:20,069 So far, it has beaten the odds. 592 00:52:20,303 --> 00:52:21,167 And if its luck holds out, 593 00:52:21,404 --> 00:52:26,341 it may someday become a forest Titan itself. 594 00:52:36,219 --> 00:52:37,880 Dipteryx, large and small, 595 00:52:38,121 --> 00:52:42,717 is at the heart of a glorious pattern of forest life. 596 00:52:42,959 --> 00:52:46,122 Unveiling this grand design remains the quest of the scientists 597 00:52:46,363 --> 00:52:49,355 of Barro Colorado Island 598 00:52:49,633 --> 00:52:54,366 a labor of love, and a journey of many lifetimes. 599 00:52:56,806 --> 00:52:58,637 Perhaps centuries from now, 600 00:52:58,875 --> 00:53:01,810 the forest will still be here and scientists will 601 00:53:02,045 --> 00:53:04,639 still be working in its green depths 602 00:53:04,881 --> 00:53:11,480 when our tiny seedling finally takes its place among the giants.