PLANET EARTH Jungles

When the short lived pioneers have fallen it's the hardwoods that take their place, and a fifty meter giant, like this one, may keep its place in the sun for another two hundred years. At the top, is the canopy, the engine room of the jungle. It's up here that most of the animal life in the rainforest can be found. But despite the apparent abundance of vegetable food, gathering it is seldom easy.



With no real seasons each tree flowers or fruits at a different time of the year which means that food is very widely spaced. Monkeys, like these tamarinds（罗望子）, must search the canopy for all kinds of food if they're to survive. But across the world's rainforests there's one type of fruiting tree that always delivers: the fig. Wherever they grow, figs are a magnet for the great diversity（多样性） of animals.



In the Amazon, the first to appear are the spider monkeys. These large primates are big fig eaters but they won't have the tree to themselves for long. Others will want a share. like the diminutive（小的） emperor tamarinds. The tamarinds love figs too, but being petite means they're easily scared off.