Fruit - Edible, Inedible, Incredible
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Firstly, this is not a wildlife book, but....
This book is truly gobsmacking. The photography is truly spectacular, mostly very close up and set against black backgrounds which brings out the colours wonderfully.
To buy this book, click Fruit
Wildlife
Although this book is about fruit, there is a section about wildlife, and more specifically those fruits that rely on wildlife for dispersal and, in some cases, triggering vital changes in the seeds allowing them to germinate. Many seeds rely on wildlife for dispersal, especially from birds and bats, but also from a huge variety of mammals and other wildlife. Elephants, monkeys, giant tortoises, rhinos, agouti, aardvark and, ye, even humans, are responsible for the vital dispersal of seeds. In fact humans have somewhat disturbed the process by planting fruit crops all over the world.
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Calotis breviradiata. Daisy burr from |
Many fruits rely on wildlife for dispersal, but it also true that that same wildlife depends on those fruits for their diet. Elephants eat vast amounts, and cover great distances in their search for food and water. Many of the fruits that they eat are so large that only elephants can eat them. As elephants migrate along their old pathways, they disperse the seeds from the fruits all along the paths they follow, which, in time, provide the herds with vital food sources. Without these fruit trees, the elephants would go hungry. Without the elephants, the trees would not thrive or spread.
Aardvark cucumbers
The aardvark cucumber of South Africa is almost totally reliant on the aardvark., and vice versa. The aardvark cucumber buries it's fleshy (and very moist) fruits underground. The aardvark alone can detect the fruits, and is strong enough to dig them up and open the tough cases. Aardvarks mostly eat ants, but in the dry season they rely on the fruits of the cucumber for survival. The fruits rely totally on the aardvark for seed dispersal, especially as the aardvark habitually buries it's dung, providing the ingested cucumber seeds with a dose of fertiliser as well as protection from the sun and other animals. However, especially in the drier areas, this is a dangerous reliance as without the cucumbers, the aardvark could not survive there, and without the aardvark, there will be no more cucumbers.
boraginaceae
| FRUIT Edible Inedible Incredible
Aardvark. Mutually dependent. |
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Images:
© Wolfgang Stuppy & Rob Kesseler
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