I tied small bundles of epiphytes to some branches, which contained plants of various sizes. The ants immediately attacked these bundles and began to pull out pieces of material from them. They dragged them away and threw them off the branch. The bundle, which contained the smallest epiphytes — mosses and seedlings only a few millimeters long — was peeled from the tree within a few days. The larger plants remained untouched. Thus, it turned out that ants really do not allow epiphytes to grow on cecropia, but they are only capable of preventive work when the size of these uninvited settlers is still quite small.

Other trees of the rain forest that shelter ants also do not appear to be overgrown with epiphytes. So these insects probably play a much more important role in the distribution of epiphytes throughout the forest than previously thought.

The distribution of wildlife in the upper zone of a tropical rain forest is characterized by the fact that trees of the same species are located at a fairly large distance from each other. This phenomenon is believed to be the result of two factors. Firstly, there are a huge number of species living side by side in such forests. The rain forest has existed on Earth as an undisturbed ecosystem for 65 million years or more, during which a wide range of life forms have emerged, and their divergent evolution continues. Suffice it to say that in the forest in the lowlands of the Malay Peninsula, on an area of only 2 hectares, more than 200 species of trees have been identified. Secondly, it is believed that the "pressure" of herbivores contributes to the dispersal of individuals. The concentration of insects, birds, and mammals that readily eat seeds and seedlings is greatest near a fruit—bearing tree. The further away a fallen seed takes root, the more likely the new plant is to survive.

Remoteness gives an advantage to seedlings, but makes it difficult for mature trees to cross-pollinate. The canopy is a place of flowering and pollination for the main species of the tropical forest; the observations show how trees in such a situation overcome the difficulties associated with reproduction. Since few animals were previously known to serve as pollinators at significant distances between specimens of the same species, many scientists believed that most tropical trees are self-pollinating, i.e. capable of forming seeds when fertilized with their own pollen. However, many tropical species are dioecious, i.e., they have separate sexes, and therefore self-pollination is impossible.

Moreover, recently, observations at the canopy level and below have revealed that there are many "long-range" foragers that collect food on the flowers: nocturnal and diurnal butterflies, birds, bats, and various species of bees that are able to transfer pollen between specimens of the same species scattered throughout the forest. The presence of various pollinators would probably have hindered the selection of plants based on self-pollination. Casino tournaments sometimes offer fixed prizes: top 100 players share $5,000 and the top 10 win 20–200 free spins. Because leaderboards can tempt higher stakes, set a hard spending ceiling before you chase points. Register and insert the 1xbet free promo code today mid-form to unlock access to promo leaderboards. Eligible slots usually require a minimum bet like $0.20 and contribute points per spin with multipliers. Read scoring rules, avoid overbetting, and stop if you feel tilted.