documentary Nature | Wildlife LIFE IN THE CANOPY ... - Interspot Film

I n
documentary
Nature | Wildlife
LIFE IN THE CANOPY
the suromoni project
the beginning, there was a bold plan developed by an
Austrian researcher: erecting a crane in the rain forest of
Venezuela that would allow a closer glimpse of life in the tree
tops. His idea came true and the crane has since been installed
on the banks of the Surumoni river. Scientists have launched
their various projects.
Part II of the documentary “Mission to a Green Planet” observes
them getting started on their work and reports of the first
scientific findings from the green jungle high up in the tops of
the gigantic trees. The documentary shows previously unknown
links in the life of plants, insects, reptiles and birds, and it also
focuses on epiphytes and climate research, offering a unique
look into the world of the tropical rain forest.
AUSTRIA’S TOP FILM AND TV PRODUCERS OF WILDLIFE MOVIES
length
50 minutes
director
hans peter stauber
year
1998
format
betadigital 16:9
version
english and german
completed

documentary
Nature | Wildlife
LIFE IN THE CANOPY
the suromoni project
Part I of “Mission to a Green Planet” documents the difficulties encountered in assembling
a crane in the middle of the Amazon rain forest. Finally completed in May 1996, the crane
has since been used by scientists in their quest to investigate the tree tops of the tropical rain
forest. A wide range of projects has been launched, already yielding plenty of results and
insights. Part II of the documentary focuses on their progress…
High up in the tree tops of the tropical rain forest, thousands of plant species grow
without ever setting foot on the ground: these epiphytes have their first contact with the soil
only when the tree that harbours them is felled. The non-parasitic plants, which use the tree
only as a support, are highly specialised, having learned in the course of evolution to live, survive
and reproduce in the crowns of gigantic trees without contact to the soil. They include
most of the orchids, whose gorgeous blossoms we know and appreciate, as well as many of
our favourite pot plants which we nurse in our living rooms: philodendron, bromelia,
Gesneria, but also lichen, fern, liana and the occasional cactus
Up in the tree tops, epiphytes have created a world of their own. Living up to 50 metres above
ground, they are able to store water in reservoirs, collect humus and cover whole trees with
their dense growth. Forests like those in the Amazon basin actually consist not just of a gigantic
wood rooted in the soil but, additionally, of a second floor, where innumerable plants have
created a garden of equally gigantic proportions which in its sheer diversity and splendour
almost surpasses its ground-based hosts. The fact that an enormous volume of humus and
water is stored in the tree tops has led some experts to talk of the “fractal swamps” or
“fractal gardens” of Amazonia. And they are not exaggerating: a single fairly large bromelia
stores up to 50 litres of water.
Without epiphytes, global water circulation and the global climate might well break down.
But only now, with the crane in place near La Esmeralda on the Orinoco, will the mysterious
world of the epiphytes be opened to the investigative spirit of scientists who are continuously
arriving at entirely new insights.
For further information please contact
HEINRICH MAYER
Interspot Film-Ges.m.b.H
A-1230 Vienna
Walter-Jurmann-Gasse 4
phone: + 43 1 | 80 120-420
fax: + 43 1 | 80 120-222
e-mail: mayer@interspot.at
www.interspot.at
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