Figure 8.6
Plant adaptations to reach light. (A) Buttress roots in Gunung Mulu National Park, Borneo, Sarawak, Malaysia. These roots keep tall and top-heavy tropical rainforest trees from falling over. (B) Epiphytes growing on trees in Rio Frio, Cano Negro Nature Reserve, Costa Rica. Epiphytes have no contact with the ground. They derive all their nutrients and water from rainwater that collects in their leaves and in the crooks of the tree limbs.(A. Anders Blomqvist/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images; B. © Oliver Gerhard/Imagebroker RF Getty Images)