Strangler fig tree

Strangler fig in Lovers Key. 

 Strangler fig Ficus aurea


The strangler fig belongs to the Moraceae family (mulberry family). 

The strangler fig is one of the most well known hemiepiphyte and is one of the most important and successful trees within the forest.

The fig tree begins the life cycle as small sticky seed which has been transported by animals like monkeys and birds. The juvenile strangler is an epiphyte. The seed develops roots and these grow around the host tree in a lattice like shape, the roots head towards and enter the ground. Some fig trees engulf the host tree trunk eventually the host tree canopy is shaded by the strangler figs dense roots and leaves. The strangler fig can end up killing the host tree in competition for resources. 

The fig trees are of huge importance in the tropical forests as they are keystone species.The strangler figs are hollow with lots of hidden sections which  offer breeding sites for some small animals like birds and bats and food resources for a large number of animals  like invertebrates, reptiles and rodents. Lots of animals are drawn to the fig tree because of the fig fruits. The fig seeds are kept in-tacked when eaten and digested. 
Loggers usually leave the fig trees standing due to their complicated tangled roots. 

There are fig trees all around globe due to the distribution and dispersal of the seeds which have been consumed by animals. 
The tree reproduces by mutual evolutionary pollination relationship with the wasp. The grow in groups on small stems that have come straight from the trunk of the tree. Each and every fig has a small hole which can fit a female wasp. As she enters the fig, the female wasp has lost both of her wings, so unable to leave the fruit. The wasp lays her eggs and the pollen which she has collected, eventually the female wasp dies and the small hole in the fig closes up. The females take longer to develop than the males, so the males hatch first just after a couple days of the female laying the eggs. The males force their way by chewing into the females eggs and mate with them. The males try to leave the fruit by making a hole by chewing and then the males die. The females are able to leave to fruit via the hole the males made, the females winged are full of pollen. The females are carrying eggs and pollen and the cycle happens again. 

Encyclopedia Britannica, (2014). strangler fig | tree. [online] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/568081/strangler-fig [Accessed 5 Apr. 2015].

Rainforests.mongabay.com, (2015). Strangler Fig. [online] Available at: http://rainforests.mongabay.com/04strangler_fig.htm [Accessed 5 Apr. 2015].