Photos and Info on Ants and Termites of Malaysia: The Tropical Rainforest

The tropical rainforest is an immense ecosystem that is on a fast track to extinction. Once stretching across entire tropical land masses these primary forest ecosystem are now small patches of isolated forest left mostly on hills and mountain ranges. The primary rainforest ecosystem is all but extinct on the plains and less hilly land stretches. Even on small hills these rainforest are been fell and cleared at an alarming pace.

What is left of a once immense forest sitting on an isolated hill surrounded by Oil Palm and Rubber plantations.

What is left of a once immence forest sitting on an isolated hill surrounded by Oil Palm and Rubber plantations.

A closer view of the primary rainforest.

A closer view of the few last remaining primary rainforest

The road leading immediatedly to the foot of this rainforest preserve, as is true with most of the remaining primary rainforest reserves, are flanked on both sides by secondary jungle that are the left over after all the valuable forest trees had been logged.

The road leading immediatedly to the foot of the rainforest flanked on both sides by secondary jungle the left over after all the valuable forest trees were logged

Forest trees grows to between 40 to 80 meters (120 to 240 feet) tall. This usually takes several centuries.

Rainforest trees grows to between 40 to 80 meters tall

A solitary giant Tualang (literary 'old eagle') tree, the last remnant of a once virgin primary (UVP) forest.

In the midst of the rainforest.

In the midst of the rainforest. On hilly land the girth of these trees rarely reach above one and half meters. Trees of larger girth found in the plains were once common but these are all forever gone.

View from the foot of a large forest tree

View from the foot of a large forest tree.

Upward view from the foot of a forest tree

Vines climbing up a tree to get sunlight its roots wrap around the tree and slowly squish the life out of it.

View from being in the midst of the rainforest. The light in the background is from a canyon behind the trees,

View from being in the midst of the rainforest.

Due to the hilly terrain, small streams and waterfalls flows downhill as tributaries to a larger river on the flatter landscape outside the rainforest preserve.

Due to the hilly terrain small streams and waterfalls are common.

A small stream.

A pristine river following through the rainforest.

Occasionally one may encounter a huge clearing of the canopy.

What is left in the clearing are tall thin trunks of trees with their crowns snap off.

This happened when a huge tree fall either through old age, disease, or heavy rainfall and strong winds combined.

When huge trees fall it frequently bring down with it many of the smaller trees beside it.

When huge tree fell it frequently bring down with many of the smaller trees surrounding i

Here this apparantly healthy tree have been uprooted most probably by heavy rain and strong wind.

Another fairly large tree beside it was literary snapped in two leaving only a stump.

Rotting trunks of fallen trees are common feature of the primary rainforest.

Beside this rotten trunk is that of a strangling vine that might have contributed to its fall.

Rotting trunk of a huge tree once standing fifty or more meters tall.

A tree stump.

Rotting tree trunk.

Strangling vines wrapped around the trunk of a small tree.

Strangling vines around the trunk of a small tree

These vines act like a rope or chain to tie trees together. This may help hold trees together and provide greater resistance to strong winds that may snap individual trees. But however if the wind is very strong small trees tied to a large tree may be brought down when the tall tree is uproot as shown it some of the above photos.