Specialisation in the tropical rainforest

Specialisation in most rain forests involves not so much the coping with physical factors but living with other members of the community. Types of specialisation are summarised according to the response of the organisms. Some adaptations may be seen to the humid conditions by certain aquatic insects. Co-evolution between plants and animals is seen in pollination or cross fertilisation, seed dispersal and "arms races' between plants and animals in parasitism and herbivory. Specialisation in resource utilisation can occur either by the species surviving as a narrow specialist or the development of special foraging methods. The rain forests of N Queensland have a characteristic physiognomy of tall forests with a closed but generally irregular canopy made up of many different species. The internal structure is not stable over a long period. In N Queensland, the bird community of the humid tropical lowlands has a similar percentage representation of insectivores, herbivores and omnivores among arboreal categories, 3 times as great as the mean percentage of other categories. -S.J.Yate