Not as lonely as it looks

People flock to the beauty spots on earth. Some places lose their charm as a consequence, but people can learn and act. Some do. The other organisms inhabiting the earth also converge on the most suitable places to thrive. Some places excel at supporting wide varieties of life forms, becoming capitals of diversity, even endemism. Oozing uniqueness, every such place becomes its own symphony of adaptation.

People can hardly live in waterfalls. Yet they love spending free time watching how their favourite other species, be they animal or plant, hang out in select haunts. So, to the bush, the parks and the nature reserves they flock. Don’t miss out!

People include their own species on the target list of voyeuristic pursuits, hence the movies, the plays and whatnot. People are funny that way, for the rest (the other species) only watch each other in the who-eats-whom context, not for amusement or titillation. Fascination and beauty to people turn to functionality for organisms solely bent on survival.

Cascading rock shapes rife with secluded nooks and crannies, boosted by continued waterflow yielding mist and spray in seasonal flux, beckon to all sorts of living things as if this is the place to be. Add continual erosion that happens here while sediments collect all sorts of useful material in scattered pockets, and the place is high up in popularity among many of the living that slither or root.

Permanent lodgings, seasonal haunts, diversions for a day or night; there’s an option on offer for so many. Steep terrain adds to habitat fragmentation, broadening the offers to yet more species. Those that cling to wet rock don’t bother the feathered nest types. Some neighbours are one’s next meal or a mortal threat; others can be juxtaposed but effectively miles away.

Typical plants here may include ferns and epiphytes fringed with mosses, the occasional flower for seasonal celebration, while a stunted tree or ambitious shrub offers shelter, ensuring that the fauna will accompany the flora. The dropping water adds oxygen for the mostly hidden aquatic types that dart rarely, announcing participation at yet greater diversity.

Anything here may be eaten. Some get photographed. The occasional one of them will be introduced to the world bearing a long new Latin name in a scientific paper. Each to his own pursuits.