Many rooms with views

A sudden shift in terrain jolts those confronted by a cliff such as this one! Stark rules are in force, applying to all that dwell here. For this is one of nature’s more dramatic lifestyle options. But isn’t that the case everywhere? Risk is always present, either in your face or lurking?

Places like this remind that many terrain features drive species diversity. Force of sun, wind, the run-off from inundations big or continuous, combined with what’s for dinner, where to sleep and hide, all impact so differently here. An almost complete turnaround in biological dramatis personae happens when populating a cliff.

All body and behaviour features are challenged and adapted, albeit that most of these residents are mindless or practically so. Special breeds of animals and plants are attracted, compared to those on the bushy or grassy flats and slopes. It has to be in the genes and intuition to seek digs here. Turning rock crevices into prime real estate one has to be weird, be it animal, plant or whatever.

The comfort of the one is the nightmare of the other, the killing ground of yet another. Adaptation rules abound everywhere but particularly here where gravity never stops talking. Living on the edge is literally sheer drop stuff all the time, requiring a vigilance only some can manage. Several species acquire their Isaac Newton equivalents right here. Stunted trees age in bonsai mode up high, feature as revered senior citizens. They distribute meagre shade to grateful neighbours, be they plant or animal. 

Once rooted, things may look up, to whoever rock salts are favoured delicatessen. Nesting is no trouble here for birds harassed by predators and egg thieves down on the plains. Low moisture requirements and full sun up here may be just what the doctor ordered for certain dwarf succulents. Insects? Many of them find these conditions paradoxically middle of the sought-after road and not extreme at all.

"I’m alright, Jack!" sounds arrogant, but many humble Jacks make it here swimmingly, never to move away.