Capstone Literature Review
“Strangler Figs: Complexity Amongst Seeming Monotony”
Jasmine L. Martin
Spring 2012
Signature of Student Author: ________________________________ Date: ________________
Signature of Faculty Advisor: _______________________________ Date: ________________
Student Demographics
My name is Jasmine Martin. I am the daughter of Lavon Martin and Sheila Martin-Coe, as well
as the younger sister of Christopher Martin. I was born and raised in Fayetteville, NC where I
attended E. E. Smith Senior High School.
I am currently a graduating senior biology major at North Carolina A&T State University.
Through the years, I have participated in many campus organizations including the Minority
Associations for Pre-Medical Students (MAPS), Green Paw Aggies, the NC A&T Fellowship
Gospel Choir, and Couture Productions. I am also a brother of Alpha Phi Omega National Co-ed
Service Fraternity, Inc. and serve as Miss Alpha Phi Omega 2011-2012 for the Kappa Psi
Chapter.
Upon graduation, I will be returning to A&T to fulfill pre-requisite requirements for the
Healthcare Administration masters program I desire to attend at Virginia Commmonwealth
University.
Table of Contents
Description
I.
Title Page
II.
Student Demographics
III.
Table of Contents
IV.
Abstract
V.
Body of Paper
A. Introduction
B. Review of Literature
C. Conclusion
D. References
VI.
Appendix A.
Page Number
Abstract
Strangler fig trees may, at first glance, seem to be highly detrimental to the rainforest
environment. Although they dehabilitate host trees by cutting off their nutrient supply, strangler
figs are considered to be keystone species due to the substantial benefit they provide for many
insects and other animals. This is evident in the symbiotic relationship between the fig tree and
fig wasp in which the wasp pollinates a tree and the tree, in turn, provides a nesting place for the
wasp. Bats and birds also heavily depend on fig trees for nourishment. This article reviews
information about the unique characteristics of the strangler fig through its interactions with its
environment and details of those close partnerships. This data will be analyzed for its relevance
in describing why stranglers are so beneficial to the rainforest ecosystem. It should also be
considered as a focus in the need for tropical conservation.
Introduction
More than half of the approximately ten million species of animals, plants, and insects that exist
in the world today live in the tropical rainforest (Raintree Nutrition 2010). For this reason, it is
imperative that the rainforest be conserved to prevent extinction of our wildlife. These
organisms depend on a number of factors that often include the help of other organisms for
survival and reproduction. One of these major contributors to the rainforest environment and its
inhabitants is the strangler fig tree.
Strangler figs are fruit-bearing trees from the genus Ficus whose seedlings position themselves
inside the crook of a tree or atop its branches to begin life as epiphytes (Benders-Hyde 2002).
The tree grows downward from the canopy of its host, forming rigid rings around its trunk as it
develops. This depletes the host’s nutrients, causing it to die while the strangler continues to
thrive. This process of entangling hosts and killing it gives the strangler its name, though this
nomenclature is inappropriately placed, as stranglers do not actually “squeeze” their supporting
trees.
There are almost one-thousand species of strangler fig trees living in tropical rainforests and
islands worldwide (Benders-Hyde 2002). They are considered a keystone species because so
many species of animals and insects depend on them for survival. Approximately seventy
percent of the animals in a given forest have a diet that consists of fig fruits (Benders-Hyde
2002). Stranglers have a very intricate symbiotic relationship with fig wasps that reproduce
inside the trees, in turn, pollinating them within the process. A female fig wasps enters an unripe
fig and deposits her eggs within, pollinating it as she maneuvers. Galls form around flowers with
wasp larvae in them, while the other flowers produce seeds. As male wasps mature, they emerge
from their galls, fertilize female wasps, and dig an exit hole for as many females as they find
before they die inside the fig. Female wasps then exit the fig in search of a new, unripe fruit to
begin the process anew. This association, if inhibited, would mean the extinction of several
many fig and fig wasp species, and eventually several species of other animals and insects such
as bats, birds, wild pigs, deer, civets, and butterflies (Laman 1997).
OUTLINE
II. Seed Dispersal/Germination
III. Allelopathy/Autotoxicity
IV. Host Reaction
A. Malnourishment
B. Decay to Death
V. Figs and fig wasps
VI. Keystone Species
References
1. Benders-Hyde, E. “Strangler Figs”. 2002.
<http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/strangler_figs.htm>
2. Compton, SG; Musgrave, MK. “Host relationships of Ficus burtt-davyi when growing as a
strangler fig”. South African Journal of Botany, 1993. 59.4: 425-430.
3. Harrison, Rhett D. “Short Communication: Mortality and recruitment of hemi-epiphytic figs
in the canopy of a Bornean rain forest”. Journal of Tropical Ecology, February 2006.
22:477-480.
4. Herre, Edward Allen; Jandér, Charlotte, K.; and Machado, Carlos Alberto. “Evolutionary
Ecology of Figs and Their Associates: Recent Progress and Outstanding Puzzles”.
Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, September 2008. 39: 439–458.
5. Korine, Carmi; Kalko, Elisabeth K. V.; Herre, Edward Allen. “Fruit characteristics and
factors affecting fruit removal in a Panamanian community of strangler figs”. Oecologia,
2000. 123: 560–568.
6. Laman, Tim. “Borneo’s Strangler Fig Trees”. National Geographic, April 1997: 38-55.
7. Male, T D; Roberts, GE. “Host associations of the strangler fig Ficus watkinsiana in a
subtropical Queensland rain forest”. Austral Ecology, 2005. 30.2: 229-236.
8. Marussich, Wendy A. and Machado, Carlos A. “Host-specificity and coevolution among
pollinating and nonpollinating New World fig wasps”. Molecular Ecology, January
2007. 16: 1925–1946.
9. Molbo, Drude, et. al. “Cryptic species of fig-pollinating wasps: Implications for the evolution
of the fig–wasp mutualism, sex allocation, and precision of adaptation”. Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, May 2003. 100-10: 5867–5872.
10. Patel, Aviva. “Strangler fig-host associations in roadside and deciduous forest sites, South
India”. Journal of Biogeography, July 1996. 23.4: 409–414.
11. Putz, Francis E.; Holbrook, Michele. “Strangler Fig Rooting Habits and Nutrient Relations
in the Llanos of Venezuela”. American Journal of Botany, June 1989. 76.6: 781-788.
12. Raintree Nutrition, Inc. “Rainforest Facts”. March 20, 2010. <http://www.raintree.com/facts.htm>
13. Schmidt, S; Tracey, D P. “Adaptations of strangler figs to life in the rainforest canopy”.
Functional Plant Biology, 2006. 33.5: 465-475.
14. Swagel, Eric N.; Bernhard, A. Van H.; and Ellmore, George S.” Substrate Water Potential
Constraints on Germination of the Strangler Fig Ficus aurea(Moraceae)”. American
Journal of Botany, May 1997. 84-5: 716-722.
15. “The Fig and The Fig Wasp”. The Fig & The Fig Wasp. March 15, 2011.
http://www.thefigandthewasp.com/
16. Thomson, James D.; Herre, E. A.; Hamrick, J. L.; Stone, J. L. “Genetic Mosaics in Strangler
Fig Trees: Implications for Tropical Conservation”. Science, 22 November 1991.
254.5035: 1214-1216.
17. Titus, Jonathan H.; Holbrook, N. Michele; and Putz , Francis E. “Seed Germination and
Seedling Distribution of Ficus pertusa and F. tuerckheimii: Are Strangler Figs
Autotoxic?”. Biotropica, December 1990. 22.4: 425-428.