A complex network of fungi in the lower canopy could be one reason tropical rainforests are home to so many different types of insects, spiders and centipedes, say scientists.
They found that nearly half of these creatures – called arthropods – are largely dependent on an almost-invisible network of fungi that traps dead leaves that have fallen from the upper canopy.
When the researchers removed the fungi, both the numbers and diversity of arthropods dropped dramatically.
The findings could help conservationists figure out how to retain some level of arthropod diversity in managed landscapes like oil palm plantations, or logged forest.
The fungi branch through the lower canopy extending from the forest floor up to around 30 metres high, catching falling leaves wherever their strands go.
'These fungi are everywhere, and form a messy tangle in the forest understory. You can't really see it until you look for it. You're always looking past it, moving it out of the way as you walk through the forest,' explains Dr Jake Snaddon from the University of Oxford, lead author of the study.
This could be why, up until now, its importance was almost entirely overlooked.
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