Tiny rootlets grow up and attach themsleves to leaves. When the leaf decays, miniscule fungi on the rootlets take over and send threadlike projections into the leaf which absorbs all of the leaf's nutrient material. The phosphorous that the fungi produces is taken by the root, and in turn gives the fungus sugars from the tree. Also, termites and ants break down the forest litter. In a small lake in the middle of the rain forest, a small lizard skims across the water away from danagerous prey and attacks its own victim by suprise, yet another marvel of the tropical rain forest.
Mutualism occurs in the jungle with a specialized ant and a swollen-thorn acacia.
The acacia provides budlike leaflet tips which are called Beltian bodies, which the ants give to their young for food. The insects hollow out the tree's thorns when soft and green and raise their young inside. The acacia doesn't have chemical defenses to repel dangerous and damaging insects and demands pure sunlight for proper growth. The ants patrol the tree day and night. If any insect lands on the tree, they bite it with a poisonous sting.