Is it important to climb trees to learn canopy ecology?
Yes, one needs to reach the top of the tree to learn canopy ecology. Climbing till the middle of the tree will not teach anything. The most active part of the tree is its top that receives sun rays directly and has insects feeding on the leaves. That is why the leaves, fruits, and even birds’ nests are up there. Once you learn the top part, you get to know about everything. Moreover, there are millions of insects living up there and to know about the tree and the ecology around it is important to learn about insects too. Why haven’t many people taken up hot-air balloon experiments? It was an exercise that was started in the late 1980s by a couple of French scientists and I went into it in 1991. This is undoubtedly a good method to view the tops of the trees, but it is a very expensive. In the 1990s, it took about a million dollars to send 50 scientists on a hot-air balloon. Since its inception, only four to five such balloon expeditions have taken place.
