Why the giant kapok tree is so important for the ecosystem in the Amazon rainforest | DW Documentary

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The majestic kapok tree in the Amazon rainforest forms a gigantic habitat. Its canopy of leaves, almost 50 meters high, towers over the crowns of the forest. The tree shapes the myths of the indigenous Wayana people.

With over 80,000 plant species and hundreds of thousands of animal species, the Amazon rainforest is a green ocean of life. In the midst of this ecosystem, the kapok tree provides both shelter and crucial spaces for reproduction. Numerous animal species could not survive without the kapok tree.
Dragonflies and damselflies buzz around the spines on its trunk to lay their larvae in the bromeliad ‘air plants’ that grow on the tree. Here, the smallest influences the largest - and vice versa. Bromeliad plants do double duty, acting as floating water reservoirs: they store up to 50,000 liters of water per hectare of forest.

When the forest floor is under water during the rainy season, the fish become gardeners. They feed on the seeds that have fallen from the trees and spread them all over the Amazon region. The kapok tree is firmly anchored in the ground with its huge roots until the next dry season. The whole forest breathes, from the moss on the ground to the treetops. This gas exchange makes life on earth possible. But dangers such as deforestation and climate change threaten this unique ecosystem.

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