Most of us have seen enough nature documentaries to know that those places in the world with very few plants tend to have little other wildlife. Think of deserts and ice caps, and it’s the same with your local supermarket car park!
In contrast, where plants abound, there is life in abundance: insects, birds, mammals, and where there are plants in water, fish, dragonflies and more. Plants are, by and large, a generous and welcoming host. They provide food when they’re alive – leaves, berries, nectar, pollen, seeds. Then more groups of creatures, collectively known as the detritivores, move in to feed on the remains of plants once they have died or when they naturally shed their leaves. And the three-dimensional universe that plants create with their stems and branches…
