A Life Among Trees

Over 300 billion trees pump out oxygen in the Amazon, and each one is an individual thriving ecosystem, home to a bustling community of dozens of animal species. At night, the trees switch to carbon dioxide production while, on their lower branches, nocturnal snakes hunt juicy frogs. Spiders use the trees' giant buttress roots as anchor points for their webs, ensnaring much of their prey at night. And owl monkeys, the world's only nocturnal monkey, search for insects. As the sun rises and the trees start to make oxygen again, the world's smallest monkey, the pygmy marmoset, use their sharp teeth to carve out holes in the bark that constantly refill with refreshing sap. Every tree in the Amazon is home to a living soap opera.