Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Heavy earth excavator removes clay for future replacement with topsoil. Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Reserve, Thames Estuary, Essex, U...

Stephen Dalton / Earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris) in burrow, exposed in sectioned topsoil, England, UK

David Tipling / 2020VISION / Machine skimming off topsoil in first phase of lagoon excavation so that it can be used for earth embankments providing good soil for vegetation to grow. Rutland Water lagoon creation project summer 2...

David Tipling / 2020VISION / Machine skimming off topsoil in first phase of lagoon excavation so that it can be used for earth embankments providing good soil for vegetation to grow. Rutland Water lagoon creation project summer 2...

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Heavy earth excavator removes clay for future replacement with topsoil. Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Reserve, Thames Estuary, Essex, U...

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Heavy earth excavator removes clay for future replacement with topsoil. Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Reserve, Thames Estuary, Essex, U...

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Reserve, Thames Estuary, Essex, UK. November 2011. Heavy earth excavator removes clay for future replacem...

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Heavy earth excavator removes clay for future replacement with topsoil. Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Reserve, Thames Estuary, Essex, U...

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Heavy earth excavator removes clay for future replacement with topsoil. Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Reserve, Thames Estuary, Essex, U...

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Heavy earth excavator removes clay for future replacement with topsoil. Machine operator Alan Deval. Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Rese...

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Heavy earth excavator removes clay for future replacement with topsoil. Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Reserve, Thames Estuary, Essex, U...

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Heavy earth excavator removes clay for future replacement with topsoil. Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Reserve, Thames Estuary, Essex, U...

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Heavy earth excavator removes clay for future replacement with topsoil. Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Reserve, Thames Estuary, Essex, U...

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Machine operator Alan Deval and RSPB Project manager Dave Hedges. Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Reserve, Thames Estuary, Essex, UK. Nov...

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Heavy earth excavator removes clay for future replacement with topsoil. Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Reserve, Thames Estuary, Essex, U...

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Heavy earth excavator removes clay for future replacement with topsoil. Wetland habitat ecosytem creation for the RSPB by Breheny Civil Engineers at Bowers Marsh RSPB Reserve, Thames Estuary, Essex, U...

Juergen Freund / Women working in the rice fields (Oriza sp). Ground water soaks into the fields saturating the topsoil to create a 5-10 cm water layer. Water runs off the barren deforested mountains, and due to clima...

Juergen Freund / Water pouring into rice fields (Oriza sp), saturating the topsoil to create a 5-10 cm water layer. Water runs off the barren deforested mountains, and due to climate change it is uncertain how long th...

Philippe Clement / Flint / chert / silex in topsoil of chalk cliff at Cap Blanc-Nez, Cote d'Opale, France

Ian Lockwood / Un-terraced farm destroys topsoil near endagnered Shola habitat, Tamil Nadu, India

Floris van Breugel / Natural iridescent oil film from decaying leaves at the surface of a pool, with a cottonwood leaf floating. Escalante National Monument, Utah. November.

Klaus Echle / After being trapped in an empty shed, Badger (Meles meles) passes wall decorated with graffiti on its way back to the forest. Baden-Wuerttemburg, Germany, May 2010. Winner of the Man and Nature catego...

Juergen Freund / Very old human skulls on a ledge in the karst limestone walls of a Raja Ampat island. Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia, February 2010

Laurent Geslin / Common bee fly (Bombylius major) at rest with graffiti in the background, Paris, France.

Michael Hutchinson / Groundsel {Senecio sp} growing out of brick wall covered in colourful graffiti, Bristol, UK

Guy Edwardes / Close up of decaying Sycamore leaf (Acer pseudoplatanus) Devon, England, November 2008

Nick Upton / Yellow dung fly (Scathophaga stercoraria) killed by pathogenic fungus of flies (Entomophthora muscae) clinging to a thistle leaf with wings spread, Wiltshire pastureland, UK, June.

Alex Hyde / Fruiting body of fungi (Crepidotus applanatus / variabilis) growing on leaf litter in beech woodland. Peak District National Park, Derbyshire, UK, October.

Fabrice Cahez / Dead trunks overgrown with moss. Vosges mountain, France, October.

Loic Poidevin / Moss-covered dead tree, near rapids 'du pas de l'ours'. French Pyrenees, September 2012.

Adrian Davies / Peniophora quercina (Peniophora quercina), a wood decay fungus, growing on tree bark, Surrey, England, UK, October.

Floris van Breugel / Natural iridescent plant oils from decaying leaves at the surface of a pool, Escalante National Monument, Utah. November

Will Watson / Natural oil film on surface of woodland pond, caused by the anoxic decay of organic matter, Essex, England, UK, March

Philippe Clement / Fallen tree trunk left to rot on forest floor as dead wood habitat for invertebrates, Pyrenees, France

Sandra Bartocha / European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) two decaying leaves against dead wood, Germany, April

Peter Cairns / 2020VISION / Decaying sycamore leaf. Scotland, October.

Alex Hyde / Dung Cup (Peziza vesiculosa) fungal fruiting bodies growing on horse manure. Derbyshire, UK, April.

David Shale / Decomposing whale bone and epifauna. Collected from coral sea mount near Dragon vent field on SW Indian Ridge, Indian Ocean.

David Shale / Decomposing whale bone and epifauna. Collected from coral sea mount near Dragon vent field on SW Indian Ridge, Indian Ocean.

David Shale / Bivalve molluscs on whale bone. Collected from coral sea mount near Dragon vent field on SW Indian Ridge, Indian Ocean.

David Shale / Epifauna on whale bone. Collected from coral sea mount near Dragon vent field on SW Indian Ridge, Indian Ocean.

Danny Green / Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis) basking on rusty metal. Leicestershire, UK, March.

Danny Green / Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis) basking on rusty metal. Leicestershire, UK, March.

Guy Edwardes / 2020VISION / Toadstools growing from falled trunk. New Forest National Park, Hampshire, UK, October.

Adrian Davies / Ochre cushion fungus (Hypocrea pulvinata) growing on old fruit body of Birch Polypore (Piptoporus betulinus) England, December.

Brent Stephenson / Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus) chick amongst old whaling equipment. Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, January.

Alex Hyde / Sulphur Polypore / Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporous sulphureus) growing on tree trunk. Nordtirol, Tirol, Austrian Alps, Austria, 2300 metres, July.

Alex Hyde / Sulphur Polypore / Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporous sulphureus) growing on tree trunk. Nordtirol, Tirol, Austrian Alps, Austria, 2300 metres, July.

Anup Shah / Carcass of Eastern White bearded wildebeest(Connochates taurinus albojubatus) covered in maggots, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Anup Shah / Carcass of Eastern White bearded wildebeest(Connochates taurinus albojubatus) covered in maggots, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Gary K. Smith / Fungi, Dryads Saddle (Polyporus squamosus) fresh fruiting bodies on fallen tree stump. Norfolk, UK, May.

Peter Cairns / Gnarled Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) tree framing western Grampians crowned with heavy clouds. Cairngorms National Park, Scotland, May.

Nick Upton / Horse's hoof / Tinder fungus (Fomes fomentarius) growing on European beech (Fagus sylvatica) tree trunk, Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia, July.

Nick Garbutt / Veins and filaments of a leaf after decomposition. Lowland rainforest, Masoala National Park, Madagascar.

Tim Laman / Strangler Fig (Ficus sp.) tree with decomposing host tree visible in the center. Lowland rainforest in Borneo. Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesia.

Nick Upton / Close up of Greenbottle / Blowfly (Lucilia sp.) inspecting a dead mole, before laying eggs on it. Wiltshire garden, UK, June.

Nick Upton / Greenbottle / Blowfly (Lucilia sp.) inspecting a dead mole, before laying eggs on it. Wiltshire garden, UK, June.

Nick Upton / Greenbottle / Blowfly (Lucilia sp.) inspecting a dead mole, before laying eggs on it. Wiltshire garden, UK, June.

Nick Upton / Greenbottle / Blowfly (Lucilia sp.) inspecting a dead mole, before laying eggs on it. Wiltshire garden, UK, June.

Dietmar Nill / Cross section of European beech trunk (Fagus sylvaticus) showing fungal decay, Germany

Gerrit Vyn / Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) female, foraging on a decaying tree. February, Tompkins County, New York

Guy Edwardes / Close up of decaying Sycamore leaf (Acer pseudoplatanus) Devon, England, November 2008

Guy Edwardes / Close up of decaying Sycamore leaf (Acer pseudoplatanus) Devon, England, November 2008

Paul Hobson / Oak leaves {Quercus robur} in leaf litter in autumn, Derbyshire, UK

Nick Garbutt / Fungi (unknown sp) growing on fallen log on forest floor, Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia

Jerry Monkman / Fallen logs decay into the mossy forest floor in old spruce forest, Isle Au Haut, Acadia National Park, Maine, USA, The Duck Harbor Trail.

Niall Benvie / Shaggy inkcap fungus / Lawyer's wig {Coprinus comatus} deliquescing, Norway

Jane Burton / Common frog {Rana temporaria} erythristic tadpoles with normal tadpoles around a skeletonised oak leaf.

WILLIAM OSBORN / Fallen Scots Pine tree with holes from wood boring insects Pinus sylvestris}