Kim Taylor / Aerial root structure of Weeping Fig tree (Ficus benjamina). Asia

Piotr Naskrecki / Palm tree aerial roots in rainforest, Suriname

Norbert Wu / Mangrove (Rhizophoraceae) and Eelgrass (Zostera sp) provide shelter for young fish, Bahamas, Caribbean

Norbert Wu / Mangrove (Rhizophoraceae) and Eelgrass (Zostera sp) provide shelter for young fish, Bahamas, Caribbean

Norbert Wu / Mangrove (Rhizophoraceae) and Eelgrass (Zostera sp) filter out sediment, Bahamas, Caribbean

Scott Leslie / Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans) forest, Everglades National Park, Florida

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots providing shelter for school of small fish, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Upside-down Jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana) floating between the aerial roots of Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), Twin Cays, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Cushioned Star (Oreaster reticulatus) feeding in sea grass between the roots of Red Mangroves (Rhizophora mangle), Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) stand, Twin Cays, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots, Rio Grande, southern Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots, Rio Grande, southern Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots, Rio Grande, southern Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots, Rio Grande, southern Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) old growth stands clear cut, Hopkins, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), Twin Cays, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for tunicates, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Tunicate (Rhopalaea sp) group on Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots providing shelter for school of small fish, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots providing shelter for school of small fish, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots providing shelter for school of small fish, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) establishing itself between the aerial roots of a Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans), Twin Cays, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Sun Anemone (Stichodactyla helianthus) on mangrove roots which also provide shelter for young fish, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for Sun Anemones (Stichodactyla helianthus) and act as a shelter for small fish, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for Sun Anemones (Stichodactyla helianthus), Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots providing shelter for school of small fish, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots providing shelter for school of small fish, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Giant Caribbean Anemone (Condylactis gigantea) growing on the shallow bay bottom between mangrove roots, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Feather Duster Worm (Sabellidae) filter feeding while attached to aerial root of Red Mangroves (Rhizophora mangle), Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Pete Oxford / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) stand, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, Caribbean

Sandesh Kadur / A Khasi woman and children wash clothes along a stream. In the background is a living-root double-decker bridge in the background. These structures are created by entwining the aerial roots of the Fic...

Kevin Schafer / Spotted Fig (Ficus virens) tree that is parasatizing two trees showing aerial roots, Yungaburra, Atherton Tableland, Queensland, Australia

Nick Upton / Aerial view of Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) following tractor harvesting sugar beet, Norfolk, UK, January.

Nick Upton / Aerial view of Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) following tractor harvesting sugar beet, Norfolk, UK, January.

Pete Oxford / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots serve as important fish nursery, Belize

Pete Oxford / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots serve as important fish nursery, Belize

Pete Oxford / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots serve as important fish nursery, Belize

Pete Oxford / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots serve as important fish nursery, Belize

Pete Oxford / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) roots provide nursery for Schoolmaster (Lutjanus apodus) young, Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Pete Oxford / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots, Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Pete Oxford / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots, Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Pete Oxford / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Chien Lee / Mangrove (Rhizophora sp) aerial roots, Similajau National Park, Malaysia

Chien Lee / Mangrove (Rhizophora sp) aerial roots, Similajau National Park, Malaysia

Konrad Wothe / Spotted Fig (Ficus virens) tree that is parasatizing two trees showing aerial roots, Curtain Fig National Park, Atherton Tableland, Queensland, Australia

Ingo Arndt / Strangler fig in rainforest showing aerial roots, Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, Territory of Australia

Kevin Schafer / Sugar-Plum (Uapaca sp) stilt roots, Marojejy National Park, Madagascar

Konrad Wothe / Indian Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis), India

Konrad Wothe / Indian Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis) wrapping around host tree, Interview Island, India

Konrad Wothe / Indian Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis) showing aerial roots, India

Thomas Marent / Mangrove forest at low tide showing aerial roots, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia

Thomas Marent / Mangrove forest at low tide showing aerial roots, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia

Christian Ziegler / Mangrove (Rhizophora) stand in a lagoon, La Mosquitia, Honduras

Ingo Arndt / Fig (Ficus sp) showing aerial tree roots in the rainforest, Costa Rica

Patricio Robles Gil / Fig (Ficus sp) tree with giant roots and local guides at Espiritu Santo Island, protected area, Vanuatu Archipelago, New Hebrides

Tim Fitzharris / Hala (Pandanus tectorius) trees along Hana Coast, Maui, Hawaii

Tui De Roy / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial root props growing in sand, Tortuga Bay, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Adrian Davies / Bald cypress {Taxodium distichum} showing root knees, Big Cypress swamp Florida USA

Jabruson / Aerial root system of tree in rainforest, Odzala National Park, NW Republic of Congo

Hiroya Minakuchi / Mangroves, Kinabatangan River, Malaysia

Scott Leslie / Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans) aerial roots, Everglades National Park, Florida

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots, Rio Grande, southern Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots, Rio Grande, southern Belize

Christian Ziegler / Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans) aerial roots, Twin Cays, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans) aerial roots, Twin Cays, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots providing shelter for school of small fish, Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots providing shelter for school of small fish, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots providing shelter for school of small fish, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots offering shelter to fish, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) aerial roots provide space for a large community of invertebrates, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Christian Ziegler / Short-tail Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) resting between mangrove roots, Bastimentos Marine National Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Pete Oxford / Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) above and below water, Jardines de la Reina National Park, Cuba

Hiroya Minakuchi / Mangrove (Avicennia sp) aerial roots underwater, Borneo, Malaysia

Chien Lee / Pneumatophore and aerial roots in peat swamp forest, Bintulu, Borneo, Malaysia

Ingo Arndt / Rainforest interior showing variety of fauna, Christmas Island National Park, Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, Territory of Australia

Ingo Arndt / Rainforest interior showing variety of fauna, Christmas Island National Park, Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, Territory of Australia