Peter Cairns / 2020VISION / Forest of scots pine after heavy snowfall, Cairngorms National Park, Scotland, March 2012. Did you know? Like many orchids, Scots pine trees have a symbiotic relationship with fungi - while the tree p...

Ross Hoddinott / 2020VISION / Wood ants (Formica rufa), Arne RSPB reserve, Dorset, England, UK, September. 2020VISION Book Plate. Did you know? Wood ants are ecologically important, protecting trees from parasites and recycling nu...

Peter Cairns / 2020VISION / View up through canopy of Silver birches (Betula pendula) in winter, Insh Marshes, Cairngorms NP, Highlands, Scotland, UK, December. Photographer quote: "Fingers and toes might protest at -15c, but on...

Wild Wonders of Europe / Shpilenok / Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) herd at salt lick, Cherniye Zemli (Black Earth) Nature Reserve, Kalmykia, Russia, May 2009

Ann & Steve Toon / Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) chewing bone to extract nutrients (osteophagy), Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa

Ann & Steve Toon / Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), chewing bone to extract nutrients (osteophagy), Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa

Sandesh Kadur / Common emigrant butterflies (Catopsilia pomona) gather on old tiger scat to absorb nutrients. The rains bring about an explosion of butterflies all over the Western Ghats. Western Ghats, Southern Indi...

Piotr Naskrecki / Parasitic Plant (Helosis cayennensis) obtains nutrients from roots of other plants, Sipaliwini, Surinam

Christian Ziegler / Roots along forest floor to get nutrients released by decaying litter rather than underground, Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Alex Hyde / Bird's Nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) flowering in coniferous woodland. The plant lacks chlorophyll and obtains nutrients from fungal hypae which it parasitises. Nordtirol, Tirol, Austrian Alps, Aus...

Robert Thompson / Bird's Nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) in flower. This species is non-photosynthetic and gains nutrients from other plants' roots and from symbiotic relationships with fungi. North of Plitvice Nation...

Robert Thompson / Bird's Nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) in flower. This species is non-photosynthetic and gains nutrients from other plants' roots and from symbiotic relationships with fungi. North of Plitvice Nation...

Diane McAllister / Northwestern fence lizard / Blue bellied lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis occidentalis) sunning itself on a fencepost. It is molting and will consume the shed skin for calcium and other nutrients. Palo...

Charlie Summers / Wild Horses (Equus caballus) licking the ground to gather trace nutrients. Montana, USA, June.

Chien Lee / Low's Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes lowii) derives nitrogen nutrients from droppings of Mountain Tree Shrew (Tupaia montana) which are attracted to the nectar secretions, inevitably leaving their scat in t...

Chien Lee / Low's Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes lowii) derives nitrogen nutrients from droppings of Mountain Tree Shrew (Tupaia montana) which are attracted to the nectar secretions, inevitably leaving their scat in t...

Tim Laman / Plant hopper nymph (superfamily Fulgoroidea) with a false "tail" formed of waxy residue of sugars discharged after the hopper extracts nutrients from sap. The filaments will break away if a bird tries...

Wild Wonders of Europe / Shpilenok / Saiga antelopes (Saiga tatarica) licking salt from the ground near Cherniye Zemli (Black Earth) Nature Reserve, Kalmykia, Russia, May 2009

Piotr Naskrecki / Pierid Butterfly (Pieridae) puddling on wet soil to extract mineral nutrients, Guyana

Piotr Naskrecki / Pierid Butterfly (Pieridae) puddling on wet soil to extract mineral nutrients, Guyana

Willem Kolvoort / Looking up at White water lily leaves (Nymphaea alba) through murky water, indicative of nutrient rich water, peat bog lake, Holland

Steven David Miller / Dead fish at lake edge, suffocated by algal bloom from too many nutrients in water and not enough oxygen, Lake Trafford, Florida, USA

Igor Shpilenok / Saiga {Saiga tatarica} lick ground for minerals, Cherniye Zemly Zapovednik, Russia.

Igor Shpilenok / Saiga {Saiga tatarica} licking ground for minerals Cherniye Zemly Zapovednik, Russia.

Duncan Usher / Bird's Nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) gains nutrients from fungus which lives in its roots, Europe

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Pierid Butterfly (Pieridae) puddling on wet soil at edge of river, probably imbibing mineral nutrients, Manu National Park Peru

Mike Parry / Spider Mangroves (Rhizophora stylosa) provide shade, trap and stabilize sediments, recycle nutrients and provide protective habitat for many species, Oro Bay, Papua New Guinea

Mark Moffett / Melastoma (Maieta sp) leaf where ants throw out debris, contains nodes to absorb nutrients, Peru

Mark Moffett / Ant Plant (Hydnophytum sp) which grows plastered to tree trunks, provides (Philidris sp) ants with a home, drawing nutrients from insect parts collected and brought home by the ants, Bako Park, Sarawa...

Christian Ziegler / Bird's Nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) receives nutrients from fungus symbionts, Lake Constance, Germany

Albert Lleal / Buttress roots, which stabilize the tree and pick up nutrients in shallow soils, Papua New Guinea

Steven David Miller / Dead fish suffocated by algal bloom from too many nutrients in water. Lake Trafford Florida, USA