Regards plant life generally, one rather stunning realisation for me is how recent many of the now-dominant forms are.
Grass is younger than the dinosaurs. Flowering plants evolved during their reign. The major crops of the world (wheat, maize, rice) are all largely human-engineered, through artificial selection over the past few thousand years.
There's a lot of competition in the primary-producer niche.
Regards plant life generally, one rather stunning realisation for me is how recent many of the now-dominant forms are.
Grass is younger than the dinosaurs. Flowering plants evolved during their reign. The major crops of the world (wheat, maize, rice) are all largely human-engineered, through artificial selection over the past few thousand years.
There's a lot of competition in the primary-producer niche.