All Images
News Release 11-057
Stranglers of the Tropics--and Beyond
Rampant woody vines, or lianas, are choking trees, changing tropical and temperate forest ecosystems
This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.
Explore the exotic--and sometimes destructive--beauty of lianas in this photo gallery.
Credit: National Science Foundation
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (101 KB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
What a tangled web lianas weave--in tropical forests, where they're taking over prime real estate.
Credit: Stefan Schnitzer
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (1.2 MB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
Bauhinia is an all-too-common tropical liana, twining around and competing with forest trees.
Credit: Stefan Schnitzer
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (2.7 MB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
Ecologist Stefan Schnitzer studies lianas, or woody vines, in Panama and other tropical countries.
Credit: Stefan Schnitzer
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (2.5 MB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
Oriental bittersweet vine is obscuring trees in forests far beyond the tropics.
Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (1 MB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
Kudzu--the woody vine that ate the American South--soon covers everything in its path.
Credit: USGS
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (91 KB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.
Lovely but deadly: seed of an Entada vine, a liana common throughout the tropics.
Credit: Stefan Schnitzer
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (184 KB)
Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.