green scene... bio jungle
nature's packaging
Packaging, whether natural or manufactured, serves a number of valuable purposes.
It can protect what’s inside, or it can be largely decorative. It can attract a buyer (in the human world) or attract other organisms (in the wild). It can also serve as camouflage. We humans might be very good at inventing ways to package ourselves and our property but, as usual, nature got there first and does it a lot more effectively…
slime
Packaging doesn’t have to be hard to be protective. Some species of parrot fish cover themselves in a slime cocoon while they sleep at night to protect themselves from predators like moray eels.
Bacteria use a slime to stop them drying out; after all they’re mostly made of water. Any animal that doesn't spend all its time in water is at risk of becoming too dry, so slime can come in very handy.
seeds
Are seeds the ultimate in natural packaging? They contain the embryo for a new plant and the food to get it off to a good start. It’s often a case of just add water, but some seeds are a bit tougher and need to have their hard seed coat (or testa) worn away before the moisture can get in to start germination.
spores
When resources are running low, many microbes will produce spores. These tiniest of packages are resistant to all but the harshest environments and protect the microbe’s genetic material while it waits, dormant, for favourable conditions to germinate and grow again.
fruit & nuts
Nuts are a dried fruit that can be very difficult to get at. A macadamia nut shell, for example, requires a pressure of 136 Kg per square inch to crack it!
And as everyone knows, fruits like the banana are covered in peel that does a pretty good job of protecting the fruit but it also allows easy access to the goodies – including the seeds - inside.
shells
Crustaceans, the class of hard-shelled animals that includes insects, shrimps and lobsters, have their skeleton on the outside so it doubles up as a protective packaging. But it’s the molluscs, like oysters and snails, who are the masters of armoured packaging. Their tough shells can long outlive the mushy creature inside.
Shells are mostly made up of calcium carbonate and a protein called conchiolin, and continue to grow throughout the animal’s life. A damaged shell can be repaired in a couple of days, providing the creature that owns it hasn’t been eaten in the meantime without its protection!
humans
How are humans packaged? We have a protective skin, which is lightly covered in oil to make us waterproof. Although the skin can be cut, it does a good job of keeping all of our innards in place while still allowing us the flexibility to move around. You can think of it as a stretchy packaging that accommodates the body inside, which is a good thing otherwise if we got fat we would pop!
eggs
Competing with seeds for the title of the best package in nature is the simple egg. Eggs may seem fragile but their shape means that they are actually very strong. Try squeezing an egg lengthways – it’ll be extremely hard to crack, as the force is spread over the whole egg (wear an apron though, just in case!).
An egg contains everything necessary for the developing embryo. The yolk nourishes the chick with protein whilst the white of the egg, or the albumin, provides a stable and safe environment for it to develop in.
It is the albumin that holds the yolk in place and acts as a cushioned barrier against knocks and blows. It also contains many antibacterial agents that provide a barrier against infection. In addition, the albumin regulates osmotic pressure (movement of water), pH (acid levels), viscosity (thickness), moisture loss and gas exchange to maintain the internal environment of the egg.
trees
Tree bark may seem dull but it’s a plant version of bubble wrap. Layer upon layer of cells wrap around the tree trunk in order to protect its valuable contents. You have to remember that the trunk of a tree is made up of phloem and xylem vessels that are important to the survival of a tree. They carry solutes down to the roots and water up to the growing shoots, so they really need to be protected.
cocoons
Caterpillars wrap themselves up while they change into butterflies, spiders wrap their eggs in silk and attach them to leaves. But the unique orb weaver spiders wrap up their prey so as to protect themselves from a meal that could bite back and prevent it from scuttling off. Same packaging, heaps of different and unique uses.
homes
Bees produce their own construction material out of wax secreted from special glands. Meanwhile wasps make paper from gnawing on wood, and mixing it with saliva to make a pulp, which they then spread out to make the combs that form its nest. Both of these materials and designs make the nests light, strong and durable.
A pair of bald eagles in Florida were reported to have built a nest measuring 2.9 metres across and 6 metres deep, it weighed an estimated 3 tonnes. In contrast, the vervain hummingbird builds a nest that is only about the size of half a walnut shell.
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