Chien C. Lee

  • Select Portfolio
  • About
  • Connect
    • Contact
    • Instagram
    • Facebook
  • Events
    • Guided Trips
    • Exhibitions
    • Talks & Workshops
  • Full Image Library
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
49 images found
twitterlinkedinfacebook

Loading ()...

  • View of canopy of lowland mixed dipterocarp forest during a mass flowering event. Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1909658.jpg
  • An aerial perspective of northern Borneo's lowland rainforest reveals the heterogeneity and incredible diversity of trees that comprise this ecosystem. Various flushes of reds, oranges, and yellows among the canopy as seen here are the first indications of a periodic mass flowering event during which as many as 80% of the trees may bloom simultaneously before setting fruit. Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1909599.jpg
  • Aerial view of primary forest during a mass flowering event. Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1908851.jpg
  • An aerial view reveals the thick mist rising from the canopy after heavy rains on virgin rainforest in northern Borneo. These forests often receive over 4000ml of rain annually. Sabah, Malaysia.
    cld1201300.jpg
  • Crown shyness exhibited between the tight canopy of submontane rainforest. Mulu National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld2006239.jpg
  • A lone emergent Tapang (Koompassia excelsa) tree towers above the mist-shrouded canopy of the Borneo rainforest to catch the morning sun. This is one of the tallest tropical tree species with recorded heights of over 85 meters. Sabah, Malaysia.
    cld1408898.jpg
  • This lowland rainforest in New Guinea is dominated by large Licuala fan palms. Papua, Indonesia.
    cld1609587.jpg
  • An aerial view of virgin rainforest. Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1201292.jpg
  • Sunrise and mist over virgin rainforest in northern Borneo. Danum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, Malaysia.
    cld1907678.jpg
  • Dipterocarp trees (Shorea gardneri and S. trapezifolia) exhibiting crown shyness. Sinharaja National Park, Sri Lanka.
    cld1827873.jpg
  • Sunrise and mist over virgin rainforest in northern Borneo. Danum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, Malaysia.
    cld1908975.jpg
  • Dense mist often cloaks Borneo's rainforest at dawn, this being the water vapor rising from the transpiration of the forest itself. Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1907669.jpg
  • Sunrise and mist over virgin rainforest in northern Borneo. Danum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, Malaysia.
    cld1907679h.jpg
  • Lowland rainforest in Masoala National Park. Antsiranana, Madagascar.
    cld1509197.jpg
  • Canopy Slug-eating Snake (Sibon canopy), a new species described in January 2023, endemic to Panama. Panamá Oeste, Panama.
    cld2310680.jpg
  • Although the canopy of the Borneo rainforest is bathed in the heat of the equatorial sun, as little as 5 percent of sunlight reaches the forest floor. Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld08121009.jpg
  • The Black-bearded Tomb Bat (Taphozous melanopogon) roosts in caves and large rock crevices, emerging at night to feed on insects high above the forest canopy. It is found throughout much of mainland Southeast Asia as well as Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. It's echolocation calls while flying are audible as high pitched clicks. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld08021883.jpg
  • Smallest of all the anteaters, the Silky Anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) is seldom seen because it spends much of its life high in the rainforest canopy, often curled up as an indistinguishable ball of fluff. They have no teeth and can only defend themselves by means of their razor sharp sickle-like fore-claws, which are usually used for tearing open ant nests. Females bear a single youngster at a time, which is carried on their back until large enough to feed on its own. Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
    cld1812297.jpg
  • With tail feathers nearly a meter long, a male Black Sicklebill (Epimachus fastosus) struts his incredible plumage on a display perch high in the Arfak Mountains of West Papua. One of the largest of all the birds-of-paradise, this shy sicklebill is found only in remote cloud forests on the island of New Guinea. Although normally keeping to the tree tops, the male carefully selects an exposed perch lower in the canopy from where he will call and display for females at dawn.
    cld1608771.jpg
  • Wallace's Flying Frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus) is one of the largest of all tree frogs in Borneo. It is capable of gliding down from the forest canopy by using its enlarged webbed feet as parachutes. Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1404324.jpg
  • Like an ancient carven sculpture, the incredible buttress roots of this huge rainforest tree (Tachigali panamensis) belie its fleeting nature. Sometime called the ‘Suicide Tree’, it is truly monocarpic: after reaching maturity it will flower and set fruit only once and then die. Although monocarpy is a common adaptation among small herbaceous plants in seasonal habitats, it is extremely rare among large tropical trees, especially since rainforests are generally quite stable environments. This strategy may have evolved because it provides several possible advantages for the tree’s seedlings. For one, the infrequency of fruiting means that fewer seed predators can specialize on this species. Also, as the mother tree withers and eventually falls over, it creates an open gap in the forest canopy which is vital for the development of its young saplings underneath. Colón, Panama.
    cld2308728.jpg
  • The Black-naped Monarch (Hypothymis azurea) is an active insect-eating bird of the forest canopy. Males, such as the one pictured here, sport a richer blue plumage than the greyish-colored females. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld07013125.jpg
  • Pitcher plant (Nepenthes campanulata), a limestone lithophytic carnivorous plant, here growing on a cliff 250m above the rainforest canopy. Mulu National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld2005666p2.jpg
  • World within: the watery chamber of a carnivorous pitcher plant (Nepenthes ampullaria) hosts a myriad of tiny specialized creatures. An amplexing pair of the Matang Narrow-mouthed Frog (Microhyla nepenthicola), one of the world’s smallest amphibians, has visited the plant to deposit their eggs – they will breed nowhere else. They are flanked by a developing tadpole and the pupa of a predatory Elephant Mosquito (Toxorhynchites sp.). The plant benefits from everything entering the pitcher: detritus falling from the canopy above, insect prey that are drowned inside, or small visiting organisms like these that may help to break down the contents and leave their waste behind. Kubah National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1928968.jpg
  • Platycerium madagascaeriense, one of the most bizarre endemic plants of Madagascar. Like other staghorn ferns, this species is strictly an epiphyte, growing among the canopy branches of tall trees. It is becoming increasingly rare and difficult to find in the wild because of widespread deforestation in the wet submontane forests of the east coast. The unusual ruffled texture of the shield fronds is probably an adaptation to allow passageways for ants to live underneath – a relationship that is mutually beneficial for both plant and insect. Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar.
    cld1922503.jpg
  • Nearly a thousand kilometers from the nearest landmass, the islands of the Seychelles are distantly isolated at the western end of the Indian Ocean. Much of these granitic islands were once cloaked in dense rainforest, harboring a unique array of flora and fauna found nowhere else. Here, a grove of the Seychelles Stilt Palm (Verschaffeltia splendida) dominates the lower forest canopy with its enormous undivided leaves. Like many of the endemic plants it is under threat from both invasive species and habitat loss.
    cld1616722.jpg
  • Perhaps one of the most beautiful of all Borneo's frogs: the Borneo Flying Frog (Rhacophorus borneensis). These gliding amphibians spend most of their life in the tree canopy, only rarely descending to ground level. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1724123.jpg
  • Compact clumps of the rare pitcher plant Nepenthes campanulata grow on the vertical walls of a limestone cliff nearly a hundred meters above the canopy of the rainforest. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1712180.jpg
  • The fruits of this tenacious jungle vine (Alsomitra macrocarpa) hang from the branches of an emergent tree above the rainforest canopy.  The seeds which are released through a hole at the bottom of the fruit are equipped with a huge transparent wing which enables them to glide hundreds of yards before reaching the ground.  A classic example of mechanical dispersal in the forest. East Kalimantan, Indonesia (Borneo).
    cld06121913.jpg
  • The bizarre and rare Bornean Bristlehead (Pityriasis gymnocephala) is one of the most enigmatic birds of Borneo and is highly sought after by birdwatchers. It is the only member of its family and its nearest relations to other birds has been highly debated. Bristleheads are found in small nomadic flocks traveling in the middle to upper canopy where they feed on insects. Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1404804.jpg
  • A Red-shanked Douc (Pygathrix nemaeus) munches on a handful of young vine leaves it has picked in the forest canopy. Although these endangered monkeys feed on over sixty different species of plants, they select their food carefully and in particular avoid sweet fruits which can upset the balance of bacteria in their guts. Like other leaf-eating colobine monkeys, doucs have large chambered stomachs – making them the only ruminant primates and giving them their characteristic pot-bellied appearance. Son Tra Nature Reserve, Vietnam.
    cld2002730.jpg
  • Perhaps one of the most beautiful of all Borneo's frogs: the Borneo Flying Frog (Rhacophorus borneensis). These gliding amphibians spend most of their life in the tree canopy, only rarely descending to ground level. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1724109.jpg
  • Smallest of all the anteaters, the Silky Anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) is seldom seen because it spends much of its life high in the rainforest canopy, often curled up as an indistinguishable ball of fluff. They have no teeth and can only defend themselves by means of their razor sharp sickle-like fore-claws, which are usually used for tearing open ant nests. Females bear a single youngster at a time, which is carried on their back until large enough to feed on its own. Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
    cld1811525.jpg
  • In the Borneo rainforest, leaves are not always what they seem. Here, a beam of sunlight filtering down from the canopy illuminates an extraordinary insect. Officially described and named just last year, this leaf katydid (Eulophophyllum lobulatum) is one of two species in its genus on mainland Borneo that share the unusual wings and leaf-like legs, rendering it a marvel of animal crypsis. Although this male specimen is lime-green, females bear a striking pinkish coloration. Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1710142.jpg
  • A view from within the pitcher of this semi-carnivorous plant (Nepenthes ampullaria). Without a protective lid as in most other species of Nepenthes, the pitchers of N. ampullaria are exposed to rain as well as a continual fall of leaf litter from the forest canopy. In this way they are able to derive a significant portion of their nutrients from detritus. The dark objects on the inner rim are pupae of a Megaselia fly whose larvae feed on dead insects within the pitcher fluid. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1411617.jpg
  • Reds, oranges, yellows, and other bright colors among the rainforest canopy are a sign of a mass flowering event. Borneo's rainforests undergo a cyclic mass flowering every 4-6 years (usually triggered by a dry spell), during which the majority of the trees flower and fruit simultaneously. This periodic event is a fundamental factor in the ecology of nearly all rainforest organisms in Borneo.
    cld1909709.jpg
  • Smallest of all the anteaters, the Silky Anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) is seldom seen because it spends much of its life high in the rainforest canopy, often curled up as an indistinguishable ball of fluff. They have no teeth and can only defend themselves by means of their razor sharp sickle-like fore-claws, which are usually used for tearing open ant nests. Females bear a single youngster at a time, which is carried on their back until large enough to feed on its own. Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
    cld1812234.jpg
  • Endemic to the Amazon Basin, the Reticulated Poison Frog (Ranitomeya ventrimaculata) is a small species, reaching only 2cm in length. Adults live on the forest floor but venture up to 40m in the canopy to deposit their eggs in the water-filled bromeliads. Yasuní National Park, Ecuador.
    cld1808087.jpg
  • A twisted liana winds its way into the canopy among the virgin rainforest of Tawau Hills National Park in northern Borneo. Home to some of the tallest tropical trees in the world, the forests in these hills is inhabited by a rich diversity of wildlife. Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1801976.jpg
  • The bizarre and rare Bornean Bristlehead (Pityriasis gymnocephala) is one of the most enigmatic birds of Borneo and is highly sought after by birdwatchers. It is the only member of its family and its nearest relations to other birds has been highly debated. Bristleheads are found in small nomadic flocks traveling in the middle to upper canopy where they feed on insects. Sabah, Malaysia.
    cld1405089.jpg
  • Wallace’s Flying Frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus) is one of the largest of all tree frogs in Borneo. It is capable of gliding down from the forest canopy by using its enlarged webbed feet as parachutes. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1702577.jpg
  • Seeds of Alsomitra macrocarpa, a large tropical climbing vine, lie scattered on the forest floor.  Each seeds is adorned with a large transparent wing which enables it to glide slowly down from the rainforest canopy, sometimes traveling hundreds of yards. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld10032604.jpg
  • In the coastal forests of northern Borneo, a young Silvery Lutung (Trachypithecus cristatus) is groomed by its mother. Like many leaf monkey species, these highly social primates display brightly colored fur when born that gradually fades after several months into their adult coloration. The exact reason for this adaption is uncertain, but it may help in protection: members of the group can easily distinguish their vulnerable young at a glance, or locate them quickly in the dense foliage of the rainforest canopy. Another interesting theory is that certain predators such as Clouded Leopards, are red/green colorblind, so an orangish pelt may actually be an effective camouflage. Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1931421.jpg
  • The handsomely-proportioned Short-legged Ground-roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus) belongs to yet another of Madagascar’s endemic bird families, Brachypteraciidae. Patchily distributed in the rainforests of eastern Madagascar, it is a seldom-seen species owing to its habit of perching completely still and quiet for long periods of time in the lower canopy. They feed on large insects and other invertebrates. Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar.
    cld1917089.jpg
  • Often mistaken for a trail of marauding ants, the lichen-feeding Processional Termites (Hospitalitermes spp.) are quite unlike most of their kin not only in the fact that they don't eat wood, but they also forage in the open, often during daylight. Their wide columns of workers can form an impressive sight as they flow like a stream over a hundred meters in the Bornean rainforest, returning with balls of lichen they have scraped from the bark of branches high in the canopy. How can they afford to venture out in the open whereas most other termites are furtive creatures of darkness and secrecy? The answer lies with their defense: they devote as much as 30% of their ranks to soldiers, which are equipped with chemical-squirting nozzles on their heads to repel ants, their prime enemy. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld10102685.jpg
  • The bizzare Naked Bat (Cheiromeles torquatus) is the heaviest insectivorous bat in the world and, as its name suggests, is almost completely hairless. It often hunts insects above the forest canopy or along rivers, but also occasionally descends to the ground to catch crawling prey. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1302289.jpg
  • A bird's eye view of one of the most unusual pitcher plants in Borneo: Nepenthes veitchii. Whilst most other Nepenthes utilize their looping tendrils to climb higher into vegetation, this species is unique in its 'tree-hugging' growth habit. Starting from the ground up, the thick leathery leaves wrap snugly around the side of the host tree, enabling the plant to reach high into the bright canopy. The beautiful hairy pitchers can reach over 20cm in length and with their slippery wide peristome (toothed rim) they are efficient insect traps. Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld1105892.jpg
  • Smallest of all the anteaters, the Silky Anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) is seldom seen because it spends much of its life high in the rainforest canopy, often curled up as an indistinguishable ball of fluff. They have no teeth and can only defend themselves by means of their razor sharp sickle-like fore-claws, which are usually used for tearing open ant nests. Females bear a single youngster at a time, which is carried on their back until large enough to feed on its own. Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
    cld1811402.jpg
  • Seeds of Alsomitra macrocarpa, a large tropical climbing vine, lie scattered on the forest floor.  Each seeds is adorned with a large transparent wing which enables it to glide slowly down from the rainforest canopy, sometimes traveling hundreds of yards. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
    cld10032605.jpg