When I was little, I received several collectables along with the Sunday newspaper. One of my most treasured memories — and possessions — is two collections of National Geographic’s Encyclopedia of Animals, each volume featuring 2 DVDs with documentaries about animals from the pages. I remember watching and rewatching them; the imagery was spectacular, and the scripts were amazing. They explained many ecological concepts in an engaging and accurate way.

A lot can be learned about the natural environment through documentaries, which is particularly useful given the seemingly increasing disconnection between humans and nature. About 55% of the world’s population lives in cities, a number projected to rise to 68% by 2050 [1]. Growing in such an environment, far away from what is “natural”, has some consequences.

The definition of an ecosystem is “a biological system composed of all the organisms found in a particular physical environment, interacting with it and each other” [3]. This means an ecosystem is a completely holistic concept that puts together the physical-chemical environment (such as soil, water, air, etc.) as well as every single living being inhabiting it. And even more, it includes the relationships among every living being. All things said an ecosystem is everything. One of the ways ecologists have to study ecosystems is trophic webs. 

Some people may recall the “trophic pyramid” from school – the diagram with grasses at the bottom, herbivores in the middle, then carnivores and superpredators at the top. However, this representation is an oversimplification that can lead us to assign a priority or a classification order to natural dynamics which does not reflect reality. In Ecology, it is more common to refer to webs instead of pyramids. Trophic webs are used to depict the structure of complex systems, such as ecosystems [4]. These webs consist of nodes (the species) and links between them (prey-predator relationships).

Organizing webs in a pyramid shape is just a way to visualize primary producers (plants), primary consumers (herbivores that eat plants) and secondary consumers (the animals that eat herbivores and/or plants). Other participants can include decomposers, which may be considered part of the secondary consumers. This hierarchical structure helps us understand the dynamics of an ecosystem, but it’s important to remember that it doesn’t imply superiority. A rabbit is not superior to a plant, a wolf to a squirrel, or a decomposer fungus to a bear. They all have their place in the web and are interconnected through feeding relationships.

In the 1960s, a dedicated team of scientists embarked on a journey into the wilderness, curious about how nature works. Immersed in some of the most remote and spectacular places on Earth, they discover a single set of rules that govern all life. These heroes share the thrilling stories of their adventures, revealing how their work flipped our view of nature, and giving us a chance to reimagine the world.