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Canopy structure is the organization or spatial arrangement (three-dimensional geometry) of a plant canopy. Leaf area index, leaf area per unit ground area, is a key measure used to understand and compare plant canopies. The canopy is taller than the understory layer. The canopy holds 90% of the animals in the rainforest.
The canopy layer contains the majority of the largest trees, typically 30 metres (98 ft) to 45 metres (148 ft) tall. The densest areas of biodiversity are found in the forest canopy, a more or less continuous cover of foliage formed by adjacent treetops. The canopy, by some estimates, is home to 50 percent of all plant species.
The canopy can be divided into five layers: overstory canopy with emergent crowns, a medium layer of canopy, lower canopy, shrub level, and finally understory. [1] [3] [4] The canopy is home to many of the forest's animals, including apes and monkeys. Below the canopy, a lower understory hosts snakes and big cats.
The structure of a tropical rainforest is stratified into layers, each hosting unique ecosystems. These include the emergent layer with towering trees, the densely populated canopy layer, the understory layer rich in wildlife, and the forest floor, which is sparse due to low light penetration. The soil is characteristically nutrient-poor and ...
A liana is a long-stemmed woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. [1] The word liana does not refer to a taxonomic grouping, but rather a habit of plant growth – much like tree or shrub.
For forests, canopy refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms (epiphytes, lianas, arboreal animals, etc.). The canopy level is the third level of the temperate rainforest. The trees forming the canopy, conifers, can stand as tall as 100 metres or more. A variety of species ...
Plants in this layer have a large amount of fruit, seeds and flowers. Birds such as the toucan live in the canopy. The understory is the next layer where very little sunshine reaches; only about 2 to 15 percent of sunshine reaches the understory. The darkest layer is the forest floor, where most of the larger animals live. [6]
The tropical hardwood hammock shrub and herb layer is sparse, mostly consisting of seedlings and saplings of canopy and subcanopy trees and shrubs. One of the most important ecotonal communities associated with tropical hardwood hammocks is the hammock edge where it interfaces with pine rockland, buttonwood wetlands, marl prairie, or other ...