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The understory is the underlying layer of vegetation in a forest or wooded area, especially the trees and shrubs growing between the forest canopy and the forest floor. Plants in the understory comprise an assortment of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with specialist understory shrubs and herbs.
The characteristics trees in the lowland rain forest are those of family Dipterocarpaceae (Greek: di = two, pteron = wing and karpos = fruit). On Sumatra, 111 species of these trees have been recorded, six of which are endemic. [2] These trees in the canopy can reach 90 meters in height.
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 ...
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.
Many sites were logged extensively in the early 1990s reducing slash pine coverage and killing understory vegetation. Subsequent plantings in the late 1980s led to many even-aged stands with different stand densities. [19] The subcanopy is dominated by a variety of palms and tropical hardwoods, depending on the location, substrate, and fire regime.
Temperate coniferous forests sustain the highest levels of biomass in any terrestrial ecosystem and are notable for trees of massive proportions in temperate rainforest regions. [1] Structurally, these forests are rather simple, consisting of 2 layers generally: an overstory and understory. However, some forests may support a layer of shrubs.
The density of the trees determines the amount of light inside the forest. The force of heavy rainfall is reduced by the canopy and the passage of rainwater is fed more slowly downwards. The tree layer can be further subdivided into the upper tree layer or canopy and the lower tree layer or understory. [citation needed]
Tapura fischeri is a understory rainforest tree that grows to 44 ft (13 m) in height. It belongs to the family Dichapetalaceae. [1] Its most interesting characteristic is that the flowers occur in clusters of 1 or 2 dozen between the stalk of the leaf and its blade (); a unique location.