What lies beneath the vegetation?
Forest floor: The dead leaves, branches and other dead organic material is collectively known as leaf litter, which accumulates on the forest floor.
Humus: The leaf litter is broken down by the action of animals, fungi and bacteria into smaller unrecognizable pieces. The organic material often becomes mixed with the upper layers of the mineral soil through the action of burrowing animals to form a nutrient-rich organic layer in which you find thick tangles of plant roots.
Mineral soil: Beneath the organic layers of leaf litter and humus is mineral soil or in some cases bedrock. This soil is typically composed of particles of clay, sand and silt that have been formed by the weathering (freezing, thawing, heating, and water action) of underlying rock. The nutrients from the surface litter and humus layers are leached by rainwater into the mineral soil.
Humus: The leaf litter is broken down by the action of animals, fungi and bacteria into smaller unrecognizable pieces. The organic material often becomes mixed with the upper layers of the mineral soil through the action of burrowing animals to form a nutrient-rich organic layer in which you find thick tangles of plant roots.
Mineral soil: Beneath the organic layers of leaf litter and humus is mineral soil or in some cases bedrock. This soil is typically composed of particles of clay, sand and silt that have been formed by the weathering (freezing, thawing, heating, and water action) of underlying rock. The nutrients from the surface litter and humus layers are leached by rainwater into the mineral soil.
What layers form in a forest?
There are many layers of vegetation and associated animal life in a temperate forest. The most noticeable and defining feature of a forest are the trees, which modify the physical conditions for all plants and animals that live below.
Canopy: The upper branches of the tallest trees capture much of the sunlight forming a cover (or canopy) over all other plants and animals. The canopy may be dense with little light penetrating to the lower layers or it may have gaps or openings creating patches of direct light reaching the lower layers. If there are deciduous trees forming the canopy, these trees will lose their leaves in the fall and create seasonal patches of direct light during the winter and early spring.
Understory: All the plants that grow beneath the forest canopy. The understory consists of young trees, tree species that have shorter maximum height, shrubs, herbs and plants that line the forest floor.
Canopy: The upper branches of the tallest trees capture much of the sunlight forming a cover (or canopy) over all other plants and animals. The canopy may be dense with little light penetrating to the lower layers or it may have gaps or openings creating patches of direct light reaching the lower layers. If there are deciduous trees forming the canopy, these trees will lose their leaves in the fall and create seasonal patches of direct light during the winter and early spring.
Understory: All the plants that grow beneath the forest canopy. The understory consists of young trees, tree species that have shorter maximum height, shrubs, herbs and plants that line the forest floor.
Shrubs: Plants with multiple woody stems that typically grow less than 6 metres tall.
Herbs: Plants that do not have woody stems and die at the end of the growing season (annuals) or drop their leaves and remain dormant until the following spring (biennials or perennials). |