In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but above the forest floor. Only a small percentage of light penetrates the canopy so understory vegetation is generally shade-tolerant. The understory typically consists of trees stunted through lack of light, other small trees with low light requirements, saplings, shrubs, vines and undergrowth. Small trees such as holly and dogwood are understory specialists.
In temperate deciduous forests, many understory plants start into growth earlier in the year than the canopy trees, to make use of the greater availability of light at that particular time of year. A gap in the canopy caused by the death of a tree stimulates the potential emergent trees into competitive growth as they grow upwards to fill the gap. These trees tend to have straight trunks and few lower branches. At the same time, the bushes, undergrowth, and plant life on the forest floor become denser. The understory experiences greater humidity than the canopy, and the shaded ground does not vary in temperature as much as open ground. This causes a proliferation of ferns, mosses, and fungi and encourages nutrient recycling, which provides favorable habitats for many animals and plants.
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. Young canopy trees often persist in the understory for decades as suppressed juveniles until an opening in the forest overstory permits their growth into the canopy. In contrast understory shrubs complete their life cycles in the shade of the forest canopy. Some smaller tree species, such as dogwood and holly, rarely grow tall and generally are understory trees.
The canopy of a tropical forest is typically about 10m thick, and intercepts around 95% of the sunlight.[1] The understory therefore receives less intense light than plants in the canopy and such light as does penetrate is impoverished in wavelengths of light that are most effective for photosynthesis. Understory plants therefore must be shade tolerant—they must be able to photosynthesize adequately using such light as does reach their leaves. They often are able to use wavelengths that canopy plants cannot. In temperate deciduous forests towards the end of the leafless season, understory plants take advantage of the shelter of the still leafless canopy plants to "leaf out" before the canopy trees do. This is important because it provides the understory plants with a window in which to photosynthesize without the canopy shading them. This brief period (usually 1–2 weeks) is often a crucial period in which the plant can maintain a net positive carbon balance over the course of the year.
As a rule forest understories also experience higher humidity than exposed areas. The forest canopy reduces solar radiation, so the ground does not heat up or cool down as rapidly as open ground. Consequently, the understory dries out more slowly than more exposed areas do. The greater humidity encourages epiphytes such as ferns and mosses, and allows fungi and other decomposers to flourish. This drives nutrient cycling, and provides favorable microclimates for many animals and plants, such as the pygmy marmoset.[2]
^"Light in the Rain Forest". garden.org. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
^Kramer, David M.; Johnson, Giles; Kiirats, Olavi; Edwards, Gerald E. (February 2004). "New Fluorescence Parameters for the Determination of QA Redox State and Excitation Energy Fluxes". Photosynthesis Research. 79 (2): 209. doi:10.1023/B:PRES.0000015391.99477.0d. PMID 16228395. S2CID 15860339.
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For the 2007 novel by Pamela Erens see The Understory This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Understory news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message In forestry and ecology understory American English or understorey Commonwealth English also known as underbrush or undergrowth includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent but above the forest floor Only a small percentage of light penetrates the canopy so understory vegetation is generally shade tolerant The understory typically consists of trees stunted through lack of light other small trees with low light requirements saplings shrubs vines and undergrowth Small trees such as holly and dogwood are understory specialists Lesser celandine Ficaria verna on forest floor in springIn temperate deciduous forests many understory plants start into growth earlier in the year than the canopy trees to make use of the greater availability of light at that particular time of year A gap in the canopy caused by the death of a tree stimulates the potential emergent trees into competitive growth as they grow upwards to fill the gap These trees tend to have straight trunks and few lower branches At the same time the bushes undergrowth and plant life on the forest floor become denser The understory experiences greater humidity than the canopy and the shaded ground does not vary in temperature as much as open ground This causes a proliferation of ferns mosses and fungi and encourages nutrient recycling which provides favorable habitats for many animals and plants Contents 1 Understory structure 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksUnderstory structure edit nbsp Tree base showing moss understory limit source source source source source source source Summer understory growing near the Angel Springs Trailhead of Myra Bellevue Provincial ParkThe 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 Young canopy trees often persist in the understory for decades as suppressed juveniles until an opening in the forest overstory permits their growth into the canopy In contrast understory shrubs complete their life cycles in the shade of the forest canopy Some smaller tree species such as dogwood and holly rarely grow tall and generally are understory trees The canopy of a tropical forest is typically about 10m thick and intercepts around 95 of the sunlight 1 The understory therefore receives less intense light than plants in the canopy and such light as does penetrate is impoverished in wavelengths of light that are most effective for photosynthesis Understory plants therefore must be shade tolerant they must be able to photosynthesize adequately using such light as does reach their leaves They often are able to use wavelengths that canopy plants cannot In temperate deciduous forests towards the end of the leafless season understory plants take advantage of the shelter of the still leafless canopy plants to leaf out before the canopy trees do This is important because it provides the understory plants with a window in which to photosynthesize without the canopy shading them This brief period usually 1 2 weeks is often a crucial period in which the plant can maintain a net positive carbon balance over the course of the year As a rule forest understories also experience higher humidity than exposed areas The forest canopy reduces solar radiation so the ground does not heat up or cool down as rapidly as open ground Consequently the understory dries out more slowly than more exposed areas do The greater humidity encourages epiphytes such as ferns and mosses and allows fungi and other decomposers to flourish This drives nutrient cycling and provides favorable microclimates for many animals and plants such as the pygmy marmoset 2 See also editFire stick farming Layers of rainforests OvergrazingReferences edit Light in the Rain Forest garden org Retrieved 8 January 2016 Kramer David M Johnson Giles Kiirats Olavi Edwards Gerald E February 2004 New Fluorescence Parameters for the Determination of QA Redox State and Excitation Energy Fluxes Photosynthesis Research 79 2 209 doi 10 1023 B PRES 0000015391 99477 0d PMID 16228395 S2CID 15860339 External links edit nbsp Look up understory in Wiktionary the free dictionary https www eolss net sample chapters C10 E5 03 01 08 pdf nbsp Media related to underbrush at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Understory amp oldid 1187411665, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
