Layers of a Forest

Canopy
A tree’s upper branches are called the crown. The canopy is a horizontal layer of tree crowns making up the top layer of a forest. The fast growing trees can grow taller then others around and are called dominant. Dominant trees form an upper canopy. Trees with crowns making up most of the canopy may be called co-dominant.

Understory
The understory includes the shorter trees in the forest. Some are young trees, but others are trees that are just growing slowly because they don’t get much light filtering through the dense canopy. These may be called suppressed trees. The understory also has bushes and other plants, as well as snags (dead trees that are still standing).

Forest Floor
The forest floor, beneath the understory, includes leaf litter, rocks, fallen logs, stumps, small plants, moss, mushrooms, and seedlings.

Subfloor
The subfloor includes everything underneath the ground, including soil, rocks, roots, and animal tunnels.

Animal Homes
Just like people, forest animals need three basic things to survive: food, water and shelter. Many animals are able to find all these in one layer. Some animals may move from layer to layer to get what they need. An owl may nest in the canopy for shelter and hunt for mice on the forest floor. Read the Animals of Port Blakely Fact Sheet to learn about the different types of wildlife that live in Port Blakely’s forests.

List the various animals by the layer or layers where you think they find food and shelter.

Adapted from "Who Lives Here?", Pack Forest Teacher's Guide.
Center for Sustainable Forestry at Pack Forest, 2005