canopy trees
Uppermost woodland layer
Canopy trees are the tallest trees in a forest, forming the uppermost layer of foliage that receives direct sunlight.
This dense ceiling of branches and leaves—the canopy—shelters the understory below and hosts distinctive ecosystems.
In tropical rainforests especially, the canopy teems with life found nowhere else: Researchers built walkways to study canopy trees without disturbing the forest floor.
- epiphytesPlants growing on others
- carbon storageCapturing and containing CO2
- shadeDarkness from blocked light
- heightVertical extent upward
- emergent layerTopmost rainforest zone
tree crown · timber harvesting · microclimate · endemic species · wildlife corridors · tropical hardwoods · shelter · buttress roots · primates · eco-tourism · rainforest · flood mitigation · treetops · decomposers · stratification · dense · towering · vines
- biome plantsrainforest plants, desert flora, wetland plants, coastal plants, prairie grass
- permaculturefood forest, companion planting, polyculture, zones, swales
- plantstree, plants, leaves, bluebonnet, plant
- tropical plantshibiscus, bougainvillea, frangipani, mahogany, palms
- Appalachian florarhododendron, mountain laurel, tulip poplar, red spruce, trillium
canopy treesunderstory
Forest's lower vegetation tier
undergrowth · forest floor · ground cover · shrubs · leaf litter