BIOL150 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Benthic Zone, Thermocline, Photic Zone
20 Jul 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Forests have multiple layers that is defined by level: canopy or upper layer is primary site of photosynthesis and exerts a major influence on rest of forest. If fairly open, lots of light can reach lower layers, allowing for understory to grow very well if nutrients and water are available. If dense and closed, light levels are lower and understory and shrub layers are negatively affected: understory contains tall shrubs, small-statured trees, and saplings. Grasslands also have vertical structures: canopy refers to grasses that exceed 1m in height, understory contains grasses and forbs of lower stature, and forbs with basal rosettes hug the soil surface in the ground startum. Clear lake may include metalimnion, in turbid it may not even include all of the epilimnion. Decomposers are typically more abundant on the forest floor and in soil or sediment layers.
