0 a layer of plants and bushes that grows under the canopy (= the thick, high roof formed by branches and leaves) of a forest:
Our sample size for understorey trees (only six species) may not be representative.
In fact, the understorey during the dry season was hotter and drier than the lab clearing in the rainy season.
Two gap and understorey paired sites, one in each of the forest types were used in both rainy and dry seasons.
If competition for light or soil resources is important in the understorey, recently abandoned nests could constitute competition-free sites where successful recruitment is more likely.
In conclusion, we have found that leaf-cutting ant nests can change the understorey plant community greatly.
In addition to soil effects, recruitment on abandoned nests could be affected by interactions among understorey plant species.
Integration of the soil moisture over both layers can lead to similar soil moisture values as in the understorey.
In understorey plots where five seedlings with four or more leaves could not be found, every available leaf was sampled.
