0 a layer of plants and bushes that grows under the canopy of a forest (= the branches and leaves that spread out at the top of a group of trees forming a type of roof):
So the low-intensity fires would burn in the understory and commonly would scar the base of a tree.
Thick bark protects it from burning in lightning-caused fires, which open cones and clear the understory, allowing saplings to find light and prosper.
That is, they didn't burn frequently with understory fires.
It blocks out all the light so there is no understory, and it's pulling down all these trees.
And in that recording, you could hear there was a great tinamou, which is an understory bird species.
Its floor has a very irregular topography that betrays a former badland, with the understory of long grass now partially masking old erosional pedestals.
In several places the trees and their understory conceal the irregular floor of old tepetate badlands.
Understory thickets sprang up throughout most of the woodland, and especially in edge situations.
