Question: Why few plants are found growing on the forest floor?

Isabel Webb answered on 18 Mar 2014:

If you stand in a forest and look up, it can be quite dark. Trees on the ‘canopy’ (the top) of the forest spread their leaves out to try and get as much sunlight as possible. This then means that there isn’t much light left for plants on the ground. Plants on the ground tend to have large, dark green leaves, designed to try and catch as much light as they can. They try and find an area where sunlight can get through and live there – which is why plants on the forest floor often live in little patches.

The larger trees in forests are usually much better at getting water and nutrients from the soil because they have lots of big roots. The plants on the forest floor can’t get enough sunlight to get energy to grow big roots, so they are limited in how much water and nutrients they can get. They do, however, get nutrients from leaves that have fallen off the big trees and decomposed.

The lack of light, water and nutrients all add up to why plants struggle growing on the forest floor, and so only a few are adapted to live there.

Another factor is animal predators – it’s a lot easier for animals to eat the leaves on the floor than the leaves up in the trees! So generally there is more of a struggle to survive and avoid predators too.