The Dark, Busy Floor
The forest floor is the bottom layer of the forest, where very little sunlight reaches. Only about 2% of sunlight makes it all the way down through the layers of leaves above. This makes it dim, cool, and moist — perfect for certain types of life.
The ground is covered in a thick carpet of fallen leaves, twigs, bark, and dead plants. This layer of organic material is called leaf litter. It might look like just a bunch of old dead leaves, but it is actually teeming with life!
Millions of tiny creatures live in and under the leaf litter. Earthworms tunnel through the soil, eating dead plant material and turning it into rich soil. Beetles scurry under logs. Millipedes munch on rotting wood. Salamanders hide under damp leaves.
Fungi are some of the most important forest floor residents. Mushrooms pop up through the leaf litter, but most of the fungus is underground — thin threads called mycelium spread through the soil like a underground internet, connecting tree roots and sharing nutrients.
**Did You Know:** Scientists call the underground fungal network the 'Wood Wide Web' because trees use it to share food and send chemical warning signals to each other!