The day I learned to see structure in habitat, it was as though I was seeing for the first time. I had been invited into the house where previously I was catching only glimpses of life through the windows.
Vertical structure is described as layers in a natural community.
These seven layers, or levels, are underground, ground, herbaceous, shrub, midstory, canopy and supracanopy. Each natural community has a different vertical structure. In some, such as a meadow, the canopy is absent. In other places, the shrub layer or midstory may be missing because a dense canopy limits the sunlight reaching the forest floor. Wildlife species have made adaptations to satisfy their requirements for food and cover and, accordingly, use of forest layers differs among species.