In a mature stage, the shady understory of the forest keeps things moist, and much of the debris consists of larger logs that are not easily ignited, so the “dead stuff” is less likely to serve as fuel for a fire.

Source: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/06/11/to-fight-wildfire-our-forests-need-to-grow-old-00101360

I thought it was super fun to read about that and get inspired, because that is the understory.

Source: https://www.slashfilm.com/1188252/knock-at-the-cabin-composer-herdis-stefansdottir-was-inspired-by-the-legendary-bernard-herrmann-exclusive-interview/

It’s recommended that you wear pants as devils club is a spiny prickly plant that makes up the understory in these forests.

Source: https://www.arrowlakesnews.com/community/connecting-kootenay-residents-to-old-growth-forests/

Solar-powered sensors, placed about one per hectare throughout the forest’s understory, detect wildfires in their early smouldering phase by ‘smelling’ tell-tale gases like hydrogen and carbon monoxide in microscopic quantities.

Source: https://thenextweb.com/news/ai-wildfires-europe-climate-change-firefighting

The little plants of the understory wilted.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/04/magazine/amazon-tipping-point.html