The exercises in this chapter have a twofold purpose. First, they will characterize the abiotic environment (i.e., the microclimate created by the forest). It is important to realize that forests not only grow in response to the local climatic factors, but also create their own microclimate. Second, while trees are the dominant—and most eye-catching—life form in a forest ecosystem, many other organisms thrive in the microenvironment created by the trees. Two of the following exercises characterize the other plants that inhabit students’ forest plots.