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Every plant lives in a niche in whatever eco-system it finds itself in. Some plants, like tall trees that don't take well to pruning, will only ever be found in one sphere of an eco-system. Such trees will always be a part of the Canopy level of an eco-system. Other plants can sometimes take to the Canopy or stay lower down in the shrub layer.

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Agroforestry

Forest Gardening often refers to these eco-system niches as layers.

Relativity of terms

The terms are relative to the ecosystem. The canopy could be made up of tall trees, or small herbaceous plants.

List of ecosystem niches