Edificator

a plant species having a clearly defined habitat-formation ability, that is, the ability to determine the structure and, to a certain extent, the species composition of a plant community, or phytocoenosis. Edificators have a great effect on the environment and, through it, on the lives of the other plants in the community. An example is the fir, whose dense crown retains as much as 50 percent of the precipitation and allows little light to filter through. As a result, it is always dark in a dense fir forest, and only shade-tolerant vegetation can live there. In addition, there is an increased content of watery vapors and carbon dioxide under the foliage canopy of fir trees. The temperature drops during the day and rises at night (in comparison with neighboring open spaces), thereby affecting the average annual temperature within the forest. Edificators are of great importance within the system of phytocoenotypes.