Understorey (less than 3m)

Goats prefer some plant species to others.  They are often used by farmers to control gorse, but goats, sensibly, eat other less prickly species before starting on the softer new gorse shoots.  Goats often move from pasture into forest and reduce the number of species in the understorey.

Photograph: Crown Copyright: Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai, 2014