Woodland

This article is about the type of forest. For other uses, see Woodland (disambiguation).
Woodland in Belianske Tatras in Slovakia.

Woodland i/ˈwʊdlənd/ is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of primary or secondary succession. Higher densities and areas of trees, with largely closed canopy, provide extensive and nearly continuous shade and are referred to as forest.

Conservationists have worked hard to preserve woodlands. For example, the woodlands in Northwest Indiana have been preserved as part of the Indiana Dunes.[1][2][3]

Woodland is used in British woodland management to mean tree-covered areas which arose naturally and which are then managed, while forest is usually used in the British Isles to describe plantations, usually more extensive, or hunting Forests, which are a land use with a legal definition and may not be wooded at all.[4] The term "ancient woodland" is used in British nature conservation to refer to any wooded land that has existed since 1600, and often (though not always) for thousands of years, since the last ice age[4] (equivalent to the American term old-growth forest).

Woodlot is a closely related American term, which refers to a stand of trees generally used for firewood. While woodlots often technically have closed canopies, they are so small that light penetration from the edge makes them ecologically closer to woodland than forest.

Woodland ecoregions

A woodland ecosystem at Morton Arboretum in Illinois

Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

Montane grasslands and shrublands

Limber Pine woodland in the Toiyabe Range of central Nevada

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub

Mediterranean eucalypt forest in Australia

Deserts and xeric shrublands

References

  1. ↑ Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2006). Alice Gray, Dorothy Buell, and Naomi Svihla: Preservationists of Ogden Dunes. The South Shore Journal, 1. http://www.southshorejournal.org/index.php/issues/volume-1-2006/78-journals/vol-1-2006/117-alice-gray-dorothy-buell-and-naomi-svihla-preservationists-of-ogden-dunes
  2. ↑ Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2009). The Historical Roots of the Nature Conservancy in the Northwest Indiana/Chicagoland Region: From Science to Preservation. The South Shore Journal, 3. http://www.southshorejournal.org/index.php/issues/volume-3-2009/83-journals/vol-3-2009/75-the-historical-roots-of-the-nature-conservancy-in-the-northwest-indianachicagoland-region-from-science-to-preservation
  3. ↑ Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2007). The cultural impact of a museum in a small community: The Hour Glass of Ogden Dunes. The South Shore Journal, 2. http://www.southshorejournal.org/index.php/issues/volume-2-2007/82-journals/vol-2-2007/104-the-cultural-impact-of-a-museum-in-a-small-community-the-hour-glass-in-ogden-dunes
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Rackham, Oliver (2006). Woodlands (New Naturalist 100). London: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780007202447.

External links

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