Woodlands may support anunderstory of shrubs andherbaceous plants includinggrasses. Woodland may form a transition toshrubland under drier conditions or during early stages ofprimary orsecondary succession. Higher-density areas of trees with a largely closed canopy that provides extensive and nearly continuous shade are often referred to asforests.
Woodland is used inBritishwoodland management to mean tree-covered areas which arose naturally and which are then managed. At the same time,forest is usually used in theBritish Isles to describeplantations, usually more extensive, or huntingforests, which are a land use with a legal definition and may not be wooded at all.[7] The termancient woodland is used in Britishnature conservation to refer to any wooded land that has existed since 1600, and often (though not always) for thousands of years, since thelast Ice Age[7] (equivalent to the American termold-growth forest)
In ecosystem conservation, the term woodland refers to the plants,animals, and otherbiota that live in and under scattered trees that are spaced so that they produce more shade than a savanna but less than a forest. In centralNorth America, the most numerous woodland trees are oaks. Woodlands typically require regular fire to maintain theirbiodiversity. Woodlands were historically among the most widespread ecosystem types but now are restricted to sites that receive regularprescribed burns or persist on very poor or dry soils. Details differ, as seen in definitions and examples given forIllinois,[8]Wisconsin,[9] and elsewhere in theMidwest.[10]
InAustralia, a woodland is defined as an area with a sparse (10–30%) cover of trees, and an open woodland has a very sparse (<10%) cover. Woodlands are also subdivided into tall woodlands or low woodlands if their trees are over 30 m (98 ft) or under 10 m (33 ft) high, respectively. This contrasts with forests, which have more than 30% of their area covered by trees.[11]
^"A simplified look at Australia's vegetation".Information about Australia's Flora: The Australian Environment. Canberra: Australian National Botanic Gardens and Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research. 24 December 2015. Retrieved15 February 2017.
Media related toWoodlands at Wikimedia Commons
