|
Listen to the leaves crunching
underfoot as you walk along a wooded ridge in the brisk November
air. Or maybe you relish the spring forest musical: an orchestra
of birds or frogs performing against a pastel backdrop of budding
trees and wildflowers. Even the dead silence during a hike through
a snow-covered forest can be invigorating. There’s nothing like
a walk in the woods.
If you have woodland habitat on your
property, you're lucky. If not, why not create some? This chapter
will help you make the most of the benefits of new and existing
woodland wildlife habitat.
Woody habitat can be described in many ways, based
on location, community type, and other factors. For instance, woodlands
may be referred to as "upland forest" or "bottomland
forest." Another categorization refers to dominant species
or groups of species, such as oak-hickory forest, beech-maple forest,
aud hazelnut thicket. The Illinois Natural Areas Inventory classifies
Illinois forests and savannas into twenty-three different community
types. To simplify the concept of woody habitat, in this book we
address managing and creating all types of woody cover, including
forest, savannas, and shrubby cover. For purposes of discussion,
we define an area with more than 10% woody canopy coverage as woody
habitat and have categorized it into groups.
- Deciduous woodlands are closed-canopy woodlands dominated
by trees that seasonally lose their leaves, with an understory
of shade-tolerant trees, shrubs, and herbs.
- Savannas are open-canopy deciduous woodlands that usually
contain a moderate or abundant herbaceous layer, often composed
of both forest and grassland species.
- Evergreen groves are woodlands dominated by coniferous or
evergreen trees, those that retain their leaves year-round.
- Wildlife fencerows are linear woody cover that may be deciduous
or coniferous trees and shrubs or a combination.
- Shrub thickets are woody cover composed primarily of closely
spaced shrubs or small trees.
- Shrub borders are linear woody cover, primarily shrubs and
small trees, along the edges of a forest.
To supplement the general information in this chapter,
Table 4.1 provides advice for specific types of Illinois forests
and other woody habitats.
|
