
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''
plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density
forest forming open
habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see differences between British, American, and Australian English explained below). 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-density areas of trees with a largely closed
canopy that provides extensive and nearly continuous
shade are often referred to as
forests.
Extensive efforts by
conservationist groups have been made to preserve woodlands from
urbanization and
agriculture. For example, the woodlands of
Northwest Indiana have been preserved as part of the
Indiana Dunes.
Definitions
United Kingdom
''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.
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 (equivalent to the American term
old-growth forest).
North America
Woodlot is a closely related term in
American forest management, 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.
Australia
In Australia, a woodland is defined as an area with sparse (10–30%) cover of trees, and an open woodland has very sparse (<10%) cover. Woodlands are also subdivided into tall woodlands, or low woodlands, if their trees are over or under high respectively. This contrasts with forests, which have greater than 30% cover by trees.
Oak disease
Sudden oak death (SOD), an oak disease, results from ''
Phytophthora ramorum'', a pathogen that thrives in moist, humid conditions.
This causal agent attacks the
phloem and
cambium of oaks, allowing beetle and fungi infestation. It has killed millions of
tanoaks since it was discovered in the mid-1990s. SOD does not affect white oaks and drier areas like foothill woodlands, but affects forests and more moist conditions like live oak woodlands and forests, which have been significantly impacted.
Woodland ecoregions
Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
*
Afrotropical realm
**
Angolan miombo woodlands (
Angola)
**
Angolan mopane woodlands (
Angola,
Namibia)
**
Central Zambezian miombo woodlands (
Angola,
Burundi,
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Malawi,
Tanzania,
Zambia)
**
Eastern miombo woodlands (
Mozambique,
Tanzania)
**
Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands (
Botswana,
Namibia,
South Africa,
Zimbabwe)
**
Zambezian and mopane woodlands (
Botswana,
Eswatini,
Malawi,
Mozambique,
Namibia,
South Africa,
Zambia,
Zimbabwe)
**
Zambezian Baikiaea woodlands (
Angola,
Botswana,
Namibia,
Zambia,
Zimbabwe)
*
Neotropical realm
**
Cerrado woodlands and savannas (
Bolivia, Brazil,
Paraguay)
Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
*
Afrotropical realm
**
Al Hajar montane woodlands (
Oman)
*
Palearctic realm
**
Gissaro-Alai open woodlands (
Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan)
Montane grasslands and shrublands

*
Afrotropical realm
**
Angolan Scarp savanna and woodlands (
Angola)
**
Drakensberg alti-montane grasslands and woodlands (
Lesotho, South Africa)
**
Drakensberg montane grasslands, woodlands and forests (
Eswatini,
Lesotho, South Africa)
**
East African montane moorlands (
Kenya,
Sudan,
Tanzania,
Uganda)
**
Ethiopian montane grasslands and woodlands (
Ethiopia)
*
Palearctic realm
**
Kopet Dag woodlands and forest steppe (
Iran,
Turkmenistan)
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub

*
Australasian realm
**
Coolgardie woodlands (Australia)
**
Mount Lofty woodlands (Australia)
**
Murray-Darling woodlands and mallee (Australia)
**
Naracoorte woodlands (Australia)
**
Southwest Australia woodlands (Australia)
*
Nearctic realm
**
California chaparral and woodlands (United States)
*
Palearctic realm
* Baccanico (berrywood) an area with a high density of all sorts of berry ("berry" in Italian "bacca") trees.
**
Canary Islands dry woodlands and forests (
Spain)
**
Mediterranean acacia-argania dry woodlands and succulent thickets (
Morocco,
Canary Islands (Spain))
**
Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe (
Algeria,
Egypt,
Libya,
Morocco,
Tunisia)
**
Mediterranean woodlands and forests (
Algeria,
Morocco,
Tunisia)
**
Southeastern Iberian shrubs and woodlands (Spain)
Deserts and xeric shrublands
*
Afrotropical realm
**
East Saharan montane xeric woodlands (
Chad,
Sudan)
**
Madagascar succulent woodlands (
Madagascar)
**
Somali montane xeric woodlands (
Somalia)
**
Southwestern Arabian montane woodlands (
Saudi Arabia,
Yemen)
*
Palearctic realm
**
Baluchistan xeric woodlands (
Afghanistan,
Pakistan)
**
Central Afghan Mountains xeric woodlands (
Afghanistan)
**
Central Asian riparian woodlands (
Kazakhstan)
**
North Saharan steppe and woodlands (
Algeria,
Egypt,
Libya,
Morocco Tunisia,
Western Sahara)
**
Paropamisus xeric woodlands (
Afghanistan)
**
South Saharan steppe and woodlands (
Algeria,
Chad,
Mali,
Mauritania,
Niger,
Sudan)
**
Tibesti-Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands (
Chad,
Egypt,
Libya,
Sudan)
**
West Saharan montane xeric woodlands (
Algeria,
Mali,
Mauritania,
Niger)
See also
References
External links
*
The UK Woodland TrustWoodland Bond{{Vegetation
Category:Forests
Category:Habitats