Woodland
Woodland /ˈwʊdlənd/ ( listen) 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
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 referred to as forests. Extensive efforts by conservationist groups have been made to preserve woodlands from urbanization and agriculture. The woodlands in Northwest Indiana being an example, having been preserved as part of the Indiana Dunes.[1][2][3]

Contents

1 Definitions

1.1 United Kingdom 1.2 North America 1.3 Australia

2 Oak disease 3 Woodland
Woodland ecoregions

3.1 Tropical
Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands 3.2 Temperate
Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands 3.3 Montane
Montane grasslands and shrublands 3.4 Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub 3.5 Deserts and xeric shrublands

4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Definitions[edit] United Kingdom[edit] Woodland
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
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). North America[edit] 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. Australia[edit] 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 30 m (98 ft) or under 10 m (33 ft) high respectively. This contrasts with forests, which have greater than 30% cover by trees.[5] Oak disease[edit] Sudden oak death (SOD), an oak disease, results from Phytophthora ramorum, a pathogen that thrives in moist, humid conditions[6]. 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[6]. Woodland
Woodland ecoregions[edit]

A woodland ecosystem at Morton Arboretum
Morton Arboretum in Illinois

An open woodland in Northern Illinois
Illinois supporting an herbaceous understory of forbs and grasses

Tropical
Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands[edit]

Afrotropic ecozone

Angolan Miombo woodlands
Angolan Miombo woodlands (Angola) Angolan Mopane woodlands
Angolan Mopane woodlands (Angola, Namibia) Central Zambezian Miombo woodlands
Central Zambezian Miombo woodlands (Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia) Eastern Miombo woodlands (Mozambique, Tanzania) Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands
Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe) Zambezian and Mopane woodlands
Zambezian and Mopane woodlands (Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe) Zambezian Baikiaea woodlands (Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe)

Neotropic ecozone

Cerrado woodlands and savannas
Cerrado woodlands and savannas (Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay)

Temperate
Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands[edit]

Afrotropic Ecozone

Al Hajar Al Gharbi montane woodlands
Al Hajar Al Gharbi montane woodlands (Oman)

Palearctic ecozone

Gissaro-Alai open woodlands (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan)

Montane
Montane grasslands and shrublands[edit]

Limber Pine
Limber Pine woodland in the Toiyabe Range
Toiyabe Range of central Nevada

Afrotropic ecozone

Angolan Scarp savanna and woodlands (Angola) Drakensberg alti-montane grasslands and woodlands
Drakensberg alti-montane grasslands and woodlands (Lesotho, South Africa) Drakensberg montane grasslands, woodlands and forests
Drakensberg montane grasslands, woodlands and forests (Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland) East African montane moorlands (Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda) Ethiopian montane grasslands and woodlands
Ethiopian montane grasslands and woodlands (Ethiopia)

Palearctic ecozone

Kopet Dag woodlands and forest steppe (Iran, Turkmenistan)

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub[edit]

Mediterranean eucalypt forest in Australia

A dry sclerophyll forest in western Sydney.

Australasia ecozone

Coolgardie woodlands
Coolgardie woodlands (Australia) Mount Lofty woodlands
Mount Lofty woodlands (Australia) Murray-Darling woodlands and mallee
Murray-Darling woodlands and mallee (Australia) Naracoorte woodlands
Naracoorte woodlands (Australia) Southwest Australia woodlands
Southwest Australia woodlands (Australia)

Nearctic ecozone

California chaparral and woodlands
California chaparral and woodlands (United States)

Palearctic ecozone Baccanico (berrywood) an area with a high density of all sorts of berry ("berry" in Italian "bacca") trees.

Canary Islands
Canary Islands dry woodlands and forests (Spain) Mediterranean acacia-argania dry woodlands and succulent thickets (Morocco, Canary Islands
Canary Islands (Spain)) Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe
Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia) Mediterranean woodlands and forests
Mediterranean woodlands and forests (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia) Southeastern Iberian shrubs and woodlands (Spain)

Deserts and xeric shrublands[edit]

Afrotropic ecozone

East Saharan montane xeric woodlands
East Saharan montane xeric woodlands (Chad, Sudan) Madagascar succulent woodlands
Madagascar succulent woodlands (Madagascar) Somali montane xeric woodlands (Somalia) Southwestern Arabian montane woodlands (Saudi Arabia, Yemen)

Palearctic ecozone

Baluchistan xeric woodlands (Afghanistan, Pakistan) Central Afghan Mountains xeric woodlands (Afghanistan) Central Asian riparian woodlands (Kazakhstan) North Saharan steppe and woodlands
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
Tibesti-Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands (Chad, Egypt, Libya, Sudan) West Saharan montane xeric woodlands
West Saharan montane xeric woodlands (Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, Niger)

See also[edit]

Forestry portal Trees portal Plants portal Environment portal Ecology portal Earth sciences portal Sustainable development portal

Agroforestry Ancient woodland Biomass Biomass
Biomass (ecology) Bioproduct Biosphere Boreal forest Canopy (biology) Clearcutting Close to nature forestry Cloud forest Chase (land) Deforestation Dendrology Dendrometry Ecological succession Forest
Forest dynamics Forest
Forest management Forest
Forest migration Forest
Forest pathology Forestry Commission History of the forest in Central Europe Illegal logging Intact forest landscape Jungle (terrain) Kelp forest
Kelp forest (A forest made mostly if not entirely of Kelp; an underwater forest) List of countries by forest area List of old-growth forests List of superlative trees List of tree genera List of trees and shrubs by taxonomic family Lists of trees
Lists of trees of the world Natural environment Natural landscape Old-growth forest
Old-growth forest (ancient forest, virgin forest, primary forest) Orchard Permaforestry Plantation
Plantation (forestry) Rainforest REDD-plus Royal Forestry Society Silviculture Subalpine
Subalpine forest Taiga Temperate
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Temperate
Temperate coniferous forests Tree Tree
Tree allometry Tree
Tree farm Tropical
Tropical rainforest Tropical
Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests Tropical
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Wildcrafting Wilderness Woodland
Woodland management

References[edit]

^ Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2006). Alice Gray, Dorothy Buell, and Naomi Svihla: Preservationists of Ogden Dunes. The South Shore Journal, 1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2012-06-11.  ^ 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. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2015-11-22.  ^ 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. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2012-06-11.  ^ a b Rackham, Oliver (2006). Woodlands (New Naturalist 100). London: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780007202447.  ^ "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. Retrieved 15 February 2017.  ^ a b Mooney & Zavaleta (2016). Ecosystems of California. University of California Press, Oakland. p. 515. 

External links[edit] Media related to Woodlands at Wikimedia Commons

Trees portal

The UK Woodland
Woodland Trust Woodland
Woodland Bond

v t e

Phytogeography: Vegetation
Vegetation classification

Physiognomy

Forests, woodlands, arboretum Shrublands, scrubs, thickets, fruticetum Dwarf-shrubland, subshrublands, dwarf-scrubs, suffruticetum Herbaceous
Herbaceous communities, grasslands, steppes, prairies, herbetum Savannas, parklands Scarcely vegetated areas, desert vegetation

Latitude

Tropical Subtropical Temperate Subpolar Polar

Climatic regime

Pluvial, rainy, ombrophilous Cloudy Seasonal Drought

Altitude

Montane Submontane Lowland Coastal

Leaves

Loss of leaves

Deciduous, caducifolious Semi-deciduous, semicaducifolious Evergreen, perennifolious

Leaf hardness

Sclerophyll, stiff leaves Orthophyll, hyptiophyll leaves

Leaf form

Aciculifolious, needle-leaved Latifolious, broad-leaved

Substrate

Terrestrial vegetation Aquatic vegetation

Riparian Mangrove Swampy

See also

Biogeographic realms Biomes Floristic kingdoms Plant habits Plant life-form