The Northern Hardwood Forest Wildlife

The understory of the northern hardwood forest includes several species of shrub.

The northern hardwood forest wildlife.

The hardwood forests which include oak sugar maple and beech trees are found in the southern areas of the region. Hobblebush which also occurs commonly in mixed wood forests is a native deciduous shrub which abounds in rich moist woods throughout the adirondack mountains it produces flat topped clusters of fragrant white flowers in the spring. The area of northern hardwood forests is probably decreasing due to increasing area of conifer red. Approximately 705 acres of northern hardwood conifer forest are present on the refuge.

Many wildlife species of conservation concern found in northern hardwood conifer forests are attracted to patches of old or young trees within the larger forest area. Fruits of beech and black cherry are especially important food sources for wildlife. The northern forest is made up of a mixture of hardwood and boreal forests. This marks the transition zone between the deciduous hardwood forests and the northern or boreal coniferous forests.

This is the most abundant refuge habitat type. Northern hardwood forests are the matrix communities of west virginia s highlands and are important for many wildlife species adapted to a cool moist climate. Dandy creek swamp in meadow valley wildlife area monroe county is one example of protected northern hardwood swamp in this ecological landscape. Northern hardwood forests provide habitat for numerous wildlife species that also rely heavily on spruce fir forests.

Fragmentation is a major issue in this ecological landscape since northern hardwood swamps are typically found within a mix of forest and farmland. The northern hardwood conifer forest is found around the refuge in the mid and upper elevations serving as a transition from the lower hemlock hardwood pine forest to the high elevation spruce fir forest. Today s forests don t support the same high diversity of wildlife species as older forests that contain a diversity of live and dead trees of different ages and sizes. The northern hardwood forest is a general type of north american forest ecosystem found over much of southeastern and south central canada ontario and quebec extending south into the united states in northern new england new york and pennsylvania and west along the great lakes to minnesota and western ontario some ecologists consider it a transitional forest because it contains species.

The boreal forests which include spruce and fir trees extend north into canada.