Moist woodland habitat in the USA? (1 Viewer)

[Cristina_H]

I wasn't exactly sure in what subforum I should put this. I hope it's fine here.



I've been leafing through some field guides, and occasionally I've come across this so-called "moist woodland" habitat. When I did a bit of searching in Google, all I got were results for moist (or "wet") woodland habitats in the United Kingdom.

So, I'm wondering

-What is a moist woodland
-What types of trees can be found in moist woodland
-What are some examples of moist woodland in Eastern North America

 

[Hamhed]

Hi, Christina -
For a description of "wet forest" habitat in Costa Rica, Stiles and Skutch have a descriptive paragraph on page 22 .
For the US, moist woodlands would be relatively level areas that were occasionally flooded or do not drain readily or those that have numerous waterways flowing through them. The type of vegetation would vary depending on the location. In the Piedmont or middle elevation areas of North Carolina, some of the trees that might dominate in a "wet forest" would be Sweet Gum, Boxelder, Red Maple, River Birch, and Sycamore.

Steve

 

[ovenbird43]

I've never really heard the term "moist forest" for habitats in the US, so I'm not sure what it's supposed to designate. It could be as Steve describes above, or it could be a more general term meaning "not dry forest". For instance in other field guides (such as the Birds of Ecuador) the authors use the term "humid forest" very broadly, to indicate any kind of rain/cloud forest, in contrast to seasonally dry/deciduous forest.

In other words... I don't think "moist forest" has a concrete definition, rather it is a general comparative term contrasting with dry forest. Depending on how one defines it, it may include anything ranging from:

cypress swamps (usually flooded: bald cypress, tupelo)

bottomland hardwood forest (seasonally flooded but less than in swamps: various flood-tolerant oaks and hickories, sycamore, red maple)

coastal Pacific evergreen forest: high yearly rainfall and summer fog, dominated by Douglas fir and other evergreens

various other eastern deciduous forest types (names are escaping me): oaks, hickories, maples- in wetter parts of the Appalachians also includes an understory of rhododendrons and ferns