Well, this is science for you. Classify, classify, classify. It's important. Even in the space of an hour or so on a wintry December one can begin to see why.
Since we live in Simcoe County and since much of the Simcoe County Forest is visible from our local roadways, I already knew we had planted forest and other forest. I even knew that we had mainly hardwood forest when left to its own devices. What I did not know is how to look for clues to help classify a forest. Amanda brought us an exercise to do just that and we sat down and examined 2 forest types.
In order to classify a forest one looks at all parts. The top of the forest is called the canopy. This is the part that sunlight can reach pretty much all of the time. The middle of the forest is where you see saplings and shrubs. This is called the understory. The bottom of the forest is called the forest floor. So, just like rock, forests have strata. We looked carefully at forest stratification to help us classify our forests.
FOREST 1 looked like this. Classification aside, there is a nifty historical note here in that the wall of rocks to the left was put there by a farmer. Most likely the farmer was using horses to haul them. Every now and then along the rock wall we saw a large deciduous tree, usually a maple. These were left to support fences with the stone wall as a base. So, once upon a time the space in which we were walking was under cultivation. Since the understory was sparse, we could see from fence to fence where the fields used to be.When we looked at the forest we noted that the canopy was mainly comprised of coniferous trees. We learned a new tree type. If you have 2 long needles that swirl together than you are a Scotch Pine. Most of the trees were living. There were few dead ones.
The understory was sparse. There were very few saplings and almost no shrubs. What we did see was mainly beech and hemlock. The understory was alive.
The forest floor did contain ferns and moss but was mainly made up of needles. There was moss and lichen growing on some tree trunks. There was very little evidence of fungus. There were some fallen trees and these were old falls called nursery logs, busy rotting down and providing fodder for new life to grow and thrive.
When we looked for evidence of animal life we found some sapsucker holes. We did not see much else.
FOREST 1 is called a Monotone Forest. I really like Forest 1 because it is exactly the kind of forest in which I always expect to find witches and dragons of the fairly tale type. It is hard to get lost in one. Light filters nicely into his kind of forest and one can see the ground clearly. All of that I like.
However, the drawback to a monotone forest is that it is not at all ecologically diverse. It doe snot support much wildlife. If a bug moves in that likes the type of tree growing there then the forest can get wiped out in a matter of years. This is why we see Emerald Ash Borer alerts all over the place. Monotone forests need management from an outside source. They need to be tended, much like our gardens are tended.
It was a short hike from FOREST 1 to FOREST II and the border between them was very clear. We stepped from a neat and managed world into something much more tangled.Forest II looked like this. The canopy consisted of both coniferous and deciduous trees but the vast majority were deciduous. In the mix we saw: poplar, black cherry, birch and white pine. Most of the trees were living. There were very few dead ones.
The understory contained a good number of saplings and shrubs. There was beech and sumac and some pine. In Forest I we could have wandered under the canopy forever. In forest II we would have been glad of a machete and also we would have had to step over fallen logs all over the place. Forest I invited wandering. Forest II strongly advised staying on the beaten path.
The forest floor was leaf covered. There was moss growing on the tree trunks. Junipers sprawled all over the place. We saw shelf mushrooms on the trees. Fallen logs were both newly fallen and nursery logs.
Again, the most noticeable evidence of animal life was the sapsucker holes. We saw spiderwebs.
Forest II is an example of a Deciduous Forest. In Ontario this forest occurs naturally along the shores of the Great Lakes.
In the foreground of the picture above is a deciduous tree with its leaves still on. Do you remember the name of this tree? Do you remember the name of the mushroom in the photos? Is it gilled mushroom or a boletes? Would you eat it if you were starving and lost?
Our natural forest in this region is deciduous. This type of tree is usually hardwood. It takes a long time to grow. If you want good return for your crop and you happen to be farming trees you ought to grow conifers since these are used extensively for construction. Our monochrome forest is a planted and managed coniferous forest but our native deciduous forest has a better chance of survival on its own.
You can begin to research more about Ontario forests here:
http://www.ontario.ca/en/about_ontario/004464.html
Simcoe County Forest information is here:
http://www.simcoe.ca/dpt/cf/history/index.htm
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