A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with

woody plant A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants further survive winter or dry season above ground, as opposed to Herbaceous plant, herbaceous plants that die back to t ...

s (

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s and

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''

plurale tantum A ; ) is a noun that appears only in the plural form and does not have a singular variant for referring to a single object. In a less strict usage of the term, it can also refer to nouns whose singular form is rarely used. In English, are oft ...

'' woods), a low-density

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

forming open

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s with plenty of

sunlight Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible spectrum, visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrare ...

and limited

shade Shade, Shades or Shading may refer to: * Shade (color), a mixture of a color with black (often generalized as any variety of a color) * Shade (shadow), the blocking of sunlight * Shades or sunglasses * Shading, a process used in art and graphic ...

(see differences between

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

, American and

Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and ''de facto'' national language. While Australia has no of ...

explained below). Some

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

s may also be woodlands, such as ''savanna woodland'', where trees and shrubs form a light

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

. Woodlands may support an

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

of shrubs and

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

s including

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

es. Woodland may form a transition to

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

under drier conditions or during early stages of

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

secondary succession Secondary succession is the secondary ecological succession of a plant's life. As opposed to the first, primary succession, secondary succession is a process started by an event (e.g. forest fire, harvesting, hurricane, etc.) that reduces an a ...

. Higher-density areas of trees with a largely closed canopy that provides extensive and nearly continuous shade are often referred to as

s. Extensive efforts by conservationist groups have been made to preserve woodlands from

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. For example, the woodlands of

Northwest Indiana Northwest Indiana, nicknamed "The Region" after the Calumet Region, is an unofficial region of Northern Indiana, northern Indiana, United States that is located at the northwestern corner of the state. Though there is no official definition of th ...

have been preserved as part of the Indiana Dunes.

Definitions

United Kingdom

''Woodland'' is used in

woodland management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, forest protection, and forest regulation. This includes man ...

to mean tree-covered areas which arose naturally and which are then managed. At the same time,

is usually used in the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

to describe

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s, usually more extensive, or hunting

Forests A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

, which are a land use with a legal definition and may not be wooded at all. The term ''

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). The practice of planting woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 i ...

'' is used in British

nature conservation Nature conservation is the ethic/moral philosophy and conservation movement focused on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protecting biological diversity. A range of values ...

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 An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

)

North America

Woodlot is a closely related term in American

forest management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, forest protection, and forest regulation. This includes man ...

, 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. North American forests vary widely in their ecology and are greatly dependent on abiotic factors such as climate and elevation. Much of the old-growth deciduous and pine-dominated forests of the eastern United States was harvested for lumber, paper pulp, telephone poles, creosote, pitch, and tar.

Australia

In Australia, a woodland is defined as an area with a sparse (10–30%) cover of trees, and an open woodland has a 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 more than 30% of their area covered by trees.

Woodland ecoregions

Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

Afrotropical realm The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

** Angolan miombo woodlands (Angola) **

Angolan mopane woodlands Angolan mopane woodlands are situated in southwestern Angola, extending into northern Namibia. This ecosystem surrounds Etosha Pan, which is considered a separate ecoregion. The mopane trees are the main type of vegetation. Location and descript ...

(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 The Kalahari Desert is a large semiarid sandy savanna in Southern Africa covering including much of Botswana as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal de ...

(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) *

Nearctic realm The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...

Madrean pine–oak woodlands The Madrean pine–oak woodlands are subtropical woodlands found in the mountains of Mexico and the southwestern United States. They are a biogeography, biogeographic region of the tropical and subtropical coniferous forests and temperate broadlea ...

(Mexico) *

Neotropical realm The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...

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

Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

** Al Hajar montane woodlands (Oman) *

Australasian realm The Australasian realm is one of eight biogeographic realms that is coincident with, but not (by some definitions) the same as, the geographical region of Australasia. The realm includes Australia, the island of New Guinea (comprising Papua Ne ...

** Central Hunter Valley eucalypt forest and woodland (Australia) ** Cumberland Plain Woodland (Australia) ** Gippsland Plains Grassy Woodland (Australia) ** Grey Box Grassy Woodlands (Australia) ** Lowland Grassy Woodland (Australia) ** New England Peppermint Grassy Woodland (Australia) *

** Central forest–grasslands transition (United States) ** Upper Midwest forest–savanna transition (United States) *

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The ...

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

Montane grasslands and shrublands

** 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 The East African montane moorlands is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion which occupies several high mountain peaks in Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Geography The ecoregion occupies an area of , covering several small moun ...

(Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda) ** Ethiopian montane grasslands and woodlands (Ethiopia) *

Pinyon–juniper woodland Pinyon–juniper woodland, also spelled piñon–juniper woodland, is a biome found mid-elevations in arid regions of the Western United States, characterized by being an open forest dominated by low, bushy, evergreen Juniperus, junipers, pinyon ...

(United States) *

** Kopet Dag woodlands and forest steppe (Iran, Turkmenistan)

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub

** Banksia Woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain (Australia) ** Coolgardie woodlands (Australia) ** Mount Lofty woodlands (Australia) ** Murray-Darling woodlands and mallee (Australia) ** Naracoorte woodlands (Australia) ** Southwest Australia woodlands (Australia) ** Swan Coastal Plain Shrublands and Woodlands (Australia) *

California chaparral and woodlands The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...

(United States) **

California montane chaparral and woodlands The California montane chaparral and woodlands is an ecoregion defined by the World Wildlife Fund, spanning of mountains in the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Coast Ranges of southern and central California. The ecoregion is part of ...

(United States) **

California interior chaparral and woodlands The California interior chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers in an elliptical ring around the California Central Valley. It occurs on hills and mountains ranging from to . It is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biom ...

(United States) Lebanon cedar forest

** Canary Islands dry woodlands and forests (Spain) ** Eastern Mediterranean conifer–sclerophyllous–broadleaf forests (Turkey, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon) ** Mediterranean acacia-argania dry woodlands and succulent thickets (Morocco, Canary Islands) ** 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

East Saharan montane xeric woodlands The East Saharan montane xeric woodlands is an terrestrial ecoregion, ecoregion of central Africa, a number of high mountains in the middle of the huge area of savanna on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Location and description The ecoregion c ...

(Chad, Sudan) **

Madagascar succulent woodlands The Madagascar succulent woodlands are a xeric shrublands ecoregion in southwestern and central western Madagascar. Native plants survive in the arid climate and long dry season with adaptations like succulent leaves, water storing trunks, photos ...

(Madagascar) ** Somali montane xeric woodlands (Somalia) ** Southwestern Arabian montane woodlands (Saudi Arabia, Yemen) *

Baluchistan xeric woodlands The Baluchistan xeric woodlands ecoregion (WWF ID: PA1307) covers the middle elevations of a series of mountain ranges of western Pakistan and northeastern Afghanistan, reaching from the Arabian Sea in the south to the Hindu Kush Mountains and th ...

(Afghanistan, Pakistan) ** Central Afghan Mountains xeric woodlands (Afghanistan) ** Central Asian riparian woodlands (Kazakhstan) **

North Saharan steppe and woodlands The North Saharan steppe and woodlands is a desert ecoregion, in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, that forms the northern edge of the Sahara. It extends east and west across Northern Africa, south of the Mediterranean dry woodlands and st ...

(Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Western Sahara) ** Paropamisus xeric woodlands (Afghanistan) **

South Saharan steppe and woodlands The South Saharan steppe and woodlands, also known as the South Sahara desert, is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion of northern Africa. This band is a transitional region between the Sahara's very arid center (the Sahara desert ecoregion ...

(Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan) ** Tibesti-Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands (Chad, Egypt, Libya, Sudan) **

West Saharan montane xeric woodlands The West Saharan montane xeric woodlands is an ecoregion that extends across several highland regions in the Sahara. Surrounded at lower elevations by the largely barren Sahara, the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands are isolated refuges of pla ...

(Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, Niger)

References

External links

*
The UK Woodland Trust

Woodland Bond
{{Authority control Forests Habitats