Hardwood Forests

Overview

Hardwood-dominated forests and woodlots provide great potential as habitat for a variety of wildlife species. Older stands provide mast and den trees for squirrels and furbearers and seasonal habitat for deer and turkeys. They also provide habitat for a variety of migratory songbirds (warblers, vireos, wood thrush, woodpeckers, and many more) that take advantage of the vertical structure of habitats ranging from the forest floor to tree canopies. Young hardwood stands, forest edges, and openings produce browse and dense cover for deer, habitat for grouse and woodcock, and nesting areas for many songbirds. The difference between a hardwood stand that provides good wildlife habitat and a poor one may be nothing more than a fence to exclude livestock, creation of a few canopy gaps, or a timber stand improvement cut. 

Hardwood stands support mast and cavities for squirrels, furbearers, deer, turkeys, and migratory songbirds; young stands, edges, and openings produce browse and dense cover. Excluding livestock is critical; glade/savanna creation via thinning and fire can increase herbaceous understory. 

Key Ecological Features

  • Protect and create snags/den trees; retain diverse mast producers (hackberry, cherry, mulberry, serviceberry, black gum, persimmon). 
  • Canopy gaps (single‑tree to 1 acre; 5–10 acres per 100 acres total gaps) increase shrubs, vines, and regeneration. 
  • Avoid high‑grading; consider crop‑tree release to improve growth and wildlife value. 

Management Strategies

General Wildlife Management

  • Exclude livestock
  • Create wide transitions (30 ft) along edges
  • Introduce fire on appropriate upland sites to form savannas/glades 

Species‑Specific Approaches

Squirrels

Retain closed canopy travel and cavities; install den boxes where needed.

Turkey & Deer

Maintain mast diversity; create gaps and adjacent openings for brood and browse; long rotations to reduce young dense stands. 

Best Management Practices

  • Crop‑tree release
  • Canopy gaps
  • Glade/savanna burns
  • Edge feathering
  • Snag protection
  • Livestock exclusion

Species That Use This Habitat

  • Woodpeckers
  • Wood thrush & warblers
  • Grouse & woodcock
  • Gray squirrel
  • Turkey
  • Deer
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