FOREST ECOSYSTEMS

A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic
community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.
Aldo Leopold, author of A Sand County Almanac

Chapter Two
Chapter TWO FOREST ECOSYSTEMS
While trees sometimes stand alone, most often they All food chains consist of:
are part of a community called a forest. Forests Producersorganisms that produce energy
consist not only of living (biotic) components like Consumersorganisms that consume producers
trees, animals, plants, and other living things but and other consumers
also of nonliving (abiotic) components such as soil, Decomposersorganisms that consume produc-
water, air, and landforms. All of these components ers and consumers, and provide nutrients into
together make up a forest ecosystem. the soil.

Applying the system above to a simple real-world

Systems example is as follows:
Forests are more than collections of living and Producer: grass (produces energy from the sun
nonliving things found in the same place. Their and nutrients)
many components are connected to each other Consumer: deer (eats grass)
as food chains of interdependence. Food chains Decomposer: worms (eats deer, creates nutrients
move the basic requirements for lifeenergy, from which grasses can grow).
water, carbon, air, and nutrientsin a series of
connections and processes. The sun provides energy to the forest. Trees and
other plants (producers) use photosynthesis to

Simplified food web

tree
sun owl

deer

mouse

algae
grass
grass human
mosquito larvae

dragonfly nymph
decomposers
fish

Several food chains linked together are known as a food web. Plants capture energy from the sun, but plants,
animals, and decomposers move energy from individual to individual in an intricate web of relationships.

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All About Minnesotas Forests and Trees

transform the suns energy into glucose (sugars). The canopy contains literally millions of leaves
Consumersplant-eating animals such as busily photosynthesizing sunlight, carbon dioxide,
caterpillars, chickadees, and deer, and animal- and water to create oxygen and sugar. In turn, all
eating predators such as coyotes, woodpeckers, and organisms depend on oxygen and sugar for sur-
spidersget their energy from other living things. vival. Some of the animals that dwell in the canopy
Decomposers such as sowbugs, fungi, and bacteria include eagles, bats, and insects.
get their energy from dead plants and animals.
In the understory, where the tops of smaller trees
Several food chains linked together are known as a absorb whatever sunlight reaches them, a variety of
food web. Every collection of individuals, connections, birds and smaller mammals such as warblers and red
or processes that regularly interacts and depends on squirrels eat their suppers and make their nests.
other individuals, connections, or processes forms
a unified whole called a system. While each system Beneath that, in the head-high shrub layer made up
depends on all other systems, when change occurs (as of saplings and smaller woody plants such as alder
it always does), the web adapts and adjusts, flexibly. and chokecherry, berries and berry-eaters abound.
Also in the shrub layer reside browsers such as
Oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, and nitrogen all whitetailed deer, black flies, and mosquitoes.
move in natural cycles through the forest. Along with
carbon dioxide (from the air) and water (from the Even lower, in the herb layer, seedlings, grasses, and
soil), energy from the sun triggers photosynthesis forbsnonwoody plants such as ferns, sedges, and
in plants, which produces oxygen. Then, plants and wildflowerslive and die, providing food and
animals use oxygen and respire carbon dioxide and habitat in the process for mice, insects,
water. Water cycles from the sky to earth and back snakes, and more.
again, often after spending days, months, or years The forest floor, though
cycling through lakes, rivers, groundwater reservoirs, not their exclusive
and living things. Nitrogen and other nutrients cycle home, is the
among soil, water, air, and living things. kingdom of the
As you can see, numerous cycles overlap and depend decomposers
on each other to keep in balance. Everything in the such as
forest is connected to everything else. That means it insects,
is impossible to make a change in just one part of bacteria,
the system. Any alteration, whether intentional or and fungi.
accidental, will have effects that ripple throughout Decom
the entire ecosystem. posers
break
down the
Layers bodies of
Many forests contain several different heights or plants and animals
layers of plants. And, as different animals are often into nutrients, which
found within each layer, the diversity of animals is combine with
often related to plant diversity in the forest. eroded rock to
create rich soil.
Imagine, for a moment, standing in a sun-filtered
stand of mature aspen interspersed with a few white
and red pines, remnants of the great northern
forest that once stretched across the
brow of Minnesota. Some 60 feet
(18meters) above you, resides the
top layer, or canopy,
of the forest.

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 forest ecosystems

This soil in turn provides the nutrients and moisture Other forest inhabitants, called generalists, thrive
that trees and other plants need to thriveand the in a wide range of habitat types. One such creature
cycle begins again. is the highly adaptable raccoon, which is as much
at home lunching in an urban trash can as it is in
foraging for frogs, ants, fruit, nuts, and fish in a
What Lives in the Forest? northern stream.
The animals of Minnesotas forests come in many

Chapter Two
sizes and shapes, from tiny mites that inhabit the
soil to towering moose and bulky bears. Same with Animal Populations
plants, which can be as minute as mosses or lichen The number and diversity of animal species depends
or as large as giant oaks. They all have one thing on the amount of available food, predators, access to
in common: they all rely on the forest setting, or clean water, and ability to adapt to changes in food,
habitat, for food, water, shelter, and space. water, shelter, or space. Some animals such as deer,
moose, rabbits, and insects use a broad number of
Some animals and plants are adapted to very narrow plant species. For example, insects such as mosquitoes
ranges of conditions in which they are able to live. feed on a broad range of animals, so removing
These animals are called specialists. The Canada one species of mammal wont affect the mosquito
lynx, for instance, needs large tracts of relatively population. Other animals (like the Canada lynx)
undeveloped forests for hunting. If roads or devel- subsist only on a narrow range of food sources (like
opment fragment a forest, the reclusive lynx may not hares). Ifpredators like Canada lynxes are reduced
be able to roam through all of its territory, limiting because of over-hunting, over-trapping, or human
its ability to access food, water, shelter, or a mate. development, then the population of hares may rise,
along with a rise in damage to trees and plants from
browsing. In the same way, monarch caterpillars
feed almost exclusively on milkweed plants; if
milkweeds are removed, so too go the caterpillars.

If confined to too-small habitats, animals (wild

or domestic) can overgraze tasty trees and plants
Carrol Henderson, Minnesota DNR

and limit those plants ability to regenerate.

Consequently, thorny and less nutritious plants such
as the black locust tree and burdock may increase
in number. Plants that tend to increase when grazing
rises are called increasers. Plants that tend to decrease
as grazing increases are called decreasers. While many
About 75 percent of the diet of Canada lynxes is consider increasers weeds, some increasers do pro-
snowshoe hares. Both live in forests.
vide benefits. For example, goldfinches prefer to live
and nest near large populations of prickly thistles, a
plant that increases with grazing and disturbance.

Trout, which prefer clean, cool streams, depend on

large, mature trees to shade and cool the water and
the gravel streambeds trout lay their eggs in. Trout
Ricky Layson, courtesy USFWS

rely on roots from plants and trees to hold soil in

place, preventing streams from filling with silt.

Finally, insects can cause environmental changes.

Invasive gypsy moth caterpillars defoliate and
weaken certain species of trees, which can change
Raccoons eat a range of different foods and therefore the composition of the forest. Invasive emerald ash
can live in a wide range of areas. borer beetles bore through bark and kill forests of
closely growing ashtrees.

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All About Minnesotas Forests and Trees

Different types of forestand even different parts abundant. This causes a shift in the makeup of the
of the same forestprovide different necessities. plant community. In effect, the new plants succeed
The forest floor is by far the busiest part of the the old, creating a slightly different community.
forest, with more kinds of plants and animals than
any other part of the forest. Animal and plant life Environmental conditions that trigger succession
is usually most varied where the habitat is most may include any natural or human-caused distur-
diverse. Some of the richest habitat, for instance, bance that reduces the number of living trees from
occurs between areas of different types of forests an area. Some examples are: timber harvesting,
and at forest edges where trees and open areas meet. urbanization, farming, fire, and windstorms.

Example 1: From Farm to Forest

Forest Succession A forest growing on abandoned farmland that was
Plant communities change depending on their once a maplebasswood forest is a good example
environmental conditions. As environmental con- of succession. After the farmers leave the area,
ditions change, the types of plants that make up the cleared spaces become friendly terrain for
the community may also change. This process is sun-loving, hardy pioneer species such as grasses,
called succession. In a stable community, plants are ragweed, and other nonwoody plants. As pioneer
well suited to the amount of water, nutrients, and species grow and thrive, they often create conditions
sunlight available to them. As the availability of that favor a second set of plants and animals called
resources changes, c onditions may favor a different intermediate species. Seeds drifting in from trees that
set of plants, and these plants will become more do well in full sun, such as box elder, ash, aspen,

Forest succession: As forests change, so do the number and types of animals that live in them

A disturbance at any of these stages pushes the forest to an earlier stage. Despite periods of stability, forest
communities move from one successional stage to another. Throughout history, woodlands have woven their way
through many cycles of growth, death, and regeneration urged on by ice, fire, disease, and other disruptions.

Grasses and flowers. Grasses and flowers. Many

Some low shrubs. shrubs. Few young trees.
Grasses and flowers.

Few grasses and flowers.

Some shrubs. Many
young trees, some old
trees.
Very few shrubs.
Mixed ages of
trees. Many old
trees.

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 forest ecosystems

and cherry, may repopulate the area. As these trees these trees have special adaptations that make it
mature, they shade the forest floor, making it difficult possible for them move into a new clearing. Aspen,
for their own seeds to grow. Shade-loving species for instance, can grow on relatively poor soil and
such as maple and basswood find themselves at a use their rootsprouting capabilities to recolonize
competitive advantage, and the species composition a burned forest in a matter of a few years. Jack
of the forest slowly shifts. Over time, the older, sun- pine cones are serotinous, meaning that the seeds
loving trees die out and the shade-tolerant species stay trapped within the cones until released by heat

Chapter Two
take over, creating a climax community dominated by (120F/49C or higher). When a fire burns through
plants and animals that prefer these conditions. Left an area littered with these cones, they open, scat-
undisturbed, the initial climax trees will eventually tering seeds on the land. As intermediate species
die, and the forest will evolve into a more stable plant mature, other, more shade-tolerant specieswhite
community dominated by maple and basswood until pine, balsam fir, white spruce, and the likethen
the next disturbance. And the cycle goes on. find themselves at a competitive advantage, and the
species composition of the forest slowly shifts. As
Example 2: From Fire to Forest the older shade-intolerant trees die out, their more
Fire can also trigger succession. The charred land shade-tolerant successors take over, until the next
becomes friendly terrain for the first pioneers disturbance. And the cycle goeson.
grasses and other nonwoody plants. Raspberry and
other shade-intolerant intermediate species such as
aspen, paper birch, and jack pine follow. Some of Native Plant
Communities
Because certain trees have similar requirements for
light, water, temperature, soil type, and the like, trees
tend to appear in predictable combinations. For
example, conditions that favor sugar maples also
favor the American basswood, so where you find
one, youll likely find the other, along with other
plants that thrive in those conditions. Such groups
of plants that have evolved and adapted in an area
together are called native plant communities. Native
plant communities interact naturally with each other
and with their environment and do not contain
introduced, or nonnative, plants and communities.

Within native plant communities, forests are named

according to the conditions and dominant plants
Ham Lake fire in northern Minnesota, 2007. found in that community. There are more than
50 native plant communities in Minnesota. The
following table lists some examples of native plant
community names and places they can be viewed.
Photos courtesy of Eli Sagor

One month after fire.

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All About Minnesotas Forests and Trees

Native Plant Community Examples of Locations

Central Dry-Mesic-Pine-Hardwood Forest Itasca Wilderness Scientific Natural Area (SNA)
Afton State Park
Southern Wet Ash Swamp Kings and Queens Bluff SNA
Nerstrand Big Woods State Park
Northern Terrace Forest Kettle River SNA
St. Croix State Park
Southern Dry Savanna Helen Allison Savanna SNA
Minnesota Valley State Park
Northern Wet-Mesic Boreal Hardwood-Conifer Forest Lake Bemidji State Park
Scenic State Park
Zippel Bay State Park

To sum up
Chapter Two: Forest Ecosystems
Forests are complex ecosystems that
support a range of plants and animals.
Forests are made up of several layers.
The kinds of animals in a forest are related
to the kinds of plants in the forest, plus
other factors such as climate, soils, and
landforms.
Forests are always changing due to
disturbances, which may be natural or
human-caused.
When forests change, so do the number
and types of plants and animals in them.
Minnesota forests face threats from invasive
plants and animals.
Minnesota DNR

A northern wet-mesic boreal hardwood-conifer forest.

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