Treefalls

treefalls
Ground to the canopy view of a treefall gap.

Treefalls

Treefalls are gaps created by a fallen down tree. Treefalls consists of early successional shrubs and thickets that colonize openings in what was a continuous forest. The sudden availability of light in what previously was forest understory creates an opportunity for first colonizing plant species. Over time, shrubs and thickets form a suitable substrate for saplings of trees that surround the opening to a point where the opening reaches the same floristic composition of the forest.

Treefalls are colonized by a set of birds that are nearly exclusively associated with this microhabitat. Most of these species will not occur in similar vegetation types that occur in other settings but only in openings surrounded by continuous forest.

treefallsA recently fallen tree where the early colonizing vegetation has not started to grow.

treefalls
Shrubs and saplings of trees that colonize a treefall gap.

See more Neotropical bird habitats.

Reference:


  • Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation. Stotz Douglas F., Fitzpatrick John W., Parker Theodore A. III, and Moskovits Debra K. University of Chicago Press, 1996.