On your next walk through a forest, look down and give a thought to the living world at your feet.
Mosses & lichens are one of the primary plants found one the forest floor
Although little sunlight filters down to this level, a carpet of small plants covers the forest floor. A few may be wildflowers, but most of them have no discernible flowers at all. This is where mosses thrive, especially if the woodland is damp much of the year. Water is essential for the reproduction of mosses and many other non-flowering plants. The stems of mosses are sponge-like reservoirs that conserve water and promote reproduction. Mosses are hardy plants, able to withstand drought for considerable periods of time. When the rain comes again, mosses resume growth.
Ferns inhabit most forest floors
Interspersed with the mosses are ferns, fungi, and lichens. Ferns are a highly diversified group. Some climb like vines, others grow perched on rock ledges, tree trunks and stumps. Most ferns native to a temperate forest lose all their leaves in autumn, but some, like Christmas Ferns, keep their shiny green fronds throughout the year. Fronds are the part of a fern that most people would normally think of as leaves. A frond consists of a central rib with multiple leaflets growing along it. New leaves of some types of ferns are called fiddleheads and uncurl from soft, downy protective scales in the spring.
A young fern emerging from the leaf litter
The fungal kingdom has been estimated to contain about 1.5 million species. One major difference between fungus and plants is that fungal cell walls contain chitin whereas plant cell walls contain cellulose.
Coniferous forests have a sparse population of ground plants and shrubs because the layer of fallen needles makes the soil acidic. The crunchy leaf litter in a deciduous forest is more hospitable to plants. For example the oak-hickory forest that exists on the World Bird Sanctuary’s property has a thick undergrowth of plants in spring and summer. Forest floor litter provides habitat for small animals as well, and the material may be used to construct nests. Also, as litter decomposes nutrients are emitted into the environment. The animals, fungus and bacteria that live in and eat plant litter are called detritivores.
This seemingly barren leaf litter is teaming with life
A Fallen Log is Full of Life
When a tree dies and falls, all the nutrients that were locked in the tree become available again. Bark kept out many insect invaders, but soon it will become loosened. Wood-boring beetles and termites will create tunnels and egg-chambers which will then allow water, bacteria, and other invertebrates to enter. Sometimes the tunnels carved by young beetles can be seen as engravings on the surface of the wood under the bark. The log will slowly become softened as it becomes a source of food and shelter for more and more organisms. Snails, slugs and insect larvae eat fungi and bits of log. Eventually cavities form and invite snakes, small mammals and small birds. Each new set of creatures attracts a new wave of predators. Raccoons, opossums, weasels and short-eared owls may use hollow logs for nests.
A fallen log may be a home and/or a free buffet to hundreds of creatures
So even though the Forest floor may at first glance seem to be nothing more than fallen leaves and detritus, remember that the litter under your feet is really teaming with life.
Submitted by Sara Oliver, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist
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