Photo Credit: UF/IFAS
Dead wood can be extremely useful to wildlife in your landscape, so before clearing it all away consider trying to incorporate it. The types of dead wood used by wildlife are classified as snags, logs, or brush piles.
Snags are standing dead trees, logs are large-diameter dead wood laying on the ground, and brush piles are created by gathering small-diameter branches and twigs into a loose pile.
Different kinds of trees develop cavities (holes) at different stages in the tree’s life cycle. Hardwood trees such as oaks, maples, and elms often form cavities while they are still alive. Conifers like pines and cypress are more likely to form cavities once the tree dies. Cavities in all types of trees can help wildlife.
Brush piles are generally the easiest to incorporate into your landscape as they can take up very little room and the materials are generally easily sourced.
Piles of woody vegetation provide wildlife in your landscape with shelter from weather and predators. Lower portions of a brush pile provide a cool, shaded area to amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. Upper layers can be used by songbirds as perches and nest sites.
Brush piles also provide a food resource for wildlife. Decaying brush piles attract insects which in turn attract insect-eating animals. As more small insect-eating animals come to the brush pile for food and shelter, larger predators like owls, hawks, foxes, and coyotes may also come by.
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