Species Guide

A forest is layers, not just trees

A healthy northern hardwood forest at this elevation has five distinct layers, each with its own ecological role. When you restore all of them, you rebuild the complete system — not just the part you can see from the road. Filter by layer below to learn what each one does and why it matters.

🌳 The Canopy Layer · 40–100ft

The roof of the forest — and its engine

Canopy trees are the structural backbone of the forest. They close the roof, regulate the microclimate below, and produce the mast — acorns, hickory nuts, berries — that feeds the entire food web from bears and turkeys to migratory songbirds and bats.

The dominant species here should be oaks and hickories. Pre-settlement forests on this plateau were oak-hickory co-dominant — not maple-dominated (Nowacki & Abrams 2008 →). Oaks support more wildlife species (500+) than any other eastern tree genus (Tallamy & Shropshire 2009 →). Hickories provide irreplaceable bat roosting habitat and hard mast that no other species can replace.

🌿 The Understory Layer · 15–40ft

Where most of the daily wildlife action happens

The understory is the mid-story that grows beneath the canopy. These trees tolerate shade, provide the first spring bloom, summer berries for birds, and year-round nesting cover. For many forest birds, this is the layer they actually live in — not the tall canopy above.

Good news: some understory species spread naturally through bird dispersal and stump-sprouting. Serviceberry and hop-hornbeam often colonize within a few years — survey for them during your spring walk and protect what you find with wire cages. Focus your purchase budget on the ones that won’t arrive on their own.

🌲 The Conifer Layer · 40–80ft

Year-round structure — and you can't get it any other way

Conifers are the only layer that looks the same in February as in July. That year-round structure — dense branches even in winter — is critical thermal cover for deer, turkey, and songbirds when temperatures drop and food is scarce.

These must be planted. Red spruce and balsam fir have no natural seed source at 2,000ft on this plateau. Without active planting, this layer simply disappears from the forest. Once planted, they live for centuries and create a completely different microclimate in their shade.

🌱 The Shrub Layer · 5–20ft

The layer that multiplies everything above it

A 2025 study in National Science Review found that increasing shrub diversity from 2 to 8 species boosted total tree biomass by 53.8% — nearly the same effect as adding more canopy tree species. Shrubs don't just fill space. They actively accelerate the growth of everything above them.

Shrubs also provide the densest nesting cover, the most varied food resources (early spring nectar, summer berries, winter fruit), and the movement corridors that connect habitat patches across the landscape.

🍎 Fruiting & Flowering Trees · 15–80ft

The bonus layer — food and flowers

These trees were selected primarily for wildlife food value, seasonal flowers, or historical significance. They enrich the restoration without dominating it. The goal is to keep this layer at roughly 15% of your total — enough to add value, not enough to shift the ecological focus away from the oak-hickory backbone.

The native sweet crabapple and American chestnut deserve special mention: the crabapple is one of the most fragrant and wildlife-productive spring trees available, and the chestnut represents one of the most important ecological restoration stories in North American conservation history.