Webinar: Minnesota’s Late-Successional Forests: Ecology, Habitat, and Stewardship

Minnesota’s forests have been shaped by centuries of natural disturbance, indigenous stewardship, and evolving contemporary forest management practices. Late-successional forests are more than just collections of old trees. They are dynamic and diverse ecological and biological communities defined by long periods of forest development, natural disturbance, and the accumulation and persistence of biological legacies. 

This presentation will explore the ecological characteristics of late-successional forests. We will examine how tree species composition, age diversity, canopy structure, and vertical and horizontal heterogeneity influence biological community composition and create a diversity of habitat niches necessary to sustain rich and abundant wildlife communities. This presentation will also consider how forest management can maintain or enhance these conditions, with an emphasis on preserving ecological diversity, habitat connectivity, and structural complexity.