Central U.S. hardwood forests
| Central U.S. hardwood forests | |
|---|---|
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| Ecology | |
| Biome | Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests |
| Borders | |
| Bird species | 203 |
| Mammal species | 69 |
| Geography | |
| Area | 296,000 km2 (114,000 sq mi) |
| Country | United States |
| States | |
| Conservation | |
| Habitat loss | 46.522% |
| Protected | 7.01% |
The central U.S. hardwood forests comprise a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in the Eastern United States, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It has one of the most diverse herbaceous plant floras of ecoregions in North America.
This is a large region, mainly of rolling plain except for the Ozark plateau and other smaller areas of plateau and basin in Kentucky and Tennessee. The region contains the large system of sandstone caves in Mammoth Cave National Park. The region was designated by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and is a fraction of what others consider the Central Hardwood Forest of the Central Hardwood Region, which would include the northern hardwood forest to the north.
This is an inland area with a fairly dry climate.
The pre-Columbian dominant ecosystems in this region were oak savannas with woodlands and forests of oak and hickory. Today only small areas of oak and hickory woodland remain, mixed with dogwoods, sassafras trees and hop hornbeams. The ecoregion contains large areas of prairie as well as wetter meadows that are home to tulip trees and sweetgums.
Birds of the woodlands include vireos and tanagers while mammals include Eastern gray squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons and opossums.
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