FIG. 22-3 Two predators of the deciduous forest bioclation: 

 the timber rattlesnake, and the great horned owl (courtesy U.S. 

 Forest Service) 



The mountain lion, bobcat, and black bear are 

 also common in other biomes but the other species 

 listed are characteristic inhabitants of the deciduous 

 forest. Seton (1909) estimated original populations 

 of mountain lions and bears at one per 26 sq km ( 1 

 per 10 sq mi), and gray foxes at one per 10 sq km 

 (1 per 4 sq mi). Gray squirrel populations vary 

 greatly by time and place, but when common may 

 average 2.5+ per hectare (1+ per acre). Chip- 

 munks vary in numbers from year to year, depending 

 on the abundance of nuts and seeds that they can 

 store in their underground burrows to supply them 

 over winter. In beech-maple forests of northern Ohio 

 they average 25 or more per hectare (10 per acre) 

 during the autumnal aspect of good years (Williams 

 1936). The combined autumn populations of mice 

 and shrews vary from less than 25 per hectare (10 

 per acre) in poorer forests having little ground 

 humus to ten times as many during good years in a 



good habitat A gradient ot increasing populations, 

 from West to East, depending largely on moisture 

 availability as well as abundance of humus, is marked 

 in shrews (Wetzel 1949). 



Birds prominent in the deciduous forest biociation 

 include, in declining order of abundance, 



Ovenbird 

 Red-eyed vireo 

 Redstart 

 Wood thrush 

 Eastern wood peewee 

 Tufted titmouse 

 Cerulean warbler 

 Scarlet tanager 

 Great crested flycatcher 

 Acadian flycatcher 

 Downy woodpecker 



Black-capped chickadee 

 Yellow-throated vireo 

 White-breasted nuthatch 

 Hairy woodpecker 

 Red-bellied woodpecker 

 Whip-poor-will 

 Ruffed grouse 

 Barred owl 

 Great horned owl 

 Pileated woodpecker 

 Broad-winged hawk 

 (formerly) 



The ovenbird and red-eyed vireo are usually the 

 two most abundant species in deciduous forest stands. 

 An average population of each is 35 to 40 pairs per 

 40 hectares (100 acres). A 40-hectare plat of aver- 

 age deciduous forest supports approximately 200 

 pairs of birds, representing all species, as an average. 

 The breeding ranges of most of the species listed 

 above coincide rather closely with the deciduous 

 forest, although some species, such as the downy 

 woodpecker, are distributed more widely and are 

 represented by different subspecies in other biomes 

 (Pitelka 1941). 



Reptiles and amphibians are represented by: 



Timber rattlesnake 

 Copperhead 

 Black rat snake 

 Red-bellied snake 

 Five-lined skink 

 Box turtle 



Alarbled salamander 

 Slimy salamander 

 Red-backed salamander 

 Common newt 

 Wood frog 

 Tree frogs 



296 Geographic distribution of communities 



