Station 8: Trees in the forest

Trees as habitats

Trees provide a great deal of habitat for various animals. Old trees in particular can be home to many animals, as they contain numerous large and small tree hollows, niches and crevices in the wood. Birds such as woodpeckers and owls use tree hollows as breeding sites. Bats like to seek shelter in hollow tree trunks. Dying wood provides a habitat for many insects. Countless insect species live in fallen leaves. The roots of a tree also provide a habitat for forest dwellers. Mice like to build their burrows here. An old beech tree often provides a home for over 250 different species of animals! Plants also find their habitat on trees. For example, mosses, lichens and tree fungi.

A tawny owl guards its nesting hole in an old tree, well camouflaged.

This pipistrelle bat sleeps through the day, well protected in a crack in the bark of an old pine tree.

Hornets like to build their nests in dry tree hollows.

Tree fungi
 

Trees as a source of food

Almost every part of a tree can serve as a source of food. Different animals eat different parts of a tree. Squirrels, for example, like to collect nuts, while birds often feed on berries. Wild boars often search for fallen seeds and fruits. Have you ever found a spruce cone that has been gnawed on by a squirrel? Deer and stags actually like to eat young leaves, but from time to time they also use tree bark as a source of food. Woodlice, snails and worms like to eat the fallen leaves on the ground.

The woodlouse searches for food in the leaves.

Feeding time for the great spotted woodpeckers. 

Squirrels
 

Wood supplier Tree

In order for the tree to reach high up towards the light, it forms a tree trunk. The tree trunk is made of wood. Wood is strong, but also a little flexible. That's why it's a great building material. The trees are then felled, the trunks sawn up, and we use them to build houses and furniture. However, not all old trees are felled, so that there are always enough trees left as habitats and food sources. What is made of wood in your home? That's right! Your bed, table, chair, cupboard, pencil – and your ball! 

Wooden house

Wooden furniture at home