Site Challenges:
Trees - Dead or Alive

Dead Trees

Dead trees, either standing or fallen, are commonly called "snags" or "wildlife trees". They create structure, cover, and food sources for many species of wildlife and provide excellent spawning and nursery habitat for fish.

Cavities in snags attract woodpeckers, nuthatches, brown creepers, wood ducks, mergansers, flycatchers and squirrels. Ospreys and eagles nest or perch on dead trees, as do herons and egrets.

Downed logs that extend into the water are especially valuable as basking sites for turtles and ducks, homes for salamanders and frogs, and a haven for the insects, worms and microorganisms so critical in the food web.

The tangle of dead tree branches underwater protects juvenile fish from predators and provides a surface for insects and other invertebrates that fish eat.

Shoreline owners are encouraged to preserve standing and fallen trees on their property to provide fish and wildlife habitat, unless they pose a hazard.