A woodland (/ˈwʊdlənd/ ⓘ) is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs),[1][2] or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the plurale tantum woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see differences between British, American and Australian English explained below).
Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of primary or secondary succession.
While woodlots often technically have closed canopies, they are so small that light penetration from the edge makes them ecologically closer to woodland than forest.
North American forests vary widely in their ecology and are greatly dependent on abiotic factors such as climate and elevation.
Much of the old-growth deciduous and pine-dominated forests of the eastern United States was harvested for lumber, paper pulp, telephone poles, creosote, pitch, and tar.