Within woodlands you may find openings and clearings, both natural and man made. These open up areas of the wood to more sunlight allowing species in the lower layers to thrive. Flowering plants and butterflies love these sunny openings.

Woodland openings typically fall under two categories:

Rides: a linear trackway, man-made for access.

Glades: openings within a woodland, naturally caused by falling trees, storms, fires or animal trampling, or man made.

Did you know… many species prefer to live in the first ten metres from a woodland edge, where there is more sunlight. In the transition from rides and glades to deeper woodland you can find higher biodiversity. This is an example of ‘edge effect’.