Forest, woods or woodland?

[Paul_B]

Walking through the trees today we had a discussion on whether they formed a wood or forest. It's irrelevant to our enjoyment but curiosity beckons. What is the difference between the three terms? I'm in the UK, England to be precise, so I'm thinking in UK terms only.

IMHO a forest is a bigger, thicker, more in every way than a wood. If you're walking through open woods that end before your walk then it's likely to be woods. Forests are closer to what you get in mainland Europe and Americas in the boreal forests. There are some in the UK both natural and man-made but usually wilder areas such as Northumberland, Dumfries and Galloway, Highlands such as North of the be Cairngorms/near Aviemore and areas in Snowdonia where there's actually a rainforest. I don't see grizedale or whinlatter as more than woods.

I'm probably being too critical but with everything someone's or some organisation has defined terms. What are they with bodies of trees?

 

[Broch]

Traditionally, in the UK, a forest doesn't have to have any trees at all! There is no accepted definition of the word Forest as far as I can tell though.

I think you're getting close to my thinking when you talk about walking in or through; if there's a possibility that you could get lost and walking in any direction could mean you remain lost then it's a forest - if you could safely walk in any direction and soon(ish) get out, it's a wood - but that's pretty arbitrary.

And how small a clump of trees classifies as a wood? When does a copse (which isn't necessarily a coppice) become a wood? And can a plantation (planted in rows) ever be a wood? - it can, of course, be a forest

 

[Paul_B]

It's kind of snobbery in limiting what little bodies of trees we have in sone areas as just a wood. Like a forest is worth more.

I think there's a similar thing with UK upland areas. Technically most of Europe have mountains classed as 2500 metres or higher. Obviously in the UK we don't have that but we say there's mountains in Wales, the lakes and Scotland. Europeans probably see our peaks as hills.

I've had European friends stay with us who actually say that to us but in the same conversation they say they're tough for all that and really beautiful too. One Canadian said he loves the hills of the lakes because you can actually get to the tops in one day, Indeed to the tops of several hills at that. Where he lives most trails go through valleys and passes. Often taking several days to do even short routes.

BTW I am using the term Europeans when I obviously mean mainland Europeans. I do believe we're Europeans in the UK still and always will be by reason of living where we are.

 

[Broch]

It's kind of snobbery in limiting what little bodies of trees we have in sone areas as just a wood. Like a forest is worth more.

I disagree though, in the UK woodland often has far better bio-diversity than monoculture forests - I would tend to enjoy walking through woodland more than forests. The 'wild' forests of the UK are more like 'big woods' in terms of their bio-diversity however. To be honest, I'd call the areas that are classified as 'Celtic rainforest' woods; you could certainly walk out of them in any direction quite easily.

 

[Erbswurst]

In German a "Forst" is cultivated by the Förster (forester), manmade.
"Wald" is natural.
Because we nearly don't have untouched woods any more both is mixed together in the use of the words.

(But we also have the Urwald, usually used as a synonym for jungle, but used for our last own untouched woods too.)

Isn't the original meaning of wood and forest identic in English? Usually meanings can be translated like this very exactly, especially if it sound nearly the same.

 

[santaman2000]

I suspect you‘ll probably find a difference between how the words are used from one U.K. country to the next. Possibly even from family to the next.

But personally I usually see the term “woodland” used when it’s not really a clear delineation in the user’s mind.

 

[TeeDee]

forest | Etymology of forest by etymonline

"extensive tree-covered district," especially one set aside for royal hunting and under… See origin and meaning of forest.

www.etymonline.com

forest (n.)
late 13c., "extensive tree-covered district," especially one set aside for royal hunting and under the protection of the king, from Old French forest "forest, wood, woodland" (Modern French forêt), probably ultimately from Late Latin/Medieval Latin forestem silvam "the outside woods," a term from the Capitularies of Charlemagne denoting "the royal forest." This word comes to Medieval Latin, perhaps via a Germanic source akin to Old High German forst, from Latin foris "outside" (see foreign). If so, the sense is "beyond the park," the park (Latin parcus; see park (n.)) being the main or central fenced woodland.
Another theory traces it through Medieval Latin forestis, originally "forest preserve, game preserve," from Latin forum in legal sense "court, judgment;" in other words "land subject to a ban" [Buck]. Replaced Old English wudu (see wood (n.)). Spanish and Portuguese floresta have been influenced by flor "flower."

forest (v.)
"cover with trees or woods," 1818 (forested is attested from 1610s), from forest (n.). The earlier word was afforest (c. 1500).

 

[Robson Valley]

The entire planet is divided up into biogeoclimatic zones.
The basic raw divisions are based on temperature regimes and precipitation. Period.
Physical stuff that anybody can measure. No matter where you live.
That produces sets of conditions which might be matched up to the genetic abilities of plant communities.
Maybe you see forest, maybe you see grassland.
The UK has been disturbed and manipulated for so long, can you estimate what was really original?

Not here. I live in the Taiga, the circumpolar Boreal Forest. I can look at conditions in Scandinavia
and in the Kabarovsk Krai (Russian Far East) and predict the growth character of the trees.
Maybe not the precise species but who cares? I'm not looking for bananas.

All the same, artificial forests may thrive in the complete absence of competition (by the strictest of biological definitions).

 

[Woody girl]

From what I've learned a forest is a royal hunting ground, such as the new forest. There can be open areas of heathland aswell as wooded areas. There can be villages in the forest.
The new forest once extended to surrey. I used to live in a village called Bentley which is close to the present surrey border. Alice halt forest near by is a remnant of the new forest as it once was.
As a child it was a massive area but looking on maps today it's a large wood., and no longer connected to or considered part of the new forest.
I was born in the new forest, so consider myself a child of the forest..

 

[TeeDee]

Seems weirdly apt.

Tamar Valley search and rescue for five people including baby

Police and fire crews called to Lopwell Dam

www.devonlive.com

How big is Lopwell Dam Woods?

Lopwell Dam - Free Days Out, Plymouth

The breathtaking Lopwell Dam on the upper tidal mark of the River Tavy is an excellent site for bird watching and walking. Located just 3 miles…

www.visitplymouth.co.uk