31 - Snag - a standing dead tree
Image of the tree you are viewing
GPS Coordinates: 45.00322 N, 92.90259 W

A standing dead tree is called a “Snag”. Snags are an important structural component in forest communities, making up 10–20% of all trees present in old-growth tropical, temperate, and boreal forests. Snags and downed coarse woody debris represent a large portion of the woody biomass in a healthy forest.
In temperate forests, snags provide critical habitat for more than 100 species of bird and mammal, and snags are often called ‘wildlife trees’ by foresters. Dead, decaying wood supports a rich community of decomposers like bacteria and fungi, insects, and other invertebrates. These organisms and their consumers, along with the structural complexity of cavities, hollows, and broken tops make snags important habitat for birds, bats, and small mammals, which in turn feed larger mammalian predators.
Snags are optimal habitat for primary cavity nesters such as woodpeckers which create the majority of cavities used by secondary cavity users in forest ecosystems. Woodpeckers excavate cavities for more than 80 other species and the health of their populations relies on snags. Most snag-dependent birds and mammals are insectivorous and represent a major portion of the insectivorous forest fauna, and are important factors in controlling forest insect populations. There are many instances in which birds reduced outbreak populations of forest insects, such as woodpeckers affecting outbreaks of southern hardwood borers and Engelmann spruce beetles.
FULL DISCLOSURE:
Three attempts to identify the species of this tree with the “Picture This” app gave three different answers. If you know the answer, please email it to info@sminc-lake-elmo.org with the subject “Tree Trek 31”