Editing Edge effects (section)

===North America===
The amount of [[forest edge]] is orders of magnitude greater now in the [[United States]] than when the [[European ethnic groups|European]]s first began settling [[North America]]. Some species have benefited from this fact, for example, the [[brown-headed cowbird]], which is a [[brood parasite]] that lays its [[egg (biology)|eggs]] in the [[bird nest|nest]]s of [[songbird]]s nesting in forest near the forest boundary.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Howell |first1=Christine A. |last2=Dijak |first2=William D. |last3=Thompson |first3=Frank R. |date=2007-02-01 |title=Landscape context and selection for forest edge by breeding Brown-headed Cowbirds |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-006-9022-1 |journal=Landscape Ecology |language=en |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=273–284 |doi=10.1007/s10980-006-9022-1 |s2cid=2775157 |issn=1572-9761 |access-date=2023-02-14 |archive-date=2023-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731180239/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10980-006-9022-1 |url-status=live }}</ref> Another example of a species benefiting from the proliferation of forest edge is [[Poison ivy (plant)|poison ivy]]. <ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fraver|first=Shawn|date=1994|title=Vegetation Responses along Edge-to-Interior Gradients in the Mixed Hardwood Forests of the Roanoke River Basin, North Carolina|url=https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1994.08030822.x|journal=Conservation Biology|language=en|volume=8|issue=3|pages=822–832|doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1994.08030822.x|issn=1523-1739|access-date=2021-01-27|archive-date=2021-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131222233/https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1994.08030822.x|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Conversely, [[Dragonfly|Dragonflies]] eat [[mosquito]]es, but have more trouble than mosquitoes surviving around the edges of human habitation.  Thus, trails and hiking areas near human settlements often have more mosquitoes than do deep forest habitats.  [[Grass]]es, [[huckleberry|huckleberries]], [[Ribes sanguineum|flowering currant]]s and [[shade-tolerant and -intolerant species|shade-intolerant]] trees such as the [[Douglas-fir]] all thrive in edge habitats.

In the case of developed lands juxtaposed to wild lands, problems with [[invasive exotic]]s often result. Species such as [[kudzu]], [[Japanese honeysuckle]] and [[multiflora rose]] have damaged natural ecosystems. Beneficially, the open spots and edges provide places for species<!-- which? native or invasive, ruderal/pioneer? --> that thrive where there is more light and vegetation that is close to the ground. Deer and elk benefit particularly{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} as their principal diet is that of grass and shrubs which are found only on the edges of forested areas.