Some females are sexually mature and mate when they're one year of age. Conservation Maintaining and managing forest habitats are important conservation measures for bobcats. In some cases, forests need complete protection because they're located in key areas or provide homes for rare plants and animals. Illinois' Nature Preserves and Natural Areas help to meet this goal. Most of the time, cutting trees for timber, pulp, and firewood is good for wildlife as long as it's done responsibly.
Sunlight is the key to the composition of the forest.
Very little sunlight reaches the ground in a mature stand of trees, which means that grasses, wild raspberries, and other sun-loving plants cannot grow here. As these plants disappear, so do animals like rodents and rabbits that depend on them for food. Animals that eat rodents and rabbits aren't far behind. Sunlight also affects the types of trees that grow to replace older ones. Some types of tree seedlings need very little sunlight to grow.