Forest Ecosystem
FOREST
ECOSYSTEM
Submitted by: Submitted to:
Forest Ecosystem
Table of Contents
(Outline)
I. Introduction
II. The Structure of Forests
III. Kinds of Forest
IV. The Distribution of the Forests
V. Forests Succession
VI. The History of Forests
VII. Deforestation
VIII. Conclusion
IX. Endnotes
X. Bibliography
Forest Ecosystem
I. Introduction A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending on various cultural definitions, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have different classifications according to how and what of the forest is composed? These plant communities cover approximately 9.4 percent of the Earth's surface (or 30 percent of total land area), though they once covered much more (about 50 percent of total land area), in many different regions and function as habitats for organisms, hydrologic flow modulators, and soil conservers, constituting one of the most important aspects of the biosphere. Although forests are classified primarily by trees, the concept of a forest ecosystem includes additional species (such as smaller plants, fungi, bacteria, and animals) as well as physical and chemical processes such as energy flow and nutrient cycling. A typical forest is composed of the over story (canopy or upper tree layer) and the understory. The understory is further subdivided into the shrub layer, herb layer, and also the moss layer and soil microbes. In some complex forests, there is also a well-defined lower tree layer. Forests are central to all human life because they provide a diverse range of resources: they store carbon, aid in regulating the planetary climate, purify water and mitigate natural hazards such as floods. Forests also contain roughly 90 percent of the world's terrestrial biodiversity. Forests are habitats in which the trees are the dominant form
ECOSYSTEM
Submitted by: Submitted to:
Forest Ecosystem
Table of Contents
(Outline)
I. Introduction
II. The Structure of Forests
III. Kinds of Forest
IV. The Distribution of the Forests
V. Forests Succession
VI. The History of Forests
VII. Deforestation
VIII. Conclusion
IX. Endnotes
X. Bibliography
Forest Ecosystem
I. Introduction A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending on various cultural definitions, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have different classifications according to how and what of the forest is composed? These plant communities cover approximately 9.4 percent of the Earth's surface (or 30 percent of total land area), though they once covered much more (about 50 percent of total land area), in many different regions and function as habitats for organisms, hydrologic flow modulators, and soil conservers, constituting one of the most important aspects of the biosphere. Although forests are classified primarily by trees, the concept of a forest ecosystem includes additional species (such as smaller plants, fungi, bacteria, and animals) as well as physical and chemical processes such as energy flow and nutrient cycling. A typical forest is composed of the over story (canopy or upper tree layer) and the understory. The understory is further subdivided into the shrub layer, herb layer, and also the moss layer and soil microbes. In some complex forests, there is also a well-defined lower tree layer. Forests are central to all human life because they provide a diverse range of resources: they store carbon, aid in regulating the planetary climate, purify water and mitigate natural hazards such as floods. Forests also contain roughly 90 percent of the world's terrestrial biodiversity. Forests are habitats in which the trees are the dominant form
Bibliography: Myers,Norman.The World’s Forests and Their Ecosystem Services.Washington D.C:Island Press, 1997. Schlesinger.W.H. Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change. New York, NY: Academic Press, 1997. IX. Endnotes Norman Myers, Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems (Washington D.C, Island Press, 1997) 159. Vinson Brown,Reading the woods.Feeling more in Nature’s familiar forces (Macmillan,1973) 288. W.H. Schlesinger,Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change (New York, NY: Academic Press, 1997) 79. X Laurence Walker,Trees:An Introduction to trees and Forest Ecology for the Amateur Naturalist (Prentice-Hall 1984) Jack McCormick,The Life of the Forest (McGraw 1966)