[22] The resorting to sylva in English indicates more precisely the denotation that use of forest intends. As a result, the net loss of forest area is less than the rate of deforestation and it too is decreasing: from 7.8 million hectares per year in the 1990s to 4.7 million hectares per year during 2010– 2020. [52] However new forests are not completely equivalent to old growth forests in terms of species diversity, resilience and carbon capture. Human activities, including unsustainable use of forest resources, can negatively affect forest ecosystems. Latvia has about 3,270,000 hectares (12,626 sq mi) of forest land which equates to 50.6% of Latvia's total area (24,938 sq mi). However, they can be managed in ways that enhance their biodiversity protection functions and they can provide ecosystem services such as maintaining nutrient capital, protecting watersheds and soil structure, and storing carbon. Keddy, P.A. Freed, M. Grund, S. B. Horsley, A. F. Rhoads, and B. P. Shissler. To access the data, view the database. Thorn forest, a dense forest of low stature with a high frequency of thorny or spiny species, is found where drought is prolonged, and especially where grazing animals are plentiful. [59] Clearcutting, first used in the latter half of the 20th century, is less expensive, but devastating to the environment, and companies are required by law to ensure that harvested areas are adequately regenerated. For example, a forest may be defined as any land that is used primarily for production of timber. However, in botany and many countries (Germany, Poland, etc. By December 2006, over 1,237,000 square kilometres of forest land in Canada (about half the global total) had been certified as being sustainably managed. In temperate forests, birds distribute plant seeds and insects aid in pollination, along with the wind. [18] Possibly a borrowing, probably via Frankish or Old High German, of the Medieval Latin foresta, denoting "open wood", Carolingian scribes first used foresta in the Capitularies of Charlemagne specifically to denote the royal hunting grounds of the King. Different global forest classification systems have been proposed, but none has gained universal acceptance. The area of forest in protected areas globally has increased by 191 million ha since 1990, but the rate of annual increase slowed in 2010–2020.[56]. Deforestation, erosion, and forest management in ancient Greece and Rome. Hughes, J. D. 1982. Forests located on mountains are also included in this category, divided largely into upper and lower montane formations on the basis of the variation of physiognomy corresponding to changes in altitude. Forests are often home to many animal and plant species, and biomass per unit area is high compared to other vegetation communities. The six major areas of this forest type occur in the Northern Hemisphere: North America, East Asia, Central and Western Europe (except Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Ireland and western Scotland), Denmark, southern Sweden and southern Norway. [57][58] Much more forest land—about 40 percent of the total forest land base—is subject to varying degrees of protection through processes such as integrated land use planning or defined management areas such as certified forests.[58]. [7] The continuing pressure to increase deer populations, and the continued killing of top carnivores, suggests that overgrazing by deer will continue to be a significant forest conservation problem. One such way is in terms of the biome in which they exist, combined with leaf longevity of the dominant species (whether they are evergreen or deciduous). [30] Each category is described as a separate section below. Managing White-tailed Deer in Forest Habitat from an Ecosystem Perspective: Pennsylvania Case Study. A savanna is a mixed woodland grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. Birch is the most common tree at 28.2% followed by pine (26,9%), spruce (18.3%), grey alder (9.7%), aspen (8,0%), black alder (5.7%), oak/ash (1.2%) and finally hardwood making up the rest (2.0%). These are often created for human benefits; Attention Restoration Theory argues that spending time in nature reduces stress and improves health, while forest schools and kindergartens help young people to develop social as well as scientific skills in forests. Harris, L. D. 1984. [7], The world's forests contain about 606 gigatonnes of living biomass (above- and below-ground) and 59 gigatonnes of dead wood. [36][37] Forests may impose an economic burden,[38][39] diminish the enjoyment of natural areas,[40] reduce the food producing capacity of grazing land[41] and cultivated land,[42] reduce biodiversity[43][44] reduce available water for humans and wildlife,[45][46] harbour dangerous or destructive wildlife,[36][47] and act as reservoirs of human and livestock disease.[48][49]. Forest ecologists concentrate on forest patterns and processes, usually with the aim of elucidating cause-and-effect relationships. Commonly mono-specific, planted with even spacing between the trees, and intensively managed, these forests are not generally important as habitat for native biodiversity. The largest part of the forest (45 percent) is found in the tropical domain, followed by the boreal, temperate and subtropical domains. At the same time, species such as deer, which are clearing rather than true forest animals, have expanded their range and proliferated in these altered landscapes. [30], Forest plantations are generally intended for the production of timber and pulpwood. This article incorporates text from a free content work. Text taken from Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings, FAO, FAO. The total biomass has decreased slightly since 1990 but biomass per unit area has increased.[24]. In 1935 there was only 1,757,000 hectares of forest, today this has increased by more than 150%. To learn how to add open license text to Wikipedia articles, please see this how-to page. [30], Sparse trees and savanna are forests with lower canopy cover of trees. Most of the monetary value of ecosystem services is not captured in markets. This gain is due especially to reforestation in China and Russia. These allocated areas are managed using the principles of sustainable forest management, which includes extensive consultation with local stakeholders. These thresholds are typically the number of trees per area (density), the area of ground under the tree canopy (canopy cover) or the section of land that is occupied by the cross-section of tree trunks (basal area). Thank you for your continued support of WWF. Areas that fail to meet the land cover definition may be still included under while immature trees are establishing if they are expected to meet the definition at maturity. [1] During the settlement of North America, potash made from tree ashes was exported back to Europe as fertilizer. Temperate needleleaf forests mostly occupy the higher latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere, as well as high altitude zones and some warm temperate areas, especially on nutrient-poor or otherwise unfavourable soils. [24], China instituted a ban on logging, beginning in 1998, due to the erosion and flooding that it caused. These hunting forests did not necessarily contain many, if any, trees. Seasonal tropical forests, perhaps the best description for the colloquial term "jungle", typically range from the rainforest zone 10 degrees north or south of the equator, to the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. Some present classifications reserve woodland for denoting a locale with more open space between trees, and distinguish kinds of woodlands as open forests and closed forests premised on their crown covers. Ecological properties for the evaluation, management, and restoration of temperate deciduous forest ecosystems. “It’s for people that … Unlike forest, these are all derived from Old English and were not borrowed from another language. They include such forest types as the mixed deciduous forests of the United States and their counterparts in China and Japan, the broadleaf evergreen rainforests of Japan, Chile and Tasmania, the sclerophyllous forests of Australia, central Chile, the Mediterranean and California, and the southern beech Nothofagus forests of Chile and New Zealand. They are found in areas with warm moist summers and cool winters. Archaeopteris quickly spread throughout the world, from the equator to subpolar latitudes. [19] The Norman rulers of England introduced the word as a legal term, as seen in Latin texts such as the Magna Carta, to denote uncultivated land that was legally designated for hunting by feudal nobility (see Royal Forest).[19][20]. [28], Forests can also be classified according to the amount of human alteration. [23], Forests account for 75% of the gross primary productivity of the Earth's biosphere, and contain 80% of the Earth's plant biomass. It remains subject to a wide margin of error, not least because the samples are mainly from Europe and North America. ", Mount Kenya: The Economics of Community Conservation, "Economic Valuation of Forests and Nature A support tool for effective decision-making", "Will woody plant encroachment impact the visitor experience and economy of conservation areas? [10], Human society and forests influence each other in both positive and negative ways. They are generally characteristic of the warmer temperate latitudes, but extend to cool temperate ones, particularly in the southern hemisphere. Ecological Applications 6: 748–762. On 7 September 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations released a new study stating that, over the last 25 years, the global deforestation rate has decreased by 50% due to improved management of forests and greater government protection. The loss and re-growth of forest leads to a distinction between two broad types of forest, primary or old-growth forest and secondary forest. Deer grazing also has significant negative effects on the number and kind of herbaceous flowering plants. Net primary production is estimated at 21.9 gigatonnes carbon per year for tropical forests, 8.1 for temperate forests, and 2.6 for boreal forests.[7]. The remaining 20 percent is located in more than 34 million patches across the world – the vast majority less than 1 000 hectares in size. Plains Woodland, Plains Grassy Woodland, Plains Grassland, Red Gum Wetland and Grassy Woodland … Forest management has changed considerably over the last few centuries, with rapid changes from the 1980s onwards culminating in a practice now referred to as sustainable forest management. 1,510,000 hectares of forest land (46.3% of total forest land) is publicly owned and 1,750,000 hectares of forest land (53.7% of total forest land) is in private hands. Anthropogenic factors that can affect forests include logging, urban sprawl, human-caused forest fires, acid rain, invasive species, and the slash and burn practices of swidden agriculture or shifting cultivation. [7] More than half of the world’s forests are found in only five countries (Brazil, Canada, China, Russian Federation and United States of America). ", "Woody encroachment decreases diversity across North American grasslands and savannas", "Cascading biodiversity and functional consequences of a global change–induced biome switch", "Managing riparian vegetation to sustain streamflow: results of paired catchment experiments in South Africa", "Native vegetation: cost of preservation in Australia", "Forests and emerging infectious diseases of humans", The Last Frontier Forests: Ecosystems and Economies on the Edge, "World deforestation slows down as more forests are better managed", "Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015", "Forestry in 2015 (only in Latvian) | Latvijas statistika", "Wildfires Ignite Forest Management Debate", CoolForests.org – Conservation Cools the Planet, Forest area is land under natural or planted stands of trees of at least 5 meters in situ, whether productive or not, and excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems, "The World's 10 Most Threatened Forest Hotspots", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Forest&oldid=1008494947, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2020, Articles containing Medieval Latin-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2009, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Physiognomy classifies forests based on their overall physical structure or. [21] Finally, sylva (plural sylvae or, less classically, sylvas) is a peculiar English spelling of the Latin silva, denoting a "woodland", and has precedent in English, including its plural forms. [8], f biome distribution] (Temperate Deciduous Forest is in dark green). The forest is nature’s most efficient ecosystem, with a high rate of photosynthesis affecting both plant and animal systems in a series of complex organic relationships. Forests sometimes contain many tree species within a small area (as in tropical rain and temperate deciduous forests), or relatively few species over large areas (e.g., taiga and arid montane coniferous forests). [citation needed] By the beginning of the Fourteenth Century, English texts used the word in all three of its senses: common, legal, and archaic. [25] Northern Africa, southern Australia, coastal Brazil, Madagascar and South Africa, are also identified as areas with striking losses in biodiversity intactness.[25]. Roughly 80 percent of the world’s forest area is found in patches larger than 1 million hectares. Journal of Forest History 26: 60–75. [13], Under land use definitions, there is considerable variation on where the cutoff points are between a forest, woodland, and savanna. Much of this biomass occurs below ground in the root systems and as partially decomposed plant detritus. Smaller areas of woodland in cities may be managed as urban forestry, sometimes within public parks. For information on reusing text from Wikipedia, please see the terms of use. They have harvested wood for timber and charcoal. A forest consists of many components that can be broadly divided into two categories that are biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) components. This system divides the world's forests into 26 major types, which reflect climatic zones as well as the principal types of trees. Temperate deciduous or temperate broad-leaf forests are a variety of temperate forest 'dominated' by trees that lose their leaves each year. The Fragmented Forest: Island Biogeography Theory and the Preservation of Biotic Diversity. The three major forest biomes are coniferous forests, deciduous forests, and tropical rain forests.. Coniferous forests. [4] Although a forest is usually defined by the presence of trees, under many definitions an area completely lacking trees may still be considered a forest if it grew trees in the past, will grow trees in the future,[12] or was legally designated as a forest regardless of vegetation type. Humans have often colonized areas in the temperate deciduous forest. The shade, soil, and forest duff from the dropped fronds created the first forest. Examples of terrestrial ecosystems include the tundra, taigas, temperate deciduous forests, tropical rainforests, grasslands, and deserts. 1996. The total value ranged between 490 (Open Ocean) and 350,000 (Coral Reefs) Int$/ha/yr. Forests can also affect people's health. ", "Rainforest-initiated wet season onset over the southern Amazon", "Forest ecosystem services: can they pay our way out of deforestation? [25] Areas with dense human populations and intense agricultural land use, such as Europe, parts of Bangladesh, China, India and North America, are less intact in terms of their biodiversity. [60][61], In the United States, most forests have historically been affected by humans to some degree, though in recent years improved forestry practices have helped regulate or moderate large scale or severe impacts. Dense collection of trees covering a relatively large area, This article is about a community of trees. [30], There are many different types of tropical moist forests, with lowland evergreen broad leaf tropical rainforests, for example várzea and igapó forests and the terra firma forests of the Amazon Basin; the peat swamp forests, dipterocarp forests of Southeast Asia; and the high forests of the Congo Basin. [11] Forests provide ecosystem services to humans and serve as tourist attractions. The precise origin of Medieval Latin foresta is obscure. Wimmera, located in the far west of the central Victoria, is typified by flat to gently undulating plains in the east, with black and grey cracking clay soils (Vertosols). As a general rule, forests dominated by angiosperms (broadleaf forests) are more species-rich than those dominated by gymnosperms (conifer, montane, or needleleaf forests), although exceptions exist. [citation needed], Although the word forest is commonly used, there is no universally recognised precise definition, with more than 800 definitions of forest used around the world. Savannas maintain an open canopy despite a high tree density. Some authorities claim the word derives from the Late Latin phrase forestam silvam, denoting "the outer wood"; others claim the word is a latinisation of the Frankish *forhist, denoting "forest, wooded country", and was assimilated to "forestam silvam" pursuant to the common practice of Frankish scribes. They occur principally in areas of transition from forested to non-forested landscapes. This vegetation is variously called open taiga, open lichen woodland, and forest tundra. Under such a land use definition, cleared roads or infrastructure within an area used for forestry, or areas within the region that have been cleared by harvesting, disease or fire are still considered forests even if they contain no trees. The word was not endemic to Romance languages, e. g. native words for forest in the Romance languages derived from the Latin silva, which denoted "forest" and "wood(land)" (confer the English sylva and sylvan); confer the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese selva; the Romanian silvă; and the Old French selve, and cognates in Romance languages, e. g. the Italian foresta, Spanish and Portuguese floresta, etc., are all ultimately derivations of the French word. The main layers of all forest types are the forest floor, the understory and the canopy. You can even learn about the Washington temperate rainforest, alpine ecosystem, and ponderosa pine woodland. [31], Tropical dry forests are characteristic of areas in the tropics affected by seasonal drought. [13] Administrative definitions are based primarily upon the legal designations of land, and commonly bear little relationship to the vegetation growing on the land: land that is legally designated as a forest is defined as a forest even if no trees are growing on it. To learn how to add open license text to Wikipedia articles, please see this how-to page. Latham, R. E., J. Beyea, M. Benner, C.A. A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. New York: Penguin Books. A terrestrial ecosystem is a land-based community of organisms and the interactions of biotic and abiotic components in a given area. [51] In addition, ambitious tree planting programmes in countries such as China, India, the United States and Vietnam – combined with natural expansion of forests in some regions – have added more than seven million hectares of new forests annually. However, the United States Forest Service estimates a net loss of about 2 million hectares (4,942,000 acres) between 1997 and 2020; this estimate includes conversion of forest land to other uses, including urban and suburban development, as well as afforestation and natural reversion of abandoned crop and pasture land to forest. Forests can also be classified more specifically based on the climate and the dominant tree species present, resulting in numerous different forest types (e.g.. [30], Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests include a substantial component of trees in the Anthophyta. For other uses, see, tropical and subtropical coniferous forests, Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, consultation with local communities and other stakeholders, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, List of trees and shrubs by taxonomic family, Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, License statement/permission on Wikimedia Commons, "Compilation of Forestry Terms and Definitions", "Definitions: Indicative definitions taken from the Report of the ad hoc technical expert group on forest biological diversity", "The Structure, Distribution, and Biomass of the World's Forests", "Forest Resources Assessment Working Paper 180", "Broadsheet: The News Letter for Broadland Tree Wardens", Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty's Dominions, "Beyond deforestation: restoring forests and ecosystem services on degraded lands", "How many trees does it take to produce oxygen for one person? It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use. Dunn, M. A. Fajvan, R.R. Forest biomes. Of the six major world regions, South America has the highest share of forests in protected areas, at 31 percent. Uses of forest in English to denote any uninhabited and unenclosed area presently are considered archaic. Coniferous forests stretch across Canada, Alaska, Northern Asia, and Northern Europe.Their main trees are evergreen conifers which produce seeds in cones.. Another distinction is whether the forests are composed predominantly of broadleaf trees, coniferous (needle-leaved) trees, or mixed. However, under some conditions, e.g. The biodiversity of forests varies considerably according to factors such as forest type, geography, climate and soils – in addition to human use. However, in many areas of the United States, the area of forest is stable or increasing, particularly in many northern states. [2][3][4] The Food and Agriculture Organization defines a forest as land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. [23] Archaeopteris formed the first forest by being the first known species to cast shade due to its fronds and forming soil from its roots. [25] In absolute terms, the global forest area decreased by 178 million hectares between 1990 and 2020, which is an area about the size of Libya.[25]. The estimate is about eight times higher than previous estimates, and is based on tree densities measured on over 400,000 plots. Objective criteria for the restoration of deciduous forest include large trees, coarse woody debris, spring ephemeral, and top predators. less fertile soils or less predictable drought regimes, the proportion of evergreen species increases and the forests are characterised as "sclerophyllous". Old-growth forest contains mainly natural patterns of biodiversity in established seral patterns, and they contain mainly species native to the region and habitat. About eight percent of Canada's forest is legally protected from resource development. Higher elevation areas tend to support forests similar to those at higher latitudes, and amount of precipitation also affects forest composition. Some areas covered with trees are legally defined as agricultural areas, e.g. The six major areas of this forest type occur in the Northern Hemisphere: North America, East Asia, Central and Western Europe (except Brittany, Cornwall, … The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. [30] UNEP-WCMC's forest category classification system is a simplification of other more complex systems (e.g. [23] The shed organic matter altered the freshwater environment, slowing it down and providing food. The latitudes 10° north and south of the equator are mostly covered in tropical rainforest, and the latitudes between 53°N and 67°N have boreal forest. There are also many natural factors that can cause changes in forests over time including forest fires, insects, diseases, weather, competition between species, etc. Temperate deciduous or temperate broad-leaf forests are a variety of temperate forest 'dominated' by trees that lose their leaves each year. More than 90% of forest land is publicly owned and about 50% of the total forest area is allocated for harvesting. Forests at different latitudes and elevations, and with different precipitation and evapotranspiration[9] form distinctly different biomes: boreal forests around the North Pole, tropical moist forests and tropical dry forests around the Equator, and temperate forests at the middle latitudes. Norway spruce plantations in Austrian forest law when the trees are being grown as Christmas trees and below a certain height. These forests are composed entirely, or nearly so, of coniferous species (Coniferophyta). Harrisburg: Audubon Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Habitat Alliance. In tropical forests, fruit bats and birds effect pollination. Under some definitions, forests require very high levels of tree canopy cover, from 60% to 100%,[15] excluding savannas and woodlands in which trees have a lower canopy cover. Such definitions typically define a forest as an area growing trees above some threshold. Some areas of land have been reforested and named after their creators, Larose Forest,and Molai forest are two so named. Each layer has a different set of plants and animals depending upon the availability of sunlight, moisture and food. A forest is made up of many layers. ), a different classification of forest vegetation structure is often used: tree, shrub, herb and moss layers, see stratification (vegetation). The closed-canopy forest is the southernmost portion of the taiga. The emergent layer exists in tropical rainforests. They are also bound to receive heavy rainfall. In the most recent five-year period (2015–2020), the annual rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares, down from 12 million hectares in 2010–2015. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. [6] Large deer populations have deleterious effects on tree regeneration overall, but particularly for edible species including yew, yellow birch, and hemlock. [25], While deforestation is taking place in some areas, new forests are being established through natural expansion or deliberate efforts in others. [13] Land use definitions are based upon the primary purpose that the land serves. The living parts include trees, shrubs, vines, grasses and other herbaceous (non-woody) plants, mosses, algae, fungi, insects, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and microorganisms living on the plants and animals and in the soil. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. The first known forests on Earth arose in the Late Devonian (approximately 380 million years ago), with the evolution of Archaeopteris. [13][14], There are three broad categories of forest definitions in use: administrative, land use, and land cover. Temperate evergreen forests occur in Australasia, New Zealand and southern South America, however they are not deciduous as their northern-hemisphere equivalents. Latvia's forests have been steadily increasing over the years which is in contrast to many other nations, mostly due to the forestation of land not used for agriculture. [19] Other English words used to denote "an area with a high density of trees" are firth, frith, holt, weald, wold, wood, and woodland.

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