The Old High German forst denoting "forest", Middle Low German vorst denoting "forest", Old English fyrhþ denoting "forest, woodland, game preserve, hunting ground" (English frith), and Old Norse fýri, denoting "coniferous forest", all of which derive from the Proto-Germanic *furhísa-, *furhíþija-, denoting "a fir-wood, coniferous forest", from the Proto-Indo-European *perkwu-, denoting "a coniferous or mountain forest, wooded height" all attest to the Frankish *forhist. [10], Human society and forests influence each other in both positive and negative ways. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. The closed-canopy forest is the southernmost portion of the taiga. [6], Forests are the dominant terrestrial ecosystem of Earth, and are distributed around the globe. Temperate deciduous or temperate broad-leaf forests are a variety of temperate forest 'dominated' by trees that lose their leaves each year. 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. [25], While deforestation is taking place in some areas, new forests are being established through natural expansion or deliberate efforts in others. In 1935 there was only 1,757,000 hectares of forest, today this has increased by more than 150%. In tropical forests, fruit bats and birds effect pollination. [24], China instituted a ban on logging, beginning in 1998, due to the erosion and flooding that it caused. Coniferous forests stretch across Canada, Alaska, Northern Asia, and Northern Europe.Their main trees are evergreen conifers which produce seeds in cones.. However, in many areas of the United States, the area of forest is stable or increasing, particularly in many northern states. Humans have generally decreased the amount of forest worldwide. The Dying of the Trees: The Pandemic in America’s Forests. 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. Keddy, P.A. [5] Using this definition FRA 2020 found that forests covered 4.06 billion hectares or approximately 31 percent of the global land area in 2020 but are not equally distributed around the globe. [1] During the settlement of North America, potash made from tree ashes was exported back to Europe as fertilizer. [30], Forest plantations are generally intended for the production of timber and pulpwood. 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]. [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. The seasonality of rainfall is usually reflected in the deciduousness of the forest canopy, with most trees being leafless for several months of the year. In brief – Forests, biodiversity and people, FAO & UNEP, FAO & UNEP. Tropical rainforests and boreal coniferous forests are the least fragmented, whereas subtropical dry forest and temperate oceanic forests are among the most fragmented. Other definitions consider savannas to be a type of forest, and include all areas with tree canopies over 10%.[12]. 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. [1] Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing and ecological function. [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]. less fertile soils or less predictable drought regimes, the proportion of evergreen species increases and the forests are characterised as "sclerophyllous". Much of this biomass occurs below ground in the root systems and as partially decomposed plant detritus. [22] The resorting to sylva in English indicates more precisely the denotation that use of forest intends. These 26 major types can be reclassified into 6 broader categories: temperate needleleaf; temperate broadleaf and mixed; tropical moist; tropical dry; sparse trees and parkland; and forest plantations. This gain is due especially to reforestation in China and Russia. [31], Tropical dry forests are characteristic of areas in the tropics affected by seasonal drought. New York: Penguin Books. Forest ecosystems can be found in all regions capable of sustaining tree growth, at altitudes up to the tree line, except where natural fire frequency or other disturbance is too high, or where the environment has been altered by human activity. A forest is made up of many layers. These typically need to be close to where the children live, for practical logistics. [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. The number of trees in the world, according to a 2015 estimate, is 3 trillion, of which 1.4 trillion are in the tropics or sub-tropics, 0.6 trillion in the temperate zones, and 0.7 trillion in the coniferous boreal forests. 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. However, in botany and many countries (Germany, Poland, etc. Deforestation, erosion, and forest management in ancient Greece and Rome. [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. Serving as a source of woodlands and trees for millions of people depending almost entirely on forests for subsistence for their essential fuelwood, food and fodder needs. [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. [11] Forests provide ecosystem services to humans and serve as tourist attractions. This vegetation is variously called open taiga, open lichen woodland, and forest tundra. Forest biomes. [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. "Impacts of global change on Australian temperate forests: Working Paper 99/08", Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Temperate_deciduous_forest&oldid=1004052364, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 31 January 2021, at 21:46. 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%). Harrisburg: Audubon Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Habitat Alliance. Managing White-tailed Deer in Forest Habitat from an Ecosystem Perspective: Pennsylvania Case Study. 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. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. [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. [23] Archaeopteris was a plant that was both tree-like and fern-like, growing to 10 metres (33 ft) in height. On very poor soils, and especially where fire or herbivory are recurrent phenomena, savannas develop. WWF’s Wildfinder web application, which allowed users to explore the globe’s species, biomes and ecosystems, was retired in August 2018. Deer grazing also has significant negative effects on the number and kind of herbaceous flowering plants. Thank you for your continued support of WWF. 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]. 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). It remains subject to a wide margin of error, not least because the samples are mainly from Europe and North America. [53][54], There is an estimated 726 million ha of forest in protected areas worldwide. 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. [50] More than 75% of these intact forests lie in three countries—the boreal forests of Russia and Canada and the rainforest of Brazil. The opposite problem from flooding has plagued national forests, with loggers complaining that a lack of thinning and proper forest management has resulted in large forest fires.[62][63]. Forests are often home to many animal and plant species, and biomass per unit area is high compared to other vegetation communities. [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]. 2005. These forests are composed entirely, or nearly so, of coniferous species (Coniferophyta). Text taken from Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings, FAO, FAO. The shade, soil, and forest duff from the dropped fronds created the first forest. They are found in areas with warm moist summers and cool winters. However, because hunting forests often included significant areas of woodland, forest eventually came to connote woodland in general, regardless of the density of the trees. 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. [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]. [25] Most forest habitats in temperate regions support relatively few animal and plant species and species that tend to have large geographical distributions, while the montane forests of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia and lowland forests of Australia, coastal Brazil, the Caribbean islands Central America and insular Southeast Asia have many species with small geographical distributions. A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. [13], Under land use definitions, there is considerable variation on where the cutoff points are between a forest, woodland, and savanna. This page was last edited on 23 February 2021, at 16:13. 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? [23], Forests account for 75% of the gross primary productivity of the Earth's biosphere, and contain 80% of the Earth's plant biomass. Freed, M. Grund, S. B. Horsley, A. F. Rhoads, and B. P. Shissler. The average value (market and non-market) of 10 main ecosystem types was calculated. There are also many natural factors that can cause changes in forests over time including forest fires, insects, diseases, weather, competition between species, etc. Ecological Applications 6: 748–762. 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). [52] However new forests are not completely equivalent to old growth forests in terms of species diversity, resilience and carbon capture. Another distinction is whether the forests are composed predominantly of broadleaf trees, coniferous (needle-leaved) trees, or mixed. A terrestrial ecosystem is a land-based community of organisms and the interactions of biotic and abiotic components in a given area. 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). Of the six major world regions, South America has the highest share of forests in protected areas, at 31 percent. ), a different classification of forest vegetation structure is often used: tree, shrub, herb and moss layers, see stratification (vegetation). You can even learn about the Washington temperate rainforest, alpine ecosystem, and ponderosa pine woodland. 1996. According to FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, an estimated 420 million hectares of forest has been lost worldwide through deforestation since 1990, but the rate of forest loss has declined substantially. 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. [25] Northern Africa, southern Australia, coastal Brazil, Madagascar and South Africa, are also identified as areas with striking losses in biodiversity intactness.[25]. Each layer has a different set of plants and animals depending upon the availability of sunlight, moisture and food. As a result, the net loss of forest area was reduced to 5.2 million hectares per year between 2000 and 2010, down from 8.3 million hectares annually in the 1990s. In 1997, the World Resources Institute recorded that only 20% of the world's original forests remained in large intact tracts of undisturbed forest. They occur principally in areas of transition from forested to non-forested landscapes. 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 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. The Fragmented Forest: Island Biogeography Theory and the Preservation of Biotic Diversity. [2][3] The introduction of exotic diseases continues to be a threat to forest trees, and hence, the forest;[4][5] examples include the loss of chestnut and elm. Dunn, M. A. Fajvan, R.R. 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. [13] Land use definitions are based upon the primary purpose that the land serves. The two major zones in which these ecosystems occur are in the boreal region and in the seasonally dry tropics. [23] The shed organic matter altered the freshwater environment, slowing it down and providing food. Savannas maintain an open canopy despite a high tree density. [29][30], The net loss of forest area has decreased substantially since 1990, but the world is not on track to meet the target of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests to increase forest area by 3 percent by 2030. In the Southern Hemisphere, most coniferous trees (members of the Araucariaceae and Podocarpaceae) occur in mixtures with broadleaf species, and are classed as broadleaf and mixed forests. Such definitions typically define a forest as an area growing trees above some threshold. Roughly 80 percent of the world’s forest area is found in patches larger than 1 million hectares. Highlights We screened over 300 case studies on the monetary value of ecosystem services. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 License statement/permission on Wikimedia Commons. Old-growth forest contains mainly natural patterns of biodiversity in established seral patterns, and they contain mainly species native to the region and habitat. The total biomass has decreased slightly since 1990 but biomass per unit area has increased.[24]. [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. Different global forest classification systems have been proposed, but none has gained universal acceptance. Text taken from The State of the World’s Forests 2020. Forests can also affect people's health. Some areas covered with trees are legally defined as agricultural areas, e.g. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 License statement/permission on Wikimedia Commons. Almost half the forest area (49 percent) is relatively intact, while 9 percent is found in fragments with little or no connectivity. [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. Forests can be classified in different ways and to different degrees of specificity. The largest part of the forest (45 percent) is found in the tropical domain, followed by the boreal, temperate and subtropical domains. 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. Objective criteria for the restoration of deciduous forest include large trees, coarse woody debris, spring ephemeral, and top predators. The position of the taiga generally is controlled by the degree of warmth experienced during the growing season, the temperature of the soil, and the extreme minimum winter temperature.The taiga biome consists of three roughly parallel zones: closed-canopy forest, lichen woodland or sparse taiga, and forest-tundra. [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. This promoted freshwater fish. [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. This article incorporates text from a free content work. However, under some conditions, e.g. [30], Sparse trees and savanna are forests with lower canopy cover of trees. This system divides the world's forests into 26 major types, which reflect climatic zones as well as the principal types of trees. They are found in areas with warm moist summers and cool winters. Plains Woodland, Plains Grassy Woodland, Plains Grassland, Red Gum Wetland and Grassy Woodland … Most Canadian provinces have regulations limiting the size of clear-cuts, although some older clear-cuts can range upwards of 110 square kilometres (27,000 acres) in size which was cut over several years. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use. Dense collection of trees covering a relatively large area, This article is about a community of trees. 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. The six major areas of this forest type occur in the Northern Hemisphere: North America, East Asia, Central and Western Europe (except Brittany, Cornwall, … 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. Humans have often colonized areas in the temperate deciduous forest. The biodiversity of forests varies considerably according to factors such as forest type, geography, climate and soils – in addition to human use. 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. 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. Archaeopteris was deciduous, dropping its fronds onto the forest floor. [30] UNEP-WCMC's forest category classification system is a simplification of other more complex systems (e.g. 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 forest derives from the Old French forest (also forès), denoting "forest, vast expanse covered by trees"; forest was first introduced into English as the word denoting wild land set aside for hunting[17] without the necessity in definition of having trees on the land. The woody component of a forest contains lignin, which is relatively slow to decompose compared with other organic materials such as cellulose or carbohydrate. [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). Human activities, including unsustainable use of forest resources, can negatively affect forest ecosystems. [6] Large deer populations have deleterious effects on tree regeneration overall, but particularly for edible species including yew, yellow birch, and hemlock. Land cover definitions define forests based upon the type and density of vegetation growing on the land. See more. [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. Photosynthesis definition, the complex process by which carbon dioxide, water, and certain inorganic salts are converted into carbohydrates by green plants, algae, and certain bacteria, using energy from the sun and chlorophyll. About eight percent of Canada's forest is legally protected from resource development. Little, C. E. 1995. [8], f biome distribution] (Temperate Deciduous Forest is in dark green). ", "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. [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].

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