Forests: Our Lifeline

The land area of the earth which is dominated by trees is called a Forest: Our Lifeline. It is a structure comprising various plants, micro-organisms, and animals.

Importance of Forests

There are several points that hint at the Importance of Forests for the environment. These are as follows:

1. The biggest evidence of the Importance of Forests is that plants release oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. Plants help provide oxygen for animals and humans’ respiration. They also protect the harmony of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the environment. That is why green lungs is another name for forests.
2. One of the most important facts evident of the importance of Forests is that Forests are the lifeline for forest-dwelling communities. The forest delivers them with food, shelter, water, timber, and medicines. These forest-dwelling communities have ancestral awareness about many healing plants in the forest.
3. The dense bushes and the tall grass provide animals with food and shelter. Protecting them from carnivores that live in the wilderness is also one of the  Importance of Forests.
4. Rainwater is also absorbed and seeped deep into the ground as forests work as a natural absorber. These natural absorbers help to conserve the water table roundabout the year.
5. Forests not only help to maintain the flow of water in the streams of the river but also prevent floods in the area.
6. Forests also help in the Water Cycle that provokes rainfall in neighboring regions.
7. They protect soil from degradation and provide an environment for many animals.
8. Forests also influence climate, water cycle, and air quality.

 Structure of the Forest

1. The topmost layer of the forest is filled with shrubs and the lowest layer of the forest is formed by the herbs.
2. Understoreys is a different horizontal layer that is created by the trees that have branches of numerous types and sizes.
3. The crown is the branchy part of a plant that is above the trunk of the tree.
4. A canopy is a roof of the trees that are formed by the larger branches of trees over the small plants in the forest.

Forest as a system

The several elements of the forest are interdependent on one another. Green plants produce food. All animals, whether carnivores or herbivores are dependent on plants for food indirectly or directly.

Food Chain

1. The food chain is the basic component of the forest as a system where one organism that feeds on plants is often eaten by other organisms and those organisms by others. For example, the grass is eaten by pests, which in turn is eaten by the frog. The frog is eaten by snakes.

Grass➜ Insects➜ Frog➜ Snake➜ Eagle     

 2. These food chains can be formed in the forest. Each food chain is correlated. If the food chain is unsettled, it implicates other food chains.

3. There is an exchange between water, air, soil, and living organisms. For example, Mushrooms and other microbes feed upon the deceased plant and animal tissues and transform them into a dark-colored element called humus. Such microbes are known as decomposers. The presence of humus guarantees that the nutrients of the deceased plants and animals are expelled into the mud. Deceased animals become a diet for predators, crows, jackals, and pests. In this way, the nutrients are cycled, and nothing goes to waste in a forest.

4. The forest is a “dynamic living entity — full of life and vitality.” The various components of the forest like trees, animals, soil, etc. help forests to grow and regenerate. For example, animals disperse plant seeds, animal manure provides nutrients to the seedlings to thrive, decomposers aid in maintaining the allowance of nutrients to the thriving plants in the wilderness, etc.

Deforestation:

The endless reduction of trees to make room for something besides the forest is called deforestation. Nowadays, forests are on the verge of vanishing due to the overgrazing of animals, indiscriminate cutting of plants, etc. Following are some harmful impacts of deforestation:

1. Due to the scarcity of global forest cover, the volume of CO2 will increase in the air which in turn could increase the temperature of the earth
2. With the scarcity of forests, animals will be starved as trees and plants are the main sources of their food, and the food chain will be disturbed.
3. With lesser trees, the home of the animals is also lost as many animals are dependent on the forest for their shelter.
4. Trees bind the soil together with their roots, but, if the forests are cut down, the soil will be washed away.
5. Floods would be caused by the absence of forest as the soil will not be able to hold the water in the scarcity of plants.

Deforestation will jeopardize our existence and the environment. Doing things wisely could preserve the forests as well as the environment.