Biodiversity is a big deal, both for ecosystems and human economies, yet it's increasingly threatened around the world by deforestation. Some million people live in forests worldwide, including an estimated 60 million indigenous people whose survival depends almost entirely on native woodlands.
Many millions more live along or near forest fringes, but even just a scattering of urban trees can raise property values and reduce crime, among other benefits. By growing a canopy to hog sunlight, trees also create vital oases of shade on the ground.
Urban trees help buildings stay cool, reducing the need for electric fans or air conditioners, while large forests can tackle daunting tasks like curbing a city's "heat island" effect or regulating regional temperatures. Trees also have another way to beat the heat: absorb CO2 that fuels global warming. Plants always need some CO2 for photosynthesis, but Earth's air is now so thick with extra emissions that forests fight global warming just by breathing. CO2 is stored in wood, leaves and soil, often for centuries.
Large forests can influence regional weather patterns and even create their own microclimates. The Amazon rainforest, for example, generates atmospheric conditions that not only promote regular rainfall there and in nearby farmland, but potentially as far away as the Great Plains of North America.
Tree roots are key allies in heavy rain, especially for low-lying areas like river plains. They help the ground absorb more of a flash flood, reducing soil loss and property damage by slowing the flow. On top of flood control, soaking up surface runoff also protects ecosystems downstream. Modern stormwater increasingly carries toxic chemicals, from gasoline and lawn fertilizer to pesticides and pig manure, that accumulate through watersheds and eventually create low-oxygen " dead zones.
Forests are like giant sponges, catching runoff rather than letting it roll across the surface, but they can't absorb all of it. Water that gets past their roots trickles down into aquifers, replenishing groundwater supplies that are important for drinking, sanitation and irrigation around the world. Farming near a forest has lots of benefits, like bats and songbirds that eat insects or owls and foxes that eat rats.
But groups of trees can also serve as a windbreak, providing a buffer for wind-sensitive crops. And beyond protecting those plants, less wind also makes it easier for bees to pollinate them. A forest's root network stabilizes huge amounts of soil, bracing the entire ecosystem's foundation against erosion by wind or water.
Not only does deforestation disrupt all that, but the ensuing soil erosion can trigger new, life-threatening problems like landslides and dust storms. In addition to holding soil in place, forests may also use phytoremediation to clean out certain pollutants. Trees can either sequester the toxins away or degrade them to be less dangerous.
This is a helpful skill, letting trees absorb sewage overflows, roadside spills or contaminated runoff. Forests can clean up air pollution on a large scale, and not just CO2. Trees absorb a wide range of airborne pollutants, including carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. In the U. Sound fades in forests, making trees a popular natural noise barrier. Not only do trees produce fruits, nuts, seeds and sap, but they also enable a cornucopia near the forest floor, from edible mushrooms, berries and beetles to larger game like deer, turkeys, rabbits and fish.
Where would humans be without timber and resin? We've long used these renewable resources to make everything from paper and furniture to homes and clothing, but we also have a history of getting carried away, leading to overuse and deforestation. Forests are habitats to millions of animals and support numerous ecosystems. Animals such as lizards, snakes, turtles, crocodiles, alligators, insects, birds, butterflies and monkeys among other wild animals such as lions and leopards all live in the forests or within the rivers and streams in forest areas.
Therefore, these animals form their food chains in the forests by interacting with each other in their respective physical environments which creates an ecosystem. Healthy ecosystems are critical for the flourishing of the animal lives.
Additionally, millions of indigenous people still live in the forests and depend on them for survival. Forests act as watershed regions since, approximately all the water merely comes from forest-derived water tables and from within the rivers, lakes, and streams in forest areas.
The Amazon, for instance, provides one of the largest watershed and river systems in the world. Many other forest areas around the globe also serve as significant watershed areas. Forests serve as reserves for the genes of biodiversity. Forests also support biodiversity by offering enabling environments where different plants and animals can easily thrive. Forests play an important role in the purification of the atmospheric air.
During the day, trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and give out oxygen. As such, they help in the purification of the air that we breathe. And, if the forest is large enough, it influences weather patterns for thousands of miles. For instance, The Amazon rain forest has an effect on the weather as far away as the United States!
As I got older, I found out that one of the reasons for those trees is they block the wind and help protect crops that are sensitive to wind. This also increases pollination from bees and provides the habitat for the animals that prey on crop ravagers like mice, rats and insects. As I mentioned before, forests take in carbon dioxide. But, they also clean the air of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide — all huge contributors of air pollution.
Want to help where you are? Another reason for those stands of trees around crop fields is that they help to keep that precious top soil in place!
Forests not only keep soil in place, they prevent erosion from rain. Deforestation causes mud slides, dust storms and flooding. Many plants that are used to make medicine can be found in forests. This is why we plant the moringa tree , one of the most important, healthful trees for humans. Cacao trees provide theophylline, an asthma drug; while eastern red cedar needles contain a compound that helps fight MRSA. Well over half of the plant compounds that are used in cancer-fighting medications are found in the rain forests!
Trees provide us with nuts, berries, mushrooms, fruit, sap and seeds. Forests also support the lives of so many animals that humans consume, such as rabbits, squirrel, deer, elk, birds and fish.
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