forests

Climate, topography, soil, latitude and elevation determine the general forest type. Each forest ecosystem changes with the seasons. Each forest ecosystem changes with the passage of time in a process called forest succession where early forest structures and composition transition into new forms as the forest matures. Eventually the old forest breaks apart as the trees reach the end of their life span, or dramatic events like fires or windstorms wipe nature’s canvas clean and the cycle begins anew.

Forest harvesting through clear-cutting also prepares a new canvas for forest successional patterns to paint over with the first young trees of a new forest cycle. Forest harvesting through selective cutting slows down forest succession by holding the forest in a structure mixing young, middle aged and old trees on the same hectare.

This structure is maintained by repeated selective cutting.

Forests can develop where there is an average temperature greater than 100 C in the warmest months and annual precipitation is equivalent to at least 200 mm of rain.

Forests

Forests form a buffer for the Earth against the full impact of the Sun, wind, rain and snow. Whatever the type of forest - evergreen or deciduous, tropical boreal or temperate - the trees provide special environments for other vegetation and for animals, birds, reptiles and insects and fungi. These different parts together form forest ecosystems.

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