Unit 4: Forestry - Forest Resources
- Created by: rosieevie
- Created on: 25-05-15 21:06
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- Forest Resources
- Physical Resources
- Food Resources
- Coffee, cacao, bananas, pigs, chickens all originally from forests
- Wild varieties of cultivated species may have new useful characteristics that are important in future selective breeding
- Medicines
- Vincristine from rosy periwinkle treats leukemia
- Diogenin from mexican wild yam treats inflammation
- Quinine from cinchona tree treats malaria
- Aspirin from willow bark
- Wood
- Fuelwood
- Fibres - paper from pulped wood cellulose sheets, cotton from seeds of cotton bush and rayon from chemical treatments of cellulose
- Furniture and Tools - must be strong e.g. mahogany, oak, timber
- Building construction - structural supporting framework for walls and infill material for floorboards and doors
- Strong, high strength : weight ratio, requires little processing and is readily available
- Food Resources
- Life-Support Services
- Regulation of the Atmosphere
- Forests are carbon stores and wood has a long residence time for CO2
- Carbon sequestration - growing trees take CO2 out of the air and store it in wood
- Planting trees maintains the ozone layer and releases O2 for aerobic organisms
- Climate Regulation
- Low albedo of forests absorbs sunlight and stores heat in wood water
- Evapotranspiration increases cloud cover that retains heat at night and reflects it in the day
- Forests reduce extremes in temperature
- Evapotranspiration increases humidity and rainfall downwind
- Forest Microclimate - changes in abiotic factor beneath canopy layer
- Low light levels and poor absorbing green light at floor - plants have adaptations e.g. denser chlorophyll, additional pigments
- Low wind velocity - sheltered - animals help with seed dispersal and pollination
- High humidity levels - amphibians survive more easily
- Regulation of Water Cycle
- Organic matter holds more water - increased soil moisture
- Increased infiltration - organic matter and soil organisms improve drainage
- Increased humidity due to low wind velocity
- Slowed evaporation due to reduced light levels
- Reduced runoff due to increased infiltration, interception and transpiration
- Increased precipitation downwind
- Soil Conservation
- Dead vegetation contributes humus and nutrients and food for organisms that form soi
- Trees prevent water and wind erosion
- Trees and leaf litter reduce wind velocity and raindrop impact
- Tree roots and humus bind soi
- Living organisms increase ease of water infiltration and reduce runoff
- Habitat and Wildlife Refuge
- Large variety of niches
- High primary productivity
- Stratification (layers of forests) means more niches
- Regulation of the Atmosphere
- Physical Resources
- Wood
- Fuelwood
- Fibres - paper from pulped wood cellulose sheets, cotton from seeds of cotton bush and rayon from chemical treatments of cellulose
- Furniture and Tools - must be strong e.g. mahogany, oak, timber
- Building construction - structural supporting framework for walls and infill material for floorboards and doors
- Strong, high strength : weight ratio, requires little processing and is readily available
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