The ecology of forests is the process of academic study of natural patterns and other processes associated with Flora, Fauna and, in general, with the ecosystem of forest complexes.
Such processes and their management are customary to call forestry, and the very concept of a forest ecosystem contains natural units of forest, which includes plants, living organisms and biotic components (microorganisms) in this area that function in close community with inanimate ones, or, as they are accepted call, abiotic factors relating to the surrounding space.
Forest ecology as a science
Forests that are located on the territory of almost any state almost always represent a rather complex complex of ecosystems, and it is impossible not to appreciate the importance of these systems from the point of view of their influence on the surrounding space, its restoration and preservation.
Not so long ago, forests and trees were an integral part of huge territories, regardless of the continent and the type of forest (taiga or tropical yes any!), however, the process of a global increase in the number of population throughout the planet led to the need to master new territories for living, which means to massively cut down forest lands.
And to date, the concept of forest ecology science, which is closely engaged in complexes of forest stands in the context of their communication with the surrounding space and the consequences of human activity, has been clearly entrenched in. It is interesting that the nuances such as the relationship of the surrounding nature and forest complexes are separately considered, and also the ratio between individual types of plants (wood and nontimber species) and animals in reality.
The science of forest ecology pays attention to the total moments of the interaction of forest phytocenosis and the environment. And the object of such attention is usually the individual types of flora and fauna in a word, any forest organisms. T.e. The scope of the study of this science includes synecological aspects (these are forests and the surrounding space), as well as autoecological (specific species and space) moments.
The main principles of forest ecology
Forest ecology pays close attention to the study of forest complexes as a biological community, including the functionality and dynamic development of all organisms inhabiting forests in the process of their interaction both among themselves and with the outside world. Forest, regardless of its type (mixed, tropical and more), is a separate ecosystem, which is unique. And the ecology just considers the general points of the interaction of all environmental fragments (tree, undergrowth, soil, microorganisms, fauna) and study their structure, stability and productivity, as well as metabolism and energy metabolism.
Regarding forest complexes, it is customary to distinguish several options for studying these systems:
At the same time, forest ecology strictly performs its functions as science, namely, the formation of the theory of the maximum process of interaction between humanity and ecosystems of forest complexes.
Interaction with other areas of ecology
Forest ecology is a significant branch of the classification of types of environmental research, formed on a biotic principle. This classification differs from the separation by the organizational level (we are talking about the ecology of the community or population), therefore, forest complexes are studied at the most different levels from individual (body) to more global (complex or ecosystem).
But the ecology of forests belongs to entire forest complexes, t.e. territories inhabited by many forest organisms, so most often it is concentrated on a more global level from the population to the ecosystem. Naturally, the variety of life forms and various components of the abytic (t.e. inanimate) type in the forests themselves suggests that there will be many different components in the focus of the ecology of forests soil and wild nature, t.e. The subject of its study is an important industry of environmental study.
Such studies are characterized by common features and methodological approaches, closely related to other areas of this science (for example, the ecology of ground plants), which gives the subject of its study uniqueness in many areas.
The role of forest complexes
Forest zones, which are divided by our planet, are significantly vast and occupy almost 25% of the entire surface of the earth. Despite this indicator, today in forest complexes there are active processes of reduction under the influence of a variety of factors, the main of which is anthropological.
The most significant forest zones, which are distinguished by continuity, are ecology:
Tropical forests of the Amazon
It is customary to attribute to forest biogeocenosis for a long period interacting in the established territory of representatives of the flora and fauna. It is the forest complex that is a source of many functional and industrial materials, among which it is possible to distinguish:
Forest ecosystems absorb pollution and generate oxygen, and also serve as housing for a wide variety of biological representatives, and the coniferous forest also fills the atmosphere with phytoncides volatile substances that have a healing effect, not to mention the prevention of erosion and the drainage of soils.
Depending on this, forest complexes perform the following environmental functions:
Forest complexes and environmental problems
There are several reasons for the violation of the balance in forest ecosystems:
Forest fires
These actions are largely connected by human activities, and such an anthropogenic effect can serve as the beginning of more global processes starting from overpopulation, changes in the atmosphere, climate, and ending with the exhaustion of various resources of the planet.
First of all, this concerns changes in the atmosphere: it is it that is the main filter from solar radiation, which is detrimental to living organisms, and is also able to control the temperature we need. And its pollution, first of all, is a consequence of human anthropogenic activity: internal combustion engines, industrial emissions, agricultural activities and much more. And the most diverse, but from this no less inevitable consequences of atmospheric pollution: from greenhouse effect to climatic changes, weakening of the ozone layer, soil oxidation processes may be listed almost endlessly. Due to these influences, photosynthesis is disturbed, the growth of living organisms is inhibited, mass death of ecosystems occurs (forests simply disappear from the face of the planet).
Poaching is worth.e. illegal activity related to the extraction (elimination) of many species of flora and fauna hunting, collecting plants that cause the destruction of individual biological species. Such activity leads to a sharp violation, first of all, of the food chains and the cycle of matter.
And, despite the fact that today all states and countries are concerned about the adoption of measures that are able to prevent the mass extermination of flora and fauna, fines and imprisonment do not resolve the issue.
This is primarily due to the fact that the same forest fires become the basis of serious destruction in forest ecosystems (about two million tons of organics are destroyed every year) after all, they are mainly the main reason for people’s activities. In addition to the destruction of organics, it is precisely because of fires that there is a decrease in the growth of plantings, their quality, increased volumes of the spread of boulems and a change in the structure of the soil towards their deterioration. And the destruction of the forest cover causes the active spread of dangerous species of insects and mushrooms.
Another danger is urbanization, which becomes another reason for the plight of forest ecosystems. Garbage that does not decompose (at the same time natural disposal concerns exclusively organics) for decades and even centuries, which causes significant damage to the entire complex and nature in general.
Mass deforestation of forests, which is now a global problem, is carried out for the needs of industry and inflicts irreparable and tremendous damage to all ecosystems (especially if it concerns the violations of the legislation during cutting): a huge number of types of living organisms are destroyed, and the biota causes an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere , (producing a much smaller amount of oxygen), the force of wind flows changes, the soil is damaged. Thus, instead of forests, steppes appear, or even deserts.
Forest complex protection products
Forest protection is not only a mission of the state because it cannot exist separately from its citizens. And in the near future, the problems of forest ecology will take the main place in human activity.
In order to regulate the sizes of the cutting out, forest complexes are customary to be divided into three main types:
To minimize the damage from the work of forest blanks, several simple requirements are required:
Environmental potential
Environmental potential in general is the totality of all available natural resources, which is capable of giving the necessary products that ensure the life process of the whole society without prejudice to its functioning.
The environmental potential of the species in science is customary to understand the measure of its ability to productively withstand competition in this geographical sphere, which is primarily determined by the advance of other species that are trying to use the existing natural space.
Moreover, some areas are even determined even by quantitative indicators that are distributed into several types:
The environmental potential of forests is directly determined by their geographical position, the level of anthropogenic impact on the forest ecosystem, the age structure of the forest and its pedigree component.
