What is a forest?

What is a forest?

Forests are small biomes. They represent a third of the Earth's land. A forest is an area with a high density of trees.
Forests are also referred to as:
a wood
woodland
wold
weald
holt
firth
While humans and animals breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, trees take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.

What kind of forests are there?

Distinct forest types occur within each of the broad biome groups. According to UNEP there are 26 major types of forests, which reflect climate zones as well as trees types.
These 26 major forest types can be reclassified into 6 broader categories:
temperate needleleaf
temperate broadleaf and mixed
tropical moist
tropical dry
sparse trees and parkland
forest plantations

Do different trees live in different forests?

Trees as well as other organisms change depending on the forest, it's climate and structure.
Trees come in different shapes and sizes. There is an incredible diversity of tree species around the world -- some 60,000 to 70,000 species of trees have been identified! New species are being identified all the time. Different trees live in different forests. You will find Evergreens in Acadia National Park in Maine, Palm Trees in the Rain Forest, and the Boabab in Madagascar.

What are the world's largest trees?

There are many trees that live in the world's many habitats. The largest recorded tree (measured in volume) is named General Sherman, a Giant Sequoia, found in the Sequoia National Forest, CA. The tree is believed to be between 2,300 and 2,700 years old. It is so big that you could drive a car through it!

Are the world's forests in danger?

Biomes have changed and moved many times during the history of life on Earth. More recently, human activities have drastically altered these communities. Thus, conservation and preservation of biomes should be a major concern to all.
Because we share the world with many other species of plants and animals, we must consider the consequences of our actions. Over the past several decades, increasing human activity has rapidly destroyed or polluted many ecological habitats throughout the world. It is important to preserve all types of biomes as each houses many unique forms of life. However, the continued heavy exploitation of certain biomes, such as the forest, freshwater, and marine, may have more severe implications.

How can I help the forests?

Deforestation represents a great threat to the future of the earth's atmosphere, and the only way this can be avoided is by careful management of this resource. Once a tree is cut down, another should take its place, but there is still too large a number of trees being cut down as opposed to the number of trees being planted.
Pollution is another way we endanger the forests and in turn endanger species. Our governments, companies and all of us need to act more responsibly by maintaining our lands and it's organisms.
As people we can do our best to keep the forests clean and pollution free. This helps us as well as the living breathing plants and animals. Thus we can clean up after ourselves and try not to destroy these natural surroundings when we are enjoying them.