Category: Forest Ecosystems

Community participation in forest management is essential to ensure that the health of forests are maintained and that the benefits of the forest can be used by the people who live near it.  In this article, we’ll discuss these three questions about community participation in forest management:  What is Community Forestry? Why is Community Participation […]

Forests are sources of great biological diversity, economic potential, and cultural value. When forests exist near where people are living, they must be managed to protect these values. This is where sustainable forest management comes in, but what exactly does this term mean? Sustainable forest management is all the practices dedicated to continuing the flow […]

Forest conservation is an important field that requires experts trained in conservation techniques to research and practice conservation along with foresters and other scientists. These experts are known as conservation technicians.  In this article, we’ll cover the following questions about conservation technicians: What are conservation technicians and what do they do? Why are conservation technicians […]

In light of our rapidly changing climate and increasingly at-risk ecosystems, deforestation as an issue has come to center stage. The largest threats to forests today are: Agriculture Logging Urbanization Forest fires We know forest conservation is incredibly important to all living species on the planet, but why? How exactly do deforestation and forest habitat […]

Wildfires today are often dangerous and harmful to ecosystems because they are caused by human activity. However, when they occur naturally, wildfires can be ecologically beneficial. This article will answer the following questions about wildfires in forests: How Do Wildfires Benefit Forest Ecosystems? What are Controlled Burns? When are Wildfires Bad for Ecosystems? Wildfires can […]

A forest isn’t a forest without trees, but how specifically does a forest respond when trees are removed during logging practices? Removing even a single tree from a forest can affect the ecosystem in the following ways:  Habitat loss Decreased soil health Increased flood risk Higher pollution levels Levels Of Deforestation Before we go into […]

The process of industrial logging often involves cutting down large areas of the forest through a process called clearcutting. Logging is done for economic purposes either to sell the timber, clear land for farms, or both, but it causes substantial damage to forest ecosystems in the following ways: Road-building harms plant and soil health and […]

Timber is an incredibly valuable resource for the human population. Cutting down trees for economic and cultural purposes has been a practice employed by humans since the beginning of civilization, but as our need for timber grows, the methods we use to get it are becoming increasingly harmful to forests and the earth.  There are […]

If you live in a city or a suburb, you are probably a part of an urban forest. That’s because urban forests are any area with trees that is densely populated by humans. Urban forests have a very interesting ecology because they don’t just encompass trees and plants, but also humans and human-made structures. But […]

Of the three types of living organisms in a forest ecosystem…  Producers Composers  Decomposers …decomposers are some of the most overlooked, but most important. Decomposers are any organism that ingests dead organic matter and releases nutrients into the soil.  Let’s talk a bit more about decomposers and give some real-world examples. What are Decomposers and […]