A Forest Ecosystem and Biodiversity

A forest ecosystem is one major ecologic unit that exists as "home" for a community of both native or introduced, classified organisms. The forest ecosystem is just one of a number of unique ecosystems including prairies, deserts, polar regions and great oceans, smaller lakes and rivers. A forest ecosystem typically is associated with land masses covered in trees and those trees are often classified by foresters into forest cover types. The word "ecology" comes from the Greek "oikos, meaning "household" or "place to live". These ecosystems or communities are usually self sustaining. I say "usually" because some of these communities can become unbalanced very quickly when detrimental factors occur. Some ecosystems, like tundra, coral reefs, wetlands and grasslands are very fragile and very small changes can effect their health. Larger ecosystems with wide diversity are much more stable and somewhat resistant to harmful changes. A forest ecosystem community is directly related to species diversity. Generally, you can assume that the more complex the structure, the greater is its species diversity. You should remember that a forest community is much more than just the sum of its trees. A forest is a system that supports interacting units including trees, soil, insects, animals, and man. Forest ecosystems tend to always be moving toward maturity or into what foresters call a climax forest. This maturing, also called forest succession, of the ecosystem increases diversity up to the point of old age where the system slowly collapses. One forestry example of this is growth of trees and the entire system toward an old growth forest. When the ecosystem is exploited and exploitation is maintained or when components of the forest begins to naturally die, then the maturity of the forest ecosystem declines. Management of forests for sustainability is desirable when forest diversity is threatened by overuse, resource exploitation, old age and poor management. Forest ecosystems can be disrupted and harmed when not properly sustained. A sustained forest that is certified by a qualified certification program gives some assurance that the forest is managed to allow maximum diversity while satisfying the manager's environmental and economic demands. Scientists and foresters have dedicated their entire careers trying to understand even a small part of forest ecosystems. Complex forest ecosystems are extremely diverse, ranging from dry desert shrub land to large temperate rain forests. These natural resource professionals have categorized forest ecosystems in North America by placing them into forest biomes. Forest biomes are broad categories of natural tree/plant communities.

Forest ecology is the scientific study of the interrelated patterns, processes, flora, fauna and ecosystems in forests. The management of forests is known as forestry,silviculture, and forest management. A forest ecosystem is a natural woodland unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms (Biotic components) in that area functioning [1] together with all of the non-living physical (abiotic) factors of the environment. Forest ecology is one branch of a biotically-oriented classification of types of ecological study (as opposed to a classification based on organizational level or complexity, for example population or community ecology). Thus, forests are studied at a number of organizational levels, from the individual organism to the ecosystem. However, as the term forest connotes an area inhabited by more than one organism, forest ecology most often concentrates on the level of the population, community or ecosystem. Logically, trees are an important component of forest research, but the wide variety of other life forms and abiotic components in most forests means that other elements, such as wildlife or soil nutrients, are often the focal point. Thus, forest ecology is a highly diverse and important branch of ecological study. Forest ecology studies share characteristics and methodological approaches with other areas of terrestrial plant ecology. However, the presence of trees makes forest ecosystems and their study unique in numerous ways.

Community diversity and complexity[edit source | editbeta]

Since trees can grow larger than other plant life-forms, there is the potential for a wide variety of forest structures (or physiognomies). The infinite number of possible spatial arrangements of trees of varying size and species makes for a highly intricate and diverse micro-environment in which environmental variables such as solar radiation, temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed can vary considerably over large and small distances. In addition, an important proportion of a forest ecosystem's biomass is often underground, where soil structure, water quality and [2] quantity, and levels of various soil nutrients can vary greatly. Thus, forests are often highly heterogeneous environments compared to other terrestrial plant communities. This heterogeneity in turn can enable great biodiversity of species of both plants and animals. It also affects the design of forest inventory sampling strategies, the results of which are sometimes used in ecological studies. A number of factors within the forest affect biodiversity; primary factors enhancing wildlife abundance and biodiversity are the presence of diverse tree species [3] within the forest and the absence ofeven aged timber management. For example, the wild turkey thrives when uneven heights and canopy variations exist and its numbers are diminished by even aged timber management.

Energy flux[edit source |

Forests accumulate large amounts of standing biomass, and many are capable of accumulating it at high rates, i.e. they are highly productive. Such high levels of biomass and tall vertical structures represent large stores of potential

energy that can be converted to kinetic energy under the right circumstances. Two such conversions of great importance are fires and treefalls, both of which radically alter the biota and the physical environment where they occur. Also, in forests of high productivity, the rapid growth of the trees themselves induces biotic and environmental changes, although at a slower rate and lower intensity than relatively instantaneous disturbances such as fires.

Death and regeneration[edit source | editbeta]

Woody material, often referred to as coarse woody debris, decays relatively slowly in many forests in comparison to most other organic materials, due to a combination of environmental factors and wood chemistry (see lignin). Trees growing in arid and/or cold environments do so especially slowly. Thus, tree trunks and branches can remain on the forest floor for long periods, affecting such things as wildlife habitat, fire behavior, and tree regeneration processes.

Water[edit source | editbeta]

Lastly, forest trees store large amounts of water because of their large size and anatomical/physiological characteristics. They are therefore important regulators of hydrological processes, especially those involving groundwater hydrology and local evaporation and rainfall/snowfall patterns. Thus, forest ecological studies are sometimes closely aligned with meteorological and hydrological studies in regional ecosystem or resource planning studies. Perhaps more importantly the duff or leaf litter can form a major repository of water storage. When this litter is removed or compacted (e.g. through grazing or human overuse), erosion and flooding are exacerbated as well as deprivation of dry season water for forest organisms.

Ecological potential of forestal species[edit source | editbeta]

The ecological potential of a particular species is a measure of its capacity to effectively compete in a given geographical area, in front of other species, as they all try to occupy a natural space. For some areas it has been [4] quantified, as for instance by Hans-Jrgen Otto, for central Europe. He takes three groups of parameters: Related to site requirements: Tolerance to low temperatures, tolerance to dry climate, frugality. Specific qualities: Shade tolerance, height growth, stability, longevity, regeneration capacity. Specific risks: Resistance to late freezing, resistance to wind/ice storm, resistance to fire, resistance to biotic agents. Every parameter is scored between 0 and 5 for each considered species, and then a global mean value calculated. A value above 3, 5 is considered high, below 3, 0 low, and intermediate for those in between. In this study Fagus sylvatica has a score of 3,82, Fraxinus excelsior 3,08 and Juglans regia 2,92; and are examples of the three categories.

Freshwater ecosystem
with marine ecosystems, which have a larger salt content. Freshwater habitats can be classified by different factors, including temperature, light penetration, and vegetation. Freshwater ecosystems can be divided into lentic ecosystems (still water) and lotic ecosystems (flowing water). Limnology (and its branch freshwater biology) is a study about freshwater ecosystems. It is a part of hydrobiology. Original efforts to understand and monitor freshwater ecosystems were spurred on by threats to human health (ex. Cholera outbreaks due to sewage contamination). Early monitoring focussed on chemical indicators, then bacteria, and finally algae, fungi and protozoa. A new type of monitoring involves differing groups of organisms (macroinvertebrates, macrophytes and fish) and the stream conditions associated with them. Current biomonitering techniques focus mainly on community structure or biochemical oxygen demand. Responses are measured by behavioural changes, altered rates of growth, reproduction or mortality. Macroinvertebrates are most often used in these models because of well known taxonomy, ease of collection, sensitivity to a range of stressors, and their overall value to the ecosystem. Most of these measurements are difficult to extrapolate on a large scale however. The use of reference sites is common when assessing what a healthy freshwater ecosystem should look like. Reference sites are easier to reconstruct in standing water than moving water. Preserved indicators such as diatom valves, macrophyte pollen, insect chitin and fish scales can be used to establish a reference ecosystem representative of a time before large scale human disturbance. Common chemical stresses on freshwater ecosystem health include acidification, eutrophication and copper and pesticide contamination.

Extinction of freshwater fauna[edit source | editbeta]

Over 123 freshwater fauna species have gone extinct in North America since 1900. Of North American freshwater species, an estimated 48.5% of mussels, 22.8% of gastropods, 32.7% of crayfishes, 25.9% of amphibians, and 21.3% of fishes are either endangered or threatened. Extinction rates of many species may increase severely into the next century because of invasive species, loss of keystone species and species which are already functionally extinct. Projected extinction rates for freshwater animals are around five times greater than for land animals, and are comparable to the rates for rainforest communities. Recent extinction trends can be attributed largely to sedimentation, stream fragmentation, chemical and organic pollutants, dams, and invasive species.

Only 3% of the world's water is fresh. And 99% of this is either frozen in glaciers and pack ice or is buried in aquifers. The remainder is found in lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams.
Lakes and Ponds Deep lakes contain three distinct zones, each with its characteristic community of organisms.
Littoral zone

The zone close to shore. Here light reaches all the way to the bottom. The producers are plants rooted to the bottom and algae attached to the plants and to any other solid substrate. The consumers include

tiny crustaceans flatworms insect larvae snails frogs, fish, and turtles.

Limnetic zone

This is the layer of open water where photosynthesis can occur. As one descends deeper in the limnetic zone, the amount of light decreases until a depth is reached where the rate of photosynthesis becomes equal to the rate of respiration. At this level, net primary production no longer occurs. The limnetic zone is shallower in turbid water than in clear and is a more prominent feature of lakes than of ponds. Life in the limnetic zone is dominated by

floating microorganisms - called plankton actively swimming animals - called nekton. The producers in this ecosystem are planktonic algae. The primary consumers include such animals as microscopic crustaceans and rotifers the so-called zooplankton. The secondary (and higher) consumers are swimming insects and fish. These nekton usually move freely between the littoral and limnetic zones.

Profundal zone

Many lakes (but few ponds) are so deep that not enough light reaches here to support net primary productivity. Therefore, this zone depends for its calories on the drifting down of organic matter from the littoral and limnetic zones. The profundal zone is chiefly inhabited by primary consumers that are either attached to or crawl along the sediments at the bottom of the lake. Such bottom-dwelling animals are called the benthos. The sediments underlying the profundal zone also support a large population of bacteria and fungi. These decomposers break down the organic matter reaching them, releasing inorganic nutrients for recycling.
Fall overturn

Where there is a pronounced change of seasons, the warming of the surface of the lake in the summer prevents this water from mixing with deeper water. This is because warm water is less dense than cold. The surface water becomes enriched in oxygen

some from the air above it the rest because it is in the limnetic zone from photosynthesis.

But the water in the profundal zone being removed from both these sources becomes stagnant. In the fall, however, as the surface water cools, it becomes denser and sinks to the bottom carrying oxygen with it.
Spring overturn

A similar phenomenon occurs when the ice melts in the spring.

Rivers and Streams The habitats available in rivers and streams differ in several ways from those in lakes and ponds.

Because of the current, the water is usually more oxygenated. Photosynthesizers play a minor role in the food chains here; a large fraction of the energy available for consumers is brought from the land; e.g., in falling leaves.