What is FOREST?

Areas of land dominated by tree cover that can reach at least 2 metres height at maturity. Includes a variety of living things (animals, plants) and non-living things (water, soil, air). Covers 9.4% of the whole earth's surface or 30% of total land area. Comes in all shapes and sizes. Different types of forest are classified according to location and climate.

Types of FOREST
i. Tropical rainforests Year-round high temperatures and abundant rainfall makes this a dense, lush forest. Found near the equator. Vital storehouses of biodiversity on the planet. ii. Sub-tropical forests Found to the south and north of the tropical forests. The trees here are adapted to resist the summer drought. iii. Mediterranean forests Found to the south of the temperate regions around the coasts of the Mediterranean, California, Chile and Western Australia. The growing season is short. Almost all trees are evergreen, but mixed hardwood and softwood. iv. Temperate forests Found in eastern North America, north eastern Asia, and western and eastern Europe. The broad-leaved hardwood trees shed leaves annually. Well-defined seasons with a distinct winter and sufficient rainfall. v. Coniferous forests Inhabit the cold, windy regions around the poles. Both hardwoods and conifers found in this region. The conifers are evergreen and structurally adapted to withstand the long drought-like conditions of the long winters The hardwoods are deciduous.

vi. Montane forests Receive most of their precipitation from the fog that comes up from the lowlands. Some of montane woodlands and grasslands are found in high-elevation tropical, subtropical and temperate zones. vii. Plantation forests Around 140 million hectares in the world Cover around 7% of global forest. Product and supplies more timber and fibre is than natural forests. Produce around 40% of industrial wood. Trees are mainly conifers.

Functions of FOREST
Forests can be a valuable treasure for human beings as it provides us with lots of benefits in our daily lives. i. Produce oxygen

1 hectare of forest can absorb 1000g of carbon dioxide as well as d produce 730g of oxygen for 1000 people in one day. ii. Air purifier Absorbs toxic gases and purify the air at low concentrations. For example, chrysanthemum, ginkgo can absorb sulfur dioxide. iii. Dust filtration

Tree foliage intercepts airborne particulates, from dust to soot and pollen, thus cleaning the physical content of air. Do you know that a single forest can absorb dust 75 times more than the empty land? iv. Kill bacteria

Most trees will emit an antibacterial compound known as Pythoncidere, which h is used widely in Russian, Ukrainian, Chinese and Japanese medicine, including holistic medicine, aromatherapy, and veterinary medicine. v. Eliminate noise

. Some argue that all trees do is introduce a distraction from background noise via rustling foliage and bird song etc that psychologicallyredirects the brains perception so that it appears the noise has been reduced. vi. Conserve water and reduce soil emosion

Forest helps to increase groundwater recharge that is significantly reduced by paving, in addition to retaining soil, where the trees act as a physical barrier to wind erosion. vii. Climate regulation

The temperature and air humidity are relatively stable in the forests. However, deforestation activities can change the reflectivity of the earth's surface, which affects global weather by altering wind and ocean current patterns, and changes rainfall distribution. viii. Constitute the natural ecology

Earth's largest terrestrial ecosystems, is an important part of the biosphere in the world.

References
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_forests/types/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/forests/what_is_a_forest.cfm http://www.forestlearning.edu.au/australian-forests/what-is-a-forest