Forest and Climate Change

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Forest and Climate Change

|Forest and Climate Change| A forest is a large area dominated by trees. Forests ae the dominant terrestrial ecosystem an are distributed throughout the world. Forest compromises 75% of the gross primary production of Earth’s biosphere and contains 80% of the Earths plant biomass. Forest at different latitudes and elevation supports different kinds of ecosystems: boreal forests near the poles, tropical forests near the equator and temperate near the mid-latitudes. Temperature, precipitation and edaphic factors also affects the forest vegetation.

Forests acts as a sink for greenhouse gases and help in mitigating the effects of climate change. However, forest ecosystem and biodiversity is also affected by changing climatic conditions. These changes in the forests question the degree to which the forests will be able continue sequestering greenhouse gases in the future.

Ecosystem and climate models suggest that climate change will have a variety of impacts in the distribution of forest vegetation, organisms and also impacts the function of ecosystem. Generally, it is expected that habitats will shift towards the poles. Climate change will likely increase the length of growing season. It also increases the risk of drought in some areas and the risk of excessive rainfall and flooding in others.

Due to climate change certain types of insects can outbreak in the forest which can act as a disease carrier and can spread the diseases. Also eruption of weeds may take place and the trees have to compete with these weeds for light, water and nutrients which will affect in the growth and productivity of the forest.

Increasing forest area and forest density through afforestation and forest reforestation results in increased absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which will mitigate the climate change. Planting trees outside the forest area and increasing the tree cover area outside the forest area help mitigate climate change by storing carbon, reduce land degradation. Applying agroforestry system will increase the forest are and also provides the fuel and income to the local farmers which improves their livelihoods.

Sustainable use of forest resources and sustainable forest management will ensure the balance of harvesting and regeneration, which reduces the loss of forest area and helps in controlling the climate change.  Controlling forest fire, ensuring the health and vitality of forest also helps in mitigating the climate change problems. Regular monitoring of forest is also essential.

In general, there is increasing evidences that forest will be greatly affected by climate change. So, it is our duty and responsibility to promote and preserve the forests.

Final word We hope this article helped you to know about the forest and climate change.