What is forest structure?
Forest structure is the horizontal and vertical distribution of layers in a forest including the trees, shrubs, and ground cover (which includes vegetation and dead and down woody material). Structure looks at the proportion of small, medium, and large trees and is usually reported as trees per acre by diameter class.
What do you mean by forest explain the structure of the forest?
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. Forests are the predominant terrestrial ecosystem of Earth, and are distributed around the globe.
What is forest structure and composition?
Forest structure is the three-dimensional arrangement of trees and other plants, in combination with nonliving spatial elements such as soils, slopes, and hydrology. In short, structure is the physical geography of the forest, considered at a range of spatial scales.
What is the purpose of studying forest structure?
Purpose of Review The forest structure generally refers to the configuration and distribution of different plant species and sizes. Investigation and analysis of forest structures help us to understand the history, current status, and future development of forest ecological systems.
How are forests classified?
The forest cover is broadly classified in 4 classes, namely very dense forest, moderately dense forest, open forest and mangrove. The classification of the cover into dense and open forests is based on internationally adopted norms of classification.
What are the function of forest?
The main functions of forests are protective, regulative and productive. i. Forests act as a natural habitat for a variety of flora and fauna. Without the forest cover, a number of species would have no place to survive.
What is the composition of trees?
The chemical composition of wood varies from species to species, but is approximately 50% carbon, 42% oxygen, 6% hydrogen, 1% nitrogen, and 1% other elements (mainly calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron, and manganese) by weight.
What is the structure and function of the tropical rainforest?
Most rainforests are structured in four layers: emergent, canopy, understory, and forest floor. Each layer has unique characteristics based on differing levels of water, sunlight, and air circulation.
What are the different types of forest biology?
Forest Biology Forest Biology is a multidisciplinary field consisting of molecular transmission and population genetics, physical limits of tree height, causes of drought, landscape genomics, forest pathology and entomology, biogeography and ecosystem ecology of the forest.
What does biological diversity mean in a forest?
Forest biological diversity. Forest biological diversity means the variability among forest living organisms and the ecological processes of which they are part; this includes diversity in forests within species, between species and of ecosystems and landscapes.
What makes up the shrub layer of a forest?
Shrub layer: The shrub layer is characterized by woody vegetation that grows relatively close to the ground. Bushes and brambles grow where enough light passes through the canopy to support shrub growth. Understory layer: The understory of a forest consists of immature trees and small trees that are shorter than the main canopy level of the tree.
What makes an animal species a forest species?
A forest species is a species that forms part of a forest ecosystems or is dependent on a forest for part or all of its day-to-day living requirements or for its reproductive requirements. Therefore, an animal species may be considered a forest species even if it does not live most of its life in a forest.