Forest Resources

Question 1

What resources do forests provide?

Answer 1

• Timber
• Fibres
• Fuelwood
• Foods such as cocoa and bananas
• CWRs
• Medicines

Question 2

What ecosystem services do forests provide?

Answer 2

• Atmospheric regulation by mass carbon sequestration
• Hydrological cycle regulation
• Microclimate provision
• Wildlife refuge
• Erosion prevention
• Recreational use

Question 3

What is the mass of Carbon in forests compared to the atmosphere?

Answer 3

The mass in forests is roughly double that of the atmosphere

Question 4

How does traditional forestry vary from modern forestry?

Answer 4

Traditional focuses on local management of existing woodland for maximum yield and sustainability
Modern focuses on largescale harvesting of specific trees in plantations

Question 5

What is coppicing?

Answer 5

Cutting trees to the ground in a cycle to encourage the growth of new large branches, often resulting in trees that seem to have two or three trunks

Question 6

What is pollarding?

Answer 6

Cutting trees at branch level to encourage the growth of new smaller branches

Question 7

How are modern plantations managed less sustainably?

Answer 7

• Cultivation of non-indigenous species with no benefit to local species
• Single Species plantations, which increases efficiency but impacts biodiversity
• Close planting, which encourages tall and straight growth that decrease light levels, reducing biodiversity
• Simple age structure, where trees are harvested at the optimal time, resulting in old trees with dead wood not existing for ecosystem needs

Question 8

How much of the world’s forest has been lost?

Answer 8

Roughly 1/3rd

Question 9

What are the causes of deforestation?

Answer 9

• Land clearing for agriculture
• Forest clearance for and potential pollution from mineral extraction
• Reservoir usage
• Urbanisation
• Transport infrastructure
• Unsustainable exploitation

Question 10

What effects can deforestation have?

Answer 10

• Loss of forest resources
• Loss of species/biodiversity
• Habitat fragmentation
• Changes in hydrology
• Increased soil erosion
• Reduced soil protection
• Increased albedo
• Reduced carbon sequestration

Question 11

How can forests be more sustainably managed?

Answer 11

• Harvesting rates must stay below MSY
• Mixed species plantations
• Indigenous species
• Mixed age structure to increase abiotic factor diversity
• Selective logging to prevent mass clear felling that may impact the environment