Courtesy : Bachelor of Science Forestry (Botany, Zoology, forestry) in USA

Tropical dry

Tropical dry forests are characteristic of areas in the tropics affected by seasonal drought. The seasonality of rainfall is usually reflected in the deciduousness of the forest canopy, with most trees being leafless for several months of the year. Under some conditions, such as less fertile soils or less predictable drought regimes, the proportion of evergreen species increases and the forests are characterised as “sclerophyllous”. Thorn forest, a dense forest of low stature with a high frequency of thorny or spiny species, is found where drought is prolonged, and especially where grazing animals are plentiful. On very poor soils, and especially where fire or herbivory are recurrent phenomena, savannas develop. # ISO certification in India

Sparse trees and savanna

Sparse trees and savanna are forests with sparse tree-canopy cover. They occur principally in areas of transition from forested to non-forested landscapes. The two major zones in which these ecosystems occur are in the boreal region and in the seasonally dry tropics. At high latitudes, north of the main zone of boreal forestland, growing conditions are not adequate to maintain a continuously closed forest cover, so tree cover is both sparse and discontinuous. This vegetation is variously called open taiga, open lichen woodland, and forest tundra. A savanna is a mixed woodland–grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer that consists primarily of grasses. Savannas maintain an open canopy despite a high tree density.# ISO certification in India

Plantations

Forest plantations are generally intended for the production of timber and pulpwood. Commonly mono-specific, planted with even spacing between the trees, and intensively managed, these forests are generally important as habitat for native biodiversity. Some are managed in ways that enhance their biodiversity protection functions and can provide ecosystem services such as nutrient capital maintenance, watershed and soil structure protection and carbon storage.# ISO certification in India

Area

Share of land that is covered by forest

The annual net loss of forest area has decreased since 1990, but the world is not on track to meet the target of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests to increase forest area by 3 percent by 2030.

While deforestation is taking place in some areas, new forests are being established through natural expansion or deliberate efforts in other areas. As a result, the net loss of forest area is less than the rate of deforestation; and it, too, is decreasing: from 7.8 million hectares (19 million acres) per year in the 1990s to 4.7 million hectares (12 million acres) per year during 2010–2020. In absolute terms, the global forest area decreased by 178 million hectares (440 million acres; 1,780,000 square kilometres; 690,000 square miles) between 1990 and 2020, which is an area about the size of Libya.# ISO certification in India

Societal significance

Main articles: Forestry, Logging, and Deforestation

Redwood tree in northern California redwood forest, where many redwood trees are managed for preservation and longevity, rather than being harvested for wood production

Burned forest on Thasos

Forests provide a diversity of ecosystem services including:

• Converting carbon dioxide into oxygen and biomass. A full-grown tree produces about 100 kilograms (220 lb) of net oxygen per year.
• Acting as a carbon sink. Therefore, they are necessary to mitigate climate change. According to the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to avoid temperature rise by more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, there will need to be an increase in global forest cover equal to the land area of Canada (10 million square kilometres (3.9 million square miles)) by 2050.
• Aiding in regulating climate. For example, research from 2017 shows that forests induce rainfall. If the forest is cut, it can lead to drought, and in the tropics to occupational heat stress of outdoor workers.
• Purifying water.
• Mitigating natural hazards such as floods.
• Serving as a genetic reserve.
• Serving as a source of lumber and as recreational areas.
• Serving as a source of woodlands and trees for millions of people dependent almost entirely on forests for subsistence for their essential fuelwood, food, and fodder needs.# ISO certification in India

Some researchers state that forests do not only provide benefits, but can in certain cases also incur costs to humans. Forests may impose an economic burden, diminish the enjoyment of natural areas, reduce the food-producing capacity of grazing land and cultivated land, reduce biodiversity, reduce available water for humans and wildlife, harbour dangerous or destructive wildlife, and act as reservoirs of human and livestock disease.# ISO certification in India