Deforestation - Historical Deforestation, Deforestation Today, Loss Of A Renewable Resource, Deforestation And Biodiversity, Deforestation And The Greenhouse Effect
Deforestation refers to a longer-term conversion of forest to some other kind of ecosystem, such as agricultural or urbanized land. Sometimes, however, the term is used in reference to any situation in which forests are disturbed, for example by clear-cut harvesting, even if another forest subsequently regenerates on the site. Various human activities result in net losses of forest area and therefore contribute to deforestation. The most important causes of deforestation are the creation of new agricultural land and unsustainable harvesting of trees. In recent decades, deforestation has been proceeding most rapidly in underdeveloped countries of the tropics and subtropics.
The most important ecological consequences of deforestation are: the depletion of the economically important forest resource; losses of biodiversity through the clearing of tropical forests; and emissions of carbon dioxide with potential effects on global climate through an enhancement of Earth's greenhouse effect. In some cases, indigenous cultures living in the original forest may be displaced by the destruction of their habitat.
Additional Topics
Ever since the development of agriculture and settlements, humans have converted forest into agroecosystems of various sort, or into urban land. There are numerous references in historical, religious, and anthropological literature to forests that became degraded and were then lost through overharvesting and conversion. For example, extensive forests existed in regions of the Middle East that are …
From earliest times to the present, the global extent of deforestation has been about 12%. This loss included a 19% loss of closed forest in temperate and boreal latitudes, and a 5% loss of tropical and subtropical forests. However, in recent decades the dynamics of deforestation have changed greatly. The forest cover in wealthier countries of higher latitudes has been relatively stable. In fact, …
Potentially, forests are a renewable natural resource that can be sustainably harvested to gain a number of economically important products, including lumber, pulp for the manufacture of paper, and fuelwood to produce energy. Forests also provide habitat for game species and also for the much greater diversity of animals that are not hunted for sport or food. In addition, forests sustain important…
At the present time, most of Earth's deforestation involves the loss of tropical forests, which are extremely rich in species. Many of the species known to occur in tropical forests have local (or endemic) distributions, so they are vulnerable to extinction if their habitat is lost. In addition, tropical forests are thought to contain millions of additional species of plants, animals, and m…
Any solution to the problem of deforestation must first address the social and economic reasons for the activity. While population growth and social unrest have been cited as causes, the most important reasons for deforestation are economic. The average annual income of many people in those countries most heavily impacted by deforestation is at extremely low levels. These people are forced to surv…
Citing this material
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments Add a comment…