Forest & Deforestation

• Forest cover

  31% of the land area on our planet
• A forest is a community of trees, shrubs, herbs, and associated plants and organisms that cover a considerable area that use oxygen, water and soil nutrients as the community attains maturity and reproduces itself
• What are the layers of the forest

  • emergent
  • canopy
  • understory
  • forest floor
• emergent layer exists in the tropical rainforest and is made up of trees that are tall and have a wide canopy
• canopy is formed by the mass of intertwined branches, twigs and leaves of the mature trees. It forms a shady, protective "umbrella" over the rest of the forest
• understory is made up of bushes, shrubs, and young trees that are adapted to living in the shades of the canopy
• forest floor contains decomposing leaves, animal droppings, and dead trees. It supports ferns, grasses, mushroom and tree seedlings
• Types of forests in the Philippines

  1. mangrove forest
  2. beach forest
  3. molave forest
  4. dipterocarp forest
  5. pine forest
  6. mossy forest
• mangrove forest has trees that have special root formations
• mangrove forest is tidal and it can be found along the clayed sea shore as well as in the tidal zones in the river estuaries. This serves as buffer to typhoons
• beach forest is a kind of forest forms a narrow strip along the sandy coast of the beach
• the dungon, agoho, banulad trees are common which is endemic to the Philippine island
• a molave is a tree that grows with a crooked trunk
• molave tree reaches heights of up to 82 to 89 feet tall. The wood is valuable because it is hard and yellow wood
• the dipterocarp forest covers the largest forest areas in the Philippines
• dipterocarp forest is situated from the coastal flats going up to approximately 800 meters in the altitude.
• the dipterocarp forest is the biggest source of the lumber supply in the country
• the pine forest is usually developed in the country's high plateau regions
• pine forest is in the altitude ranging from 7 to 8 meters above the sea level
• • pinus merkusil (mindoro pine)
  • pinus insularis (benguet pine)
• mossy forest can be found along the mountains in about 1200 altitude high
• mossy forest have moist climate in which mossy forest mostly developed
• deforestation is a permanent destruction of forest in order to make the land available for other uses
• deforestation is clearing, destructing or otherwise removal of trees through deliberate, natural and accidental means
• causes of deforestation

  1. illegal logging
  2. agricultural expansion
  3. mining operation
  4. construction of roads and infrastructure projects
  5. climate change
• Management of Forest Resources

  1. wildlife
  2. watershed
  3. grazing land
  4. recreation areas
• Wildlife management involves maintaining a balance between the number of animals and plants in a forest to that of the supply of food, water and shelter
• watershed management largely involves keeping the forest soil porous so it can absorb a maximum amount of water
• grazing land, forestland must be carefully regulated to prevent overgrazing, which can damage watersheds
• recreation areas, plan carefully to provide maximum benefits to visitor with minimum harm to the forest
• Forest access and Logging

  1. clear cutting
  2. seed tree cutting
  3. selective logging
  4. shelter wood cutting
• Clear cutting, cutting of all trees at one time and creating an even age stand by planting of trees
• seed tree cutting, leaving a few scattered seed-bearing trees to reforest the area
• selective logging, removal of few mature trees repeatedly over relatively short intervals, creating an uneven age stand
• shelter wood cutting, removal of old stand trees in a series of cutting