Environmental Science CH 11 study guide
What is an old growth forest?
Old growth forest is ecologically mature forest where the effects of disturbances are now negligible.
What are some examples of renewable resources that can be provided by forests?
Soil, fresh water, timber, and wild animals
How do forests help prevent soil erosion?
Vegetation helps to slow water movement, reducing soil erosion, which leads to less pollutants getting into our waterways.
What is adaptive management
a customized approach to gather resources
What is a snag?
a standing, dead or dying tree, often missing a top or most of the smaller branches
What are the effects of prescribed burns?
allows the plants that need fire to be able to grow
What are the effects of a fire suppression system?
allows weaker, more vulnerable trees that would have been weeded out by fire to survive
What is the difference between clear cutting and deforestation?
clear cutting is cutting areas of a forest while deforestation is cutting the entire forest
What is ecosystem-based management?
harvest resources in ways that minimize impact on the ecosystems and ecological processes that provide the resources
How does deforestation contribute to climate change and global warming?
it decreases the amount of plants and trees that are used to take away carbon emission
What is a seed tree/ shelterwood approach?
it is a approach that leaves young or mature trees behind so they can help regrow the old cut trees
What does the Forest Stewardship Council do and what would buying a product stamped by them mean?
it means that they have been approved and that they have been cut from an old tree
What does the Healthy Forest Restoration Act do?
it was a way to make sure that the forests are not fire prone
What does the National Forest Management Act do?
it was to make sure plans were drawn up for how they would cut the forest and how much of it they would cut
What is selective cutting?
selective cutting is when people would cut either old trees or new trees
What is maximum sustainable yield?
the amount of resources harvested that doesn't affect future resource gathering
Why would an old growth forest most likely contain a high number of habitats compared to a forest that had been logged?
the old forest has areas that haven't been harmed for a long time while the logged ones are changing multiple times due to the amount of times it has been cut
What is a majority of earth's fresh water used for?
the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.
What are some examples of the economic value of forests?
there are many herbs that could be used to create mediciene as well as food that could be found in the
What effects do logging operations have on forests?
they basically turn the forests into croplands that are ready for harvest
How much of earth's surface is covered by forests?
30
What is desertification and how is it caused?
Desertification is the degradation process by which a fertile land changes itself into a desert by losing its flora and fauna, this can be caused by drought, deforestation, climate change, human activities or improper agriculture
What is one example of desertification that happened in Oklahoma?
The dust bowl
What is salvage logging?
The removal of snags
