A plant community dominated by trees. It is a collection of trees and plants, animals, microorganisms, soil, climate and so on. Forests not only provide wood and other forest products and by-products, but also have the functions of soil and water conservation, climate regulation, wind and sand fixation, farmland protection, medical care and national defense.
First, the meaning of forest
Forest and abiotic environment in space are organically combined to form a complete ecosystem. Forest is the largest terrestrial ecosystem on the earth and an important part of the global biosphere. It is the gene pool, carbon pool, water storage pool and energy pool on the earth, which plays a vital role in maintaining the ecological balance of the whole earth and is the resource and environment for human survival and development.
Second, the role of forests:
1. Forests can keep water and soil: dense canopy can intercept precipitation, and generally 20% ~ 30% of precipitation is intercepted by canopy. This interception can reduce the degree of precipitation, thus reducing the erosion of soil by rainwater, delaying the process of surface runoff and reducing soil erosion.
2. Forests can conserve water: because of the roots of trees, forest soil forms pores and has strong water holding capacity. When the root space of forest soil reaches one meter deep, the forest can store 500 ~ 2000 cubic meters of water per hectare, so the forest is known as the "green reservoir" in Tai Sen.
3. Forests can prevent wind and fix sand: Forests are the main obstacles to wind-blown sand movement and soil erosion, which can reduce wind speed, stabilize quicksand, increase and maintain field humidity, reduce the harm of dry and hot wind brought by paulownia branches, and play a very significant role in protecting agriculture in wind-blown sand-damaged areas. Therefore, forest is an obstacle to agricultural production.