Forest ecology
A forest ecosystem is a natural woodland unit consisting of all plants, animals, and micro-organisms (biotic components) in that area functioning together with all of the non-living physical (abiotic) factors of the environment.
Since trees can grow larger than other plant life-forms, there is the potential for a wide variety of forest structures (or physiognomies).
[12] For example, the wild turkey thrives when uneven heights and canopy variations exist and its numbers are diminished by even aged timber management.
Forest management techniques that mimic natural disturbance events (variable retention forestry[13]) can allow community diversity to recover rapidly for a variety of groups including beetles.
[15][16] Some of these shared traits, possessed by many tropical trees, include thick and leathery leaves that are elongated and ovular with mid-ribs and drip-tips.
[15] Conifers have unique traits that make them especially adapted to harsh conditions, including cold, drought, wind, and snow.
[16] Their leaves have a wax coating and are filled with resin to help prevent moisture loss, this makes them unpalatable to animals and slow to decompose.
[16] The majority of conifers are also evergreen, allowing them to take advantage of the short growing seasons of their respective environments.
[16] The stereotypically cone shape of conifers helps prevent large quantities of snow from building up on their branches and breaking them.
[15] Due to the harsh environments that coniferous forests are commonly found, the diversity is limited in both plant and animal species.
[16] Coniferous forests contain a variety of valuable pulp and lumber trees making them some of the most economically important ecosystems.
[17] An important interaction in forest ecosystems is the mycorrhizal network, which consists of fungi and plants that share symbiotic relationships.
[18] Mycorrhizal networks have been shown to increase the uptake of important nutrients, especially ones which disperse slowly into the soil like phosphorus.
[19] The fine hypha of the mycelium is able to reach farther into the soil than the roots of the plant, allowing it to better access phosphorus and water.
[19] However, it's been shown that the benefit of mycorrhizal networks vary greatly depending on the species of plant and nutrient availability.
[22] Two such conversions of great importance are fires and treefalls, both of which radically alter the biota and the physical environment where they occur.
Also, in forests of high productivity, the rapid growth of the trees themselves induces biotic and environmental changes, although at a slower rate and lower intensity than relatively instantaneous disturbances such as fires.
When this litter is removed or compacted (through grazing or human overuse), erosion and flooding are exacerbated as well as deprivation of dry season water for forest organisms.
