Answer the following short answer questions with one complete paragraph each, the word document should have at least 400 words when completed. support your answers with research and evidence. logging trees is often controversial. why would some people support logging and some people not support logging? describe one way fire is beneficial to a forest and one way fire is harmful to a forest. what is the connection between poverty, population growth, and deforestation? why are old-growth forests often more ecologically valuable than second-growth forests? how does clear cutting compare with selective cutting, and why is selective cutting considered more sustainable than clear cutting? how can deforestation contribute to flooding and water pollution?

Deforestation, and especially the destruction of rainforests, is a hugely significant contributor to climate change. Scientists estimate that forest loss and other changes to the use of land account for around 23% of current man-made CO2 emissions – which equates to 17% of the 100-year warming impact of all current greenhouse-gas emissions.

As children are taught at school, trees and other plants absorb CO2 from the air as they grow. Using energy from the sun, they turn the carbon captured from the CO2 molecules into building blocks for their trunks, branches and foliage. This is all part of the carbon cycle.

A mature forest doesn't necessarily absorb much more CO2 that it releases, however, because when each tree dies and either rots down or is burned, much of its stored carbon is released once again. In other words, in the context of climate change, the most important thing about mature forests is not that they reduce the amount of CO2 in the air but that they are huge reservoirs of stored carbon. If such a forest is burned or cleared then much of that carbon is released back into the atmosphere, adding to atmospheric CO2 levels.

Of course, the same process also works in reverse. If trees are planted where previously there weren't any, they will on soak up CO2 as they grow, reducing the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. It is thought that trees, plants and other land-based "carbon sinks" currently soak up more than a quarter of all the CO2 that humans add to the air each year – though that figure could change as the planet warms.

Unsurprisingly, the relationship between trees and local and global temperature is more complicated than the simple question of the greenhouse gases they absorb and emit. Forests have a major impact on local weather systems and can also affect the amount of sunlight absorbed by the planet: a new area of trees in a snowy region may create more warming than cooling overall by darkening the land surface and reducing the amount of sunlight reflected back to space.

Explanation:

clearcutting reproduces a new even-aged stand by completely removing the mature stand.

clearcutting as a silvicultural treatment has several characteristics:

it causes a sudden environmental change

it removes the seed source from the regeneration area

the configuration of the clearcut may affect seed dispersal

it begins a new rotation

it will eliminate some pests that require forest cover

overall, it temporarily removes the forest cover, transforming the forest community and environment.

clearcutting followed by artificial (seeded or planted) regeneration has several advantages:

we can avoid delay in restocking the site

we can introduce a selected species, seed source, and genotype

we can control arrangement and spacing

we can achieve uniformity in the new stand

we can overcome the problems associated with securing sufficient natural regeneration.

the shelterwood method involves the removal of most of the mature stand at the end of the rotation, but a portion of the mature stand is left standing.   the shelterwood method serves three basic purposes:

to prepare the stand for production of abundant seed

to modify the environment in a way that promotes germination and survival of the selected species

to build up the amount and size of advance regeneration to ensure the prompt restocking of the new stand following overstory removal.

the shelterwood method involves a sequence of 3 cuttings:

preparatory cuttings: make the seed trees more vigorous and set the stage for regeneration. see our thinning page for more information.

establishment/seed cuttings: open up enough vacant growing space to allow establishment of the new regeneration.

removal cuttings: uncover the new crop to allow it to fill the growing space.

the residual trees in the shelterwood must:

be sturdy and windfirm

be able to survive exposure

flower and reproduce seed

be the best trees of the mature stand

keep in mind that the shelter trees must not occupy the entire site.   a void must be created in order to make room for the new regeneration. the amount of shelter to leave will depend on the following factors:

species characteristics (seeding and shelter requirements)

the number of cuttings in the cutting sequence (1, 2, or 3)

landowner objectives

the size of the area to be regenerated

the final removal harvest level required to be profitable

the shelter must be removed before it impedes the growth of the new stand or threatens its survival.