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A forest can be a relatively benign place or a magical place depending on the viewers imagination and his/her admiration for the surrounding environment.
A forest is not just made of trees. Trees are the easiest things for us to see because of their relative size when compared to us. Instead of looking at the trees down, it may be preferable to use a "ground up" approach and think about the forest starting from the bedrock, moving through the soil levels, up through the leaf litter and herbaceous growth and finally through the different canopy levels of trees. There are also many other externalities that affect the way the forest looks and feels.
Each forest is unique. Even within the same types of forests, there are many unique attributes to that specific area of land. A few of those different attributes are explained on this page
Site/Site quality:
A site is an area of land that has defined boundaries and very similar physical attributes throughout. The soils, slopes, aspects (direction that the slope faces), water table levels and nutrient levels would be very similar on a site. Distinct sites can vary within a few feet of each other on a geographical scale, but usually there is a zone between separate sites that has characteristics of each of the different sites called a transition zone. The land can differ drastically in site quality (production levels) because of the variety of these (and other) attributes. A higher quality site is simply a site which can grow trees larger and faster than a lower quality site. The definition of quality is the degree of excellence the site holds for vegetative growth.
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Diversity:
There are generally two types of diversity; genetic diversity and species diversity.
Genetic diversity is based on the variability of genes within a population of a species. This is generally not a concern in a large forest or forests in close vicinity to other forests.
Species diversity is basically the amount of different species and populations levels of those species that are present on a site. It is often dependent on the site quality and species characteristics. Species diversity is always an important consideration in a forest. Just as these four concepts above are interconnected with each other, so are the organisms and abiota (all non-living things) on all levels throughout the forests.
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Hot wild ginger (Asarum canadense) root tea mixed with maple syrup makes a real good after dinner treat. Caution: Dont collect forest plants for food, drink or medicine unless you have the knowledge to correctly identify, use and conserve them. There are many plants in the woods that will kill you if you make a mistake, and cause damage to overall diversity if harvested without taking their conservation into consideration.
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Succession:
Succession is the term used to explain how different groups of plants will grow on a site because of varying amounts of an environmental resource, particularly sunlight.
Succession naturally occurs after wildfire and strong wind storms. Since the trees are blown down or the leaves are burned, more sunlight is able to reach the ground. This encourages plants that are sun-loving, often called pioneer species, to grow in abundance while vegetation that is shade-tolerant (often called climax species) occupies niches as the pioneer species grow to their extent and build the shade necessary for the climax species to form the forest which will occupy the site until a disturbance event happens to start the process anew.
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Species characteristics:
Different species prefer different growing conditions: One species may grow better with large amounts of sunlight and a drier soil. Another species may grow better with shaded conditions and a moist soil. Some species only grow well when there are high amounts of Calcium in the soil, others will only grow where the soil is extremely acidic. This is an important concept to understand while trying to manage for the optimum growth of a particular species or species group on a given site. If you consider planting a tree on your property, consider first if you have a site that will be able to support that trees growth.
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All of us have a responsibility to take care of our forests. In the U.S., that responsibility is granted to private citizens, as well as private and public entities, but all forests affect all people in many ways, large and small.
The forests purify the air and water. They create gasses that produce the air that we breath, and uptake the carbon dioxide that we exhaust. Forests change the climate and produce wood in which we can create useful products for our everyday lives. Forests give us food and medicine. The majority of ingredients of modern medicine are still either derived directly from plants, or are synthetic compounds based on chemicals derived from plants. Forests give us room to roam and places to play, relax, recreate, work and live. Us means all of us, creatures and humans alike. The forests are important to all life on Earth.
With so many large concentrations of people in small places today, and those concentrations continuing to expand, the forests that remain are becoming more and more important every day.
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