Tree Conservation:
An In Depth Analysis
Agnes Opara
Academic affiliation: Oklahoma State University
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Forestation is very important to the world around us.
Mere respiration of all living things depends on natural vegetation. The ecosystem thrives on the
shadowy forests and the food and shelter that it provides. Soil relies on the nutrients and shade
that the trees provide. Without these, soil can become pliable and begin to deteriorate. Forests
confine animals of all sorts, protecting humans from dangerous mammals and reptiles that would
otherwise over-crowd urban areas. Many trees produce fruit and many of the herbal medicines that
assist the medical practice today. Budding flowers from trees, and parasitic creatures like
leeches are also used in medicinal applications. This purpose of this paper is to elucidate
the effects of deforestation and pollution. In this essay, there will be listing of probable
solutions to the deprecation of ecological resources. The one problem that remains unresolved
is how and which solution is best for the ecological problems that manifest within many nations.
It is because of these troubles that scientists remain divided and utterly at odds for finding an
exact resolution for the ecosystem.
Trees and other natural vegetation are what help to
sustain all the creatures that dwell in this nation. Conservationalists and environmentalists are
studying and presenting more and more facts to back up the issue at hand on the effects of
deforestation. The U.S government has even decreed in new legislation that change must take
place soon to salvage and reconstruct what is left of the ecosystem. Many politicians, mainly
governors, are pushing to invoke environmental awareness in their communities. Pollution is one
factor that has been widely debated because of the damage to the ozone layer. At present the
problem with the ozone layer has caused a dangerously high count of skin cancer in Australia
alone (CNN). The environment is in dire need of restoration. If the U.S. government is this
concerned on this matter, know that there is something more to this than what meets the eye.
If trees are allowed to deteriorate and decompose under the conditions that humans have left
them in, all living creatures will eventually become endangered species. The land is under
attack and has been since 105 AD according to Sam Martin, an editor for Ecology Today. His
article explains the event that transformed nature forever, the manipulation of trees into
paper. Many forests have been swept clean due to economic demand. With the increasing population,
the expansion and increase for numerous products has escalated in astonishing amounts. Martin
exclaims, " the world today consumes 300 million tons of paper each year" (2). If conservation
were only implemented in equilibrium with economic demand, trees might have hope for rehabilitation.
Alternative products are under suggestion in the conservation of trees according to John Clark,
author of: "Economic Development vs. Sustainable Societies." He presented such products as
agri-pulp and hemp, and the resource of recycling for possible establishment of preservation
for reformation of the agricultural and tropical plains (226).
Clearing of trees exposes the soil to a decreased
amount of humidity, and transpiration rates. An increase in air temperature has also been shown
to be prevalent once the soil is uncovered. As a result of all this exposure, soil erosion and
the abiotic composition become distorted. According to Guadalupe Williams-Linera, author of
"Vegetation Structure and Environment Conditions of the Forest Edges in Panama," solar radiation
takes effect on the already fledgling soil and insects and many parasitic creatures become victims
under the new atmosphere (356). Panjab Singh, an author of Agro Forestry Systems for Sustainable
Land Use, also alludes to the idea of chemical, biological, and physical degradation of the land
due to deforestation (6). Singh and his colleagues explain that the soil is under obstruction do
to nutrient depletion, toxic air pollution (which is what the soil is greatly exposed to once
deforestation takes place). The pH of precipitation changes and the biomass of carbon decrease,
which make reconstruction of nutrients for growth utterly infeasible (7). These problems of pH
levels not only influence the soil but the creatures that inhabit the forests. The ecosystem of
forests endures an expansive trepidation and tribulation due to deforestation. Speciation is under
grave risk of complete extermination.
"Many are not well adapted for the new conditions,"
as Mathilde Jullien describes in the Journal of Biogeography (7).
The amplification of cultivation enhances extinction and displacement of many of the creatures.
The raptor diversity in French Guiana alone has fallen prey to the predators of humankind. Their
morphological and behavioral adaptations are slow running and are declining everyday. There are
a few countries already that are suffering from the over use of tree industrialism. Trees are used
for stereo speakers, sole inserts of tennis shoes, home insulation, and electric plugs. Anything
and everything involve trees in some way. There needs to be change and soon. Agri-pulp and the
plant kenaf are great supplements. Why not use those products instead of ravaging and displacing
millions of species that thrive on the land and supply the human race with needed nutrients?
The world is interconnected throughout every single,
living creature. The ecosystem does not just hold studied mammals, it holds all creatures form all
species concealed and discovered in scientific research. Helmut Lieth, the editor of, Restoration
of Tropical Forest Ecosystems, emphasizes his thought on forest life by saying, " Forests are the
basic stems of human life"(5). Akira Miyawaki, one of the collaborators for this book, mentions
that one supreme way for restoration of the natural forests would be to collect seedlings and seeds
of climax species from the forests, harvest and raise them in a nursery and after adaptation is
established, replant the young plants in designated sites (5). This solution has, so far been
successful with the particular groups that were tested but some scientists feel skeptical has to
how far this idea will go considering that the consummation of tree products is growing faster
than trees can regrow everyday. Stuart Chapin III wrote in the, " Principles of Ecosystem
Sustainability," that maintaining interactive controls in the ecosystem would provide a
significant help for the sustaining of ecological health. In this program on interactive
control, Chapin and his associates speak of degradation of the natural forests and the
excessive deforestation that has capitulated the rehabilitation of vegetation in many nations.
He explains that if laws and regulations are enacted upon those that gather tree products for
the industries, the problems that engulf the ecosystem today will begin to diminish. Defending
his idea on the sustainability of forestation and why it has a possibility to work, Chapin writes:
We consider spatial scales that are relevant to direct human management ( e.g.,
watersheds). Definitions of sustainability related to the long-term yield of
commodities for human consumption ( e.g., sustainable agriculture or forestry;
qtd. Gale and Cordray 1991; Goodland 1995) are less relevant to unmanaged
ecosystems, although there is a continuum from natural to intensively managed
ecosystems (1017).
Resolutions to the tribulations that creatures of the forest and the forest itself are going
through, have stumped the minds of many scientists and government officials who wish to propose a
definite solution for the reestablishing the stamina of the ever-depleting forests. Too many to
mention have been presented forth as competent enough for rebuilding vegetation but each authority
has their idea of what is best. In the end forestation is still fledgling and many creatures have
become extinct. One solution that seems to be fairing well with the reconstruction of ecology, is
the idea that Martin Kellman and his comrades came up with. Their proposal is, " preservation will
have to take place in small community fragments" (195). In getting communities involved in the
fight for preservation, many of the ideas for conservation can be implemented depending on the
condition of the land in that area.
Rebecca Sharitz, an author of, " Integrating Ecological
Concepts with Natural Resource Management of Southern Forests," also examines a very similar
ideal to Kellman who authored the, "Structure and Function in Two Tropical Gallery Forest
Communities." Both present the idea of community management and awareness of the situation of
conservation. She mentions," Natural resource management must integrate commercial development
and use of forest resources with the maintenance of ecological values" (226). An author by the
name of Kamaljit S. Bawa also researched these same values and he explained them in further
detail in, " Natural Forest Management and Conservation of Biodiversity in Tropical Forests".
He and his colleagues believe in the idea of, "natural forest management for hope of making the
tropical lands more profitable while maintaining biodiversity" (46). This idea is similar to
earlier aspirations for consumption because it emphasizes the need for management and control
over the amount of human involvement on land. Bawa takes one other step in his idea and that is to
create equilibrium between agriculture and industrialism. Equilibrium would create a common
ground for all to become more involved with the war on conservationalism. The community can
still work with this project and still be able to gather resources needed for the growing
population. The reactions accrued with the establishment of community involvement seem to
be quite positive and accepted for the time being but there are still many people who search
for better solutions for preservation and conservation of the ecological systems.
Works Cited
Bawa, Kamaljit S.; Reinmar Seidler. "Natural Forest Management and Conservation of Biodiversity in
Tropical Forests." Conservation Biology 12.1 (1998): 46-55.
Chapin III, Stuart F.; Margaret S. Torn; Masaki Tateno. "Principles of Ecosystem Sustainability."
The American Naturalist 148.6 (1996): 1016-37.
Clark, John G. "Economic Development vs. Sustainable Societies: Reflections on the Players in a
Crucial Contest." Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics Vol. 26. (1995): 225-48.
Jullien, Mathilde; Jean-Marc Thiollay. "Effects of Rainforest Disturbance and Fragmentation:
Comparative Changes of the Raptor Community Along the Natural Human-Made Gradients in French
Guiana (in Rainforest Fragments)." Journal of Biogeography 23.1 (1996): 7-25.
Kellman, Martin; Rosanne Tackaberry; Lesley Rigg. "Structure and Function in Two Tropical Gallery
Forest Communities: Implications for Forest Conservation in Fragmented Systems." Journal of Applied
Ecology 35.2 (1998): 195-206.
Lieth, Helmut; Lohmann, Martha, ed. Restoration of Tropical Forest Ecosystems. Norwell: Klumer
Academic Publishers, 1993.
Martin, Sam." Paper Chase." Ecology Today (2003).
Sharitz, Rebecca M.; Lindsey Boring; David VanLear; John Pinder. "Integrating Ecological Concepts
with Natural Resource Management of Southern Forests." Ecological Applications 2.3 (1992): 226-37.
Singh, Panjab; Pathak, P.S.; Roy, M.M., ed. Agro forestry Systems for Sustainable Land Use.
Lebanon: Science Publishers, 1994.
Williams-Linera, Guadalupe. "Vegetation Structure and Environment Conditions of Forest Edges in
Panama." Journal of Ecology 78.2 (1990): 356-73.
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