Free Post Week 7

My free post this week is about the lecture we had in one of my forestry classes this week that is directly related to this week's prompted post. The discussion is about biodiversity and the impact this has on the amount of carbon emission reduction. Biodiversity refers to the different types of species, and in this case trees, of ecosystems. Diverse ecosystems are helpful in numerous ways. Erosion prevention, species habitat, and disease control are all directly related to the number of organisms occupying an ecosystem. People at the higher ends of forestry research are focused on the future of the planet and tree management on a global scale.

The main topic of discussion is how more trees means more carbon dioxide taken out of the air and put into trees. Different types of trees hold more carbon and grow at faster rates than other trees. Any way you look at it, more trees in any given ecosystem increase the rate at which carbon dioxide emissions are being combated. But this idea of diversification brings in ideals of more efficient ecosystems at reducing global carbon dioxide levels. Could we plant enough of various types of trees to offset humans consumption of fossil fuels leading to most carbon dioxide emissions? All the facts lead to yes. Even if planting more trees falls short on this global idea, ecosystems still greatly benefit from the further diversification. Animals have habitats and homes of these newly planted trees and these trees aid in every day processes like water cycling. Types of birds live in specific trees and without these trees in some ecosystems they can become susceptible to predation. Diverse ecosystems have more species living and the circle of life can thrive.

A focus during class was on the invasive species side of biodiversity. Areas with a primary type of tree are at greater risk of total destruction if one invasive species comes in that targets that primary tree. All the trees can be wiped out by that invasive species and an entire forest can be decimated in less than a year. Resistant ecosystems are the diverse ones that have trees that can survive such invasive species allowing the forest to thrive and provide animal species a habitat.