Forest- Our LIfeline

·      Forest is a natural habitat for different kinds of plants and animals. They provide food and shelter for animals.

    ·      Forest serve as green lungs and water purifying systems in nature.

    ·      Forest floor and trees were covered with creepers and climbers.

        Creeping plants or creepers are generally considered to be small, viny plants that grow close to the ground 

     Climbers are those plants which develop special organs of attachment by which they climb over some objects for the support of their body as their stems are not self-supporting and weak. likes Amarbel,Grapes, ornaments plant and pumpkin etc

    ·      The branchy part of a tree above the stem is known as Crown of the tree.

    ·      The branches of tall trees look like a roof over the other plants in the forest. This is called Canopy.

·      Trees had crowns of different types and sizes. These had created different horizontal layers in the forest. These are known as understorey.

·      Tall trees constitute the top layer followed by shrubs and tall grasses. Herbs formed the lowest layer.

     ·      All animals depend directly or indirectly on plants for food.

    ·      Organisms which feed on plants often get eaten by other organisms and so on. Such as-

       Grass🠆 Insect 🠆 Frog🠆S     🠆Snakes 🠆 Eagle 

·      Several food chains are found in the forest. All the food chains are linked together. Every part of the forest is dependent on the other parts.

·         A food chain refers to the order of events in an ecosystem, where one living organism eats another organism, and later that organism is consumed by another larger organism. The flow of nutrients and energy from one organism to another at different trophic levels forms a food chain.

     ·      The food chain consists of four major parts, namely:

a).Producers: The producers in a food chain include all green plants. 

b). herbivores are known as primary consumers and 

c). carnivores are secondary consumers.

Consumers: Consumers are all organisms that are dependent on plants or other organisms for food. 

d). Decomposers: Decomposers are organisms that get energy from dead or waste organic material. This is the last stage in a food chain.

 Decomposers complete a life cycle, as they provide nutrients to soil or oceans, that can be utilized by autotrophs or producers. Thus, starting a whole new food chain.

·      Several organisms and micro-organisms are present in the soil .They feed upon the dead plant and animal tissues and convert them into a dark coloured substance called as Humus.

·   The micro-organisms which convert the dead plants and animals into humus are known as Decomposers.

·    Nothing goes waste in a forest. Even the dead bodies are converted into humus which enriches the soil with nutrients, which are again absorbed by the living plants.

·      Forest are called green lungs because plants release oxygen through the process of photosynthesis .

Importances of Plants-

·      They also maintain the balance of oxygen and carbon -dioxide in the atmosphere.

·      Forest is a dynamic living entity ,full of life and vitality. It harbours variety of plants, providing greater opportunities for food and habitat for herbivores. Larger number of herbivores means increased availability of food for carnivores.

·   Forest acts as natural absorber of rainwater. It helps to maintain the water table throughout the year.

     ·      Forest reduces noise pollution.

     ·      Forests helps in bringing good rainfall.

     ·      They prevent soil erosion.

     ·      They are a source of medicinal plants, timber and many useful products.

     ·      In the absence of forest amount of carbon dioxide in the air will increase resulting in increase of earth’s temperature, soil will not hold water , which will cause floods, Animals will not get food and shelter.

      ·      Deforestation will endanger our life and environment.

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