Importance
- Old-growth forests often contain rich communities of plants and animals within the habitat due to the long period of forest stability. These varied and sometimes rare species may depend on the unique environmental conditions created by these forests.
- Old-growth forest serves as a reservoir for species which cannot thrive or easily regenerate in younger forest, and so can be used as a baseline for research.
- Plant species that are native to old-growth forests may someday prove to be invaluable towards curing various human ailments, as has been realized in numerous plants in tropical rainforests.
- Old-growth forests also store large amounts of carbon above and below the ground (either as humus, or in wet soils as peat). They collectively represent a very significant store of carbon. Destruction of these forests releases this carbon as greenhouse gases, and may increase the risk of global climate change.
Read more about this topic: Old Growth Forests
Famous quotes containing the word importance:
“Whoever deliberately attempts to insure confidentiality with another person is usually in doubt as to whether he inspires that person’s confidence in him. One who is sure that he inspires confidence attaches little importance to confidentiality.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Coming together again after a long day apart can be an experience where joy, relief, anger, and fatigue are all present in different degrees both for the parent and for the child. Because of their importance in marking the resumption of direct contact, reunions deserve as much attention and care as separations to enhance the relationship between parent and child.”
—Alicia F. Lieberman (20th century)
“Shall we then judge a country by the majority, or by the minority? By the minority, surely. ‘Tis pedantry to estimate nations by the census, or by square miles of land, or other than by their importance to the mind of the time.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)