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Riparian Forest
A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, Sink (geography), sink, or reservoir. Due to the broad nature of the definition, riparian woodlands have a huge diversity of characteristics including but not limited to soil composition, microclimates, and vegetative structures. However, among the varied range and landscapes, one factor stays constant: a high rate of Primary production, primary productivity. This makes riparian forests hugely important centers of nutrient recycling. Etymology The term riparian comes from the Latin word ''ripa'', 'river bank'; technically it refers only to areas adjacent to flowing bodies of water such as rivers, streams, Swamp, sloughs and estuaries. However, the terms ''riparian forest'' and ''riparian zone'' have come to include areas adjacent to non-flowing bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, playas and reservoirs. Charac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forests
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines a forest as, "Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds ''in situ''. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban use." Using this definition, '' Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020'' found that forests covered , or approximately 31 percent of the world's land area in 2020. Forests are the largest terrestrial ecosystems of Earth by area, and are found around the globe. 45 percent of forest land is in the tropical latitudes. The next largest share of forests are found in subarctic climates, followed by temperate, and subtrop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coastal Swamp Oak Forest
Coastal Swamp Oak Forests, also known as Swamp Oak Floodplain Forests and Estuarine swamp oak forests, are scattered riparian forests found in southeastern Queensland to southeastern New South Wales, Australia that would predominantly feature ''Casuarina glauca'' (swamp oaks). They occur within the South Eastern Queensland, NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin, or South East Corner bioregions.Conservation advice (incorporating listing advice) for the Coastal Swamp Oak (Casuarina glauca) Forest of New South Wales and South East Queensland ecological community Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Retrieved 14 Septemb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tugay
Tugay is a form of riparian forest or woodland associated with fluvial and floodplain areas in arid climates. These wetlands are subject to periodic inundation, and largely dependent on floods and groundwater rather than directly from rainfall. Tugay habitats occur in semi-arid and desert climates in Central Asia. Because Tugay habitat is usually linear, following the courses of rivers in arid landscapes, Tugay communities often function as wildlife corridors. They have disappeared or become fragmented over much of their former range. Distribution The centre of the range of Tugay vegetation is the Tarim Basin in north-western China, where the Tarim Huyanglin nature reserve in the middle reaches of the Tarim River holds the largest areas of intact Tugay forests, with a 1993 estimate of about 61% of the total. The Central Asian countries hold another 31%, with smaller areas remaining in the Middle East and Pakistan. Tugais also occur in the Caucasus. Vegetation Close to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riparian Zone
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a riparian zone. The word ''riparian'' is derived from Latin ''wiktionary:ripa, ripa'', meaning "bank (geography), river bank". Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by aquatic plant, hydrophilic plants. Riparian zones are important in ecology, environmental resource management, and civil engineering because of their role in soil conservation, their habitat biodiversity, and the influence they have on terrestrial animal, terrestrial and semiaquatic fauna as well as aquatic ecosystems, including grasslands, woodlands, wetlands, and even non-vegetative areas. Riparian zones may be natural ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Management Of Pacific Northwest Riparian Forests
Management of Pacific Northwest riparian forests is necessary because many of these forests have been dramatically changed from their original makeup. The primary interest in riparian forest and aquatic ecosystems under the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) is the need to restore stream habitat for fish populations, particularly Fish migration, anadromous Salmonidae, salmonids. Some of these forests have been grazed by cattle or other livestock. The heavy hooves of these animals compact the soil. This compaction does not allow the water to be absorbed into the ground, so the water runs off into the stream carrying topsoil along the way. The simplification of the stream itself has also had negative effects. The large woody debris in the streams has been removed to allow for easy access to the stream and for better travel in the streams themselves. But the faster moving current erodes the stream banks, filling the stream with more sediment. The removal of trees on the stream banks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gallery Forest
A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above the river. Defined as long and narrow forest vegetation associated with rivers, gallery forests are structurally and floristically heterogeneous. The habitats of these forests differ from the surrounding landscapes because they are, for example, more nutrient-rich or moister and/or there is less chance of fires. The forests are sometimes only a few meters wide, because they depend on the water they lie along. Ecology characteristics The riparian zones in which they grow offer greater protection from fire which would kill tree seedlings. In addition, the alluvial soils of the gallery habitat are often of higher fertility and have better drainage than the soils of the surrounding landscape with a more reliable water supply at depth. As a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bosque
A bosque ( ) is a type of gallery forest habitat found along the riparian flood plains of streams, river banks, and lakes. It derives its name from the Spanish word for "forest", pronounced . Setting In the predominantly arid or semiarid Southwestern United States, a bosque is an oasis-like ribbon of green forest, often canopied, that only exists near rivers, streams, or other water courses. The most notable bosque is the -long forest ecosystem along the valley of the middle Rio Grande in New Mexico that extends from Santa Fe, through Albuquerque and south to El Paso, Texas. One of the most famous and ecologically intact sections of the bosque is included in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, which is located south of San Antonio, NM. Another bosque can be found in Costa Rica, a beautiful wildlife refuge named Bosque Alegre. Middle Rio Grande bosque Various refuges, parks, and trails for visitors, such as the Paseo Del Bosque trail are in Albuquerque ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soil Quality
Soil quality refers to the condition of soil based on its capacity to perform ecosystem services that meet the needs of human and non-human life.Tóth, G., Stolbovoy, V. and Montanarella, 2007. Soil Quality and Sustainability Evaluation - An integrated approach to support soil-related policies of the European Union", EUR 22721 EN. 40 pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. . Soil quality reflects how well a soil performs the functions of maintaining biodiversity and productivity, partitioning water and solute flow, filtering and buffering, nutrient cycling, and providing support for plants and other structures. Soil management has a major impact on soil quality. Soil quality relates to soil functions. Unlike water or air, for which established standards have been set, soil quality is difficult to define or quantify. Indicators of soil quality Soil quality can be evaluated using the Soil Management Assessment Framework. Soil quality in agric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decomposer
Decomposers are organisms that break down dead organisms and release the nutrients from the dead matter into the environment around them. Decomposition relies on chemical processes similar to digestion in animals; in fact, many sources use the words digestion and decomposition interchangeably. In both processes, complex molecules are chemically broken down by enzymes into simpler, smaller ones. The term "digestion," however, is commonly used to refer to food breakdown that occurs within animal bodies, and results in the absorption of nutrients from the gut into the animal's bloodstream. This is contrasted with external digestion, meaning that, rather than swallowing food and then digesting it using enzymes located within a GI tract, an organism instead releases enzymes directly onto the food source, which is what decomposers do as compared to animals. After allowing the enzymes time to digest the material, the decomposer then absorbs the nutrients from the environment into its cells. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invertebrate
Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate subphylum Vertebrata, i.e. vertebrates. Well-known Phylum, phyla of invertebrates include arthropods, molluscs, annelids, echinoderms, flatworms, cnidarians, and sponges. The majority of animal species are invertebrates; one estimate puts the figure at 97%. Many invertebrate taxon, taxa have a greater number and diversity of species than the entire subphylum of Vertebrata. Invertebrates vary widely in size, from 10 Micrometre, μm (0.0004 in) myxozoans to the 9–10 m (30–33 ft) colossal squid. Some so-called invertebrates, such as the Tunicata and Cephalochordata, are actually sister chordate subphyla to Vertebrata, being more closely related to vertebrates than to other invertebrates. This makes the "invertebrates" para ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
