What forests are called the lungs of the planet. Lungs of our planet. World ecological catastrophe of forestry

I think each of us has heard the expression: - "Forests are the lungs of our planet." Indeed, this is true, but unfortunately these very "vital organs of the Earth" have been cut down at an unrealistic rate over the past 30 years. The statistics are as follows - every 2 seconds, on planet Earth, a part of a forest the size of a football field is cut down. Due to this, some species of animals and plants are disappearing.
The world-famous organization "Greenpeace" claims that by 2050, the extinction of animals and plants will be 1000 times faster than now.
It would be a pity to part with such beauty ...

The "lungs of our planet" are in the Amazon. It is the Amazon rainforest that is the most powerful producer of oxygen on Earth. The Amazon covers approximately 7,000,000 square kilometers in 9 states - Brazil (60%), Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
The Amazon represents more than half of the remaining rainforests in the world, and they grow around the world's largest river of the same name, making the entire Amazon region a unique center of the planet. Along with all this, the biodiversity of this area is striking, although most of the Amazon has not even been studied yet.

Both flora and fauna surprise with their richness. Imagine that there are more than a MILLION different types of plants and animals living here.

According to scientists, there are 1500 species of flowers, 750 species of trees, 125 species of mammals, 400 species of birds and countless insects per 10 square meters of rainforest.

On the picture: Red and green macaw

The San Rafael Falls is the largest waterfall in Ecuador. The Salado River falls into the gorge in two steps from a height of 150 meters and 100 meters, creating a stunningly beautiful view.

The water star in the Amazon. Victoria amazonica, named after Queen Victoria of England, is a typical Amazonian plant. They can reach 2 meters in diameter and support the weight of a small child, while the water lily will not sink. The flowers of Victoria amazonica are underwater and appear only once a year during a bloom that lasts only a couple of days. There is a legend that says that once upon a time there lived a girl who loved to look at the night sky. She thought that the moon might come and take her to the sky to look at the stars. One night, she leaned over the river and saw the reflection of the moon in the water. Enchanted by her, she fell into the river and hid under the water, and the image of the moon in the water turned into a flower. Therefore, the Victoria Amazonian flower is called the "Star of Water".

On the Tambolpata River, in the Amazon region of Peru, a group of children were playing football on a tiny island of sand in the middle of the river.

Three-toed sloth. Locals believe that a pregnant woman should not look at him, otherwise her child will look like him.

Yacumana and Chullachaqui are two demons from local legends. Yakumana is a water demon, and Chullachuki can transform any person's facial expressions. Look at his legs, so you can identify him - he always has one big leg.

The Amazon rainforest, also known as the Amazonia, is one of the world's most valuable natural resources. Because its vegetation continuously converts carbon dioxide into oxygen, it has been called "The Lungs of Our Planet". About 20 percent of the Earth's oxygen is produced by the Amazon rainforest.

About 15 million years ago, the Amazon was flowing west and emptying into the Pacific Ocean. When the South American tectonic plate crossed another, the slowly rising Andes blocked the flow of the river. As a result, lakes were formed and the Amazon basin changed a lot, then, about 10 million years ago, the river found its way east towards the Atlantic.

"Planets of the solar system" - Venus. Venus is the third brightest object in the Earth's sky after the Sun and Moon. Take care of our planet!!! Plan. The second planet in the solar system. Earth. Over time, water and an atmosphere appeared on planet Earth, but one thing was missing - life. A new star is born - our SUN. Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system after Jupiter.

"Lesson of the Planet of the Solar System" - Foster camaraderie, the ability to work in a group. Information card of the lesson. Fizkultminutka. Earth. Mars. Photoforum. The role of the Sun for life on Earth. star or planet. Lesson plan. Complete the tasks: Complete the test. Develop cognitive processes, computer literacy skills. Planets of the solar system.

"Small planets" - The figure of Venus. The surface of the moon. The distance from Venus to the Earth varies from 38 to 258 million km. There is every reason to believe that there is a lot of water on Mars. Atmosphere and water on Mars. The volume of Mercury is 17.8 times less than that of the Earth. The composition and internal structure of Mars. Physical fields of the Moon. The density at the center of the Earth is about 12.5 g/cm3.

"Planets in the Solar System" - Astronomical models of Ptolemy and Copernicus. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. A planet that was discovered "at the tip of a pen." Neptune has a magnetic field. The sun. Uranus has 18 moons. Mars. Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun. A planet where life exists. Uranus. Neptune. The sun is a hot ball - the closest star to the Earth.

"Ecology of the planet" - Formation of ecology into an independent branch of knowledge. Stages of interaction between human society and nature. Abiotic factors of the aquatic environment. Biological capacity of the medium. Age structure. Categories of living matter in the biosphere. Abiotic factors of the terrestrial environment. System laws of ecology. Laws of ecology B. Commoner.

"Planets and their satellites" - Inner 10 moons - small in size. A huge number of craters have been discovered on the surface of Titania. Iapetus. Pluto is rightly called a double planet. The crater Eratosthenes with a diameter of 61 km was formed relatively recently. Therefore, the Moon either does not have, or has a very insignificant iron core. From one upper climax to the next, 130 hours pass - more than five days.

The world of flora is diverse. We are surrounded by flowers, shrubs, trees, herbs of many shades, but green is predominant in the color scheme. But why are plants green?

Causes of green color

Plants are rightly called the lungs of the planet. By processing harmful carbon dioxide, they give oxygen to humanity and the environment. This process is called photosynthesis, and the pigment responsible for it is chlorophyll.

It is thanks to chlorophyll molecules that inorganic substances turn into organic ones. The most important of them is oxygen, but at the same time, in the process of photosynthesis, plants produce proteins, sugar, carbohydrates, fats, and starch.

It is known from the school curriculum that the beginning of a chemical reaction is the exposure of a plant to sunlight or artificial light. Chlorophyll absorbs not all light waves, but only a certain wavelength. This happens most quickly from red to blue-violet.

Green is not absorbed by plants, but reflected. This is what is visible to the eyes of a person, therefore, the representatives of the flora around us are green.

Why the green color?

For quite a long time, scientists struggled with the question: why is the green spectrum reflected? As a result, it turned out that nature simply does not waste energy in vain, because this smallest particle of light - photos of this color do not have any outstanding qualities, while blue photons are sources of useful energy, red ones contain the largest amount. How can one not remember that nothing in nature is done just like that.

Where do the bright colors come from in plants?

Biologists say with confidence that plants originated from something similar to algae, and chlorophyll appeared under the influence of evolutionary processes.

In nature, other colors change under the influence of light. When it becomes smaller, the leaves and stems begin to die off. Chlorophyll, responsible for the bright green color, breaks down. It is replaced by other pigments responsible for bright colors. Red and yellow leaves indicate that carotene has become predominant. The pigment xanthosine is also responsible for the yellow color. If it is impossible to find a green color in a plant, that is the “fault” of anthocyanins.

Works of scientists about photosynthesis and chlorophyll

How was photosynthesis discovered?

The discovery of the process of converting carbon dioxide into oxygen happened by accident and was made by the English chemist Joseph Priestley. The scientist was looking for a way to clean the "spoiled air" (as carbon dioxide was called at that time). And during the experiments, under a glass cap, instead of a mouse and a candle, a plant was sent, which, contrary to expectations, survived. The next step was to plant a mouse in a flower pot. And a miracle happened - the animal did not die from suffocation. So it was concluded that it is possible to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Much attention and much time was devoted to the role of chlorophyll and the process of photosynthesis by the Russian naturalist Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev. His main scientific achievements:

proof of the extension of the law of conservation of energy to the process of photosynthesis, which was denied by Western researchers;
establishing the fact that only light rays absorbed by the plant participate in photosynthesis.

Works by K.A. Timiryazev laid a solid foundation for the study of the transformation of water and carbon dioxide into organic useful substances under the influence of light. Now science has stepped far forward, some studies have undergone changes (for example, the fact that a light beam decomposes not carbon dioxide, but water), but it is safe to say that it was he who studied the basics. The book “Plant Life” will allow you to get acquainted with the work of a scientist - these are fascinating and informative facts about the nutrition, growth, development and reproduction of green plants.

Photosynthesis and chlorophyll are closely related when it comes to why plants are green. A light beam has several spectra, some of which are absorbed and participate in the chemical process of converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. Green is reflected and gives its color to the leaves and stems - and this is visible to the human eye.

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There is a misconception that has even entered textbooks, that forests are the lungs of the planet. Forests actually produce oxygen, while lungs consume it. So it's more like an "oxygen cushion". So why is this statement false? In fact, oxygen is produced not only by those plants that grow in the forest. All plant organisms, including the inhabitants of water bodies, and the inhabitants of the steppes, deserts constantly produce oxygen. Plants, unlike animals, fungi and other living organisms, can themselves synthesize organic substances using light energy for this. This process is called photosynthesis. As a result of photosynthesis, oxygen is released. It is a by-product of photosynthesis. Oxygen is released very, very much, in fact, 99% of the oxygen that is present in the Earth's atmosphere of plant origin. And only 1% comes from the mantle, the underlying layer of the Earth.

Of course, trees produce oxygen, but no one thinks about the fact that they also spend it. And not only them, all other inhabitants of the forest cannot be without oxygen. First of all, plants breathe on their own, this happens in the dark when photosynthesis does not occur. And you need to somehow dispose of the stocks of organic matter that they created during the day. That is, to eat. And in order to eat, you need to spend oxygen. Another thing is that plants spend much less oxygen than they produce. And this is ten times less. However, do not forget that there are still animals in the forest, as well as fungi, as well as various bacteria that do not produce oxygen themselves, but nevertheless breathe it. A significant amount of oxygen that the forest produced during the daylight hours will be used by the living organisms of the forest to support life. However, something will remain. And this is something about 60% of what the forest produces. This oxygen enters the atmosphere, but does not remain there for very long. Further, the forest itself withdraws oxygen, again for its own needs. Namely, the decomposition of the remains of dead organisms. In the end, the forest often spends 1.5 times more oxygen on the disposal of its own waste than it produces. It is impossible to call it the oxygen factory of the planet after that. True, there are forest communities that work on a zero oxygen balance. These are famous tropical forests.

The rainforest is generally a unique ecosystem, it is very stable, because the consumption of matter is equal to production. But again, there is no surplus left. So even tropical forests can hardly be called oxygen factories.

So why, then, after the city it seems to us that the forest has clean, fresh air, that there is a lot of oxygen there? The thing is that the production of oxygen is a very fast process, but the consumption is a very slow process.

peat swamp

So what then are the planet's oxygen factories? In fact, these are two ecosystems. Among the "terrestrial" are peat bogs. As we know, in a swamp, the process of decomposition of dead matter is very, very slow, as a result of which the dead parts of plants fall down, accumulate, and peat deposits are formed. Peat does not decompose, it is compressed and remains in the form of a huge organic brick. That is, during peat formation, a lot of oxygen is not wasted. Thus, marsh vegetation produces oxygen, but oxygen itself consumes very little. As a result, it is the swamps that give exactly the increase that remains in the atmosphere. However, there are not so many real peat bogs on land, and of course it is almost impossible for them alone to maintain the oxygen balance in the atmosphere. And here another ecosystem, which is called the world ocean, helps.

There are no trees in the oceans, grasses in the form of algae are observed only near the coast. However, vegetation in the ocean still exists. And most of it is made up of microscopic photosynthetic algae, which scientists call phytoplankton. These algae are so small that it is often impossible to see each of them with the naked eye. But the accumulation of them is visible to all. When bright red or bright green spots are visible on the sea. This is what phytoplankton is.

Each of these little algae produces huge amounts of oxygen. She consumes very little. Due to the fact that they are intensively dividing, the amount of oxygen produced by them is growing. One phytoplankton community produces 100 times more per day than a forest occupying such a volume. But at the same time they spend very little oxygen. Because when the algae die, they immediately fall to the bottom, where they are immediately eaten. After that, those who ate them are eaten by other, third organisms. And so few remains reach the bottom that they quickly decompose. There is simply no such long decomposition as in the forest, in the ocean. There, recycling is very fast, as a result of which oxygen is actually not wasted. And so there is a "big profit", and that's it stays in the atmosphere. So the "lungs of the planet" should not be considered forests at all, but the oceans. It is he who makes sure that we have something to breathe.

Introduction

Forest is a special wealth of any country. This is a beautiful natural complex capable of restoring, on which, often, the entire ecosystem rests.

The term "forest management" usually refers to the use of all forest resources, all types of forest resources.

There are several adverse effects that adversely affect the forest. The first unfavorable factor is the cutting of wood. Usually, it is customary to call overcutting the moment when more trees are cut down than grow in a year, but sometimes this is not the most important factor in a critical attitude to the forest. The fact is that in most cases, when cutting, they take away good, strong trees, leaving the sick, and this, in turn, leads to even greater environmental damage. When felling lagging behind in terms of wood growth, there is a second unfavorable factor - undercutting, which, in particular, leads to aging of the forest, a decrease in its productivity, and diseases of old trees. Therefore, both overcutting leads to the depletion of forest resources and undercutting leads to underutilization of logging.

So far, the cutting of forests prevails on the planet. The emergence of environmental problems can be associated not only with the scale of deforestation, but also with the methods of deforestation. Today, selective logging is a more costly form, but it has much less environmental damage. At least 80-100 years should be allocated for the renewal of forest areas. Along with the problems of reforestation, which can be carried out by self-restoration of forest plantations and, to speed up - by creating forest plantations, there is the problem of careful use of harvested wood. Deforestation must be opposed by the desire for the full use of wood, the use of gentle logging methods, as well as constructive activities - reforestation.

World ecological catastrophe of forestry

The state of forests in the world cannot be considered safe. Forests are intensively cut down and not always restored. The annual felling volume is more than 4.5 billion m 3 .

To date, about 160 million hectares of tropical forests have degraded, and only a tenth of the 11 million hectares that are cut down annually are restored by plantations. These facts are of great concern to the world community. Tropical forests covering 7% of the earth's surface in areas close to the equator are often referred to as the lungs of our planet. Their role in the enrichment of the atmosphere with oxygen and the absorption of carbon dioxide is exceptionally great. Tropical forests are a habitat for 3-4 million species of living organisms. 80% of insect species live here, 2/3 of known plant species grow here. These forests supply 1/4 of the oxygen supply. For rational use, all forests are divided into three groups.

First group . Forests of great importance in water protection and soil protection, green areas of resorts, cities and other settlements, protected forests, protective strips along rivers, highways and railways, steppe groves, ribbon forests of Western Siberia, tundra and subalpine forests, natural monuments and some other.

Second group . Plantations of a low forested zone, located mainly in the central and western regions of the country, having a protective and limited operational value. Third group. The operational forests of the country's multi-forested zones are the regions of the European North, the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East.

Third group . This group includes the industrial felling regime. It is the main base for timber harvesting.

The forests of the first group are not used, they are only cut for sanitary purposes, rejuvenation, maintenance, lightening, etc. In the second group, the felling regime is limited, the use is in the amount of forest growth.

The importance of the forest in shaping the biosphere

A review of the literature data and the author's logical constructions show that in the life cycle of an individual tree and their totality, the amount of oxygen that is released by their live weight due to photosynthesis exactly corresponds to the amount of oxygen that is consumed by the plant for respiration during life and for its decay after death.

With the complete destruction of the planet's forests, the oxygen concentration, in accordance with the calculations presented by the author, will decrease by 0.001%.

Atmospheric oxygen is a necessary condition for the preservation of many forms of life on Earth, in particular humanity. At the same time, the ever-increasing flows of fuel involved in the combustion process (oil, gas, coal, etc.) increase the alarmist mood of a certain part of the world's population, fueled by emotional publications in the media and some specialized publications. For example, there is a point of view according to which the consumption of oxygen is an order of magnitude higher than its income, amounting to 1.16·1010 and 1.55·109 t/year, respectively.

According to many, the tendency to reduce the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere is all the more dangerous because it develops against the backdrop of a reduction in the planet's forest cover. It originally made up 75% of its surface, but has now fallen to less than 27%. The area of tropical forests, equal to 0.95 billion hectares, or 56% of the total forest area, is declining especially rapidly. Of these, 11 million are cut down annually, and only 1 million hectares are restored.

On this basis, it is concluded that humanity is deteriorating the conditions of its existence, since vegetation, and above all the vast mass of forests, is a powerful source of oxygen production by the photosynthesis reaction:

6 CO2 + 6 H2O + 2822 kJ 6 C6H12O6 + 6 O2 - chlorophyll light.

Since the positive role of forests in the production of O2 is usually not in doubt, it is believed that measures are needed to stimulate the international community of those countries in whose territory the "lungs" of the planet are located. One of them is the tropical forests of the river basin. Amazons (Brazil), another - the boundless forests of Russia, primarily Siberian. It is impossible to enumerate the number of articles on the topic “Russia – the lungs of the planet”. Let us point out only the last two in one of the issues of the journal claiming leadership in ecology and nature management:

“Russia, on whose territory there are large forest tracts, where carbon dioxide is converted into plant fiber carbon and free oxygen, should have preferential quotas for reducing CO2 emissions”; "it seems appropriate that oxygen-producing countries receive payment for it and use these funds for the maintenance of forest areas."

It is noted that within the framework of the UN, proposals from “sparsely forested” countries (Germany and others) are being considered to preserve and increase Russian forests in the interests of the entire planet. And regarding tropical forests, a similar agreement was adopted in the early 90s. Developed Nordic countries pledged to pay developing African countries a kind of bonus of $10 for every ton of carbon dioxide processed into oxygen. And such payments began in 1996. “It has been calculated,” continues V.M. Garin with co-authors, “that one hectare of forest absorbs about 8 liters of carbon dioxide per hour (the same volume is emitted when two hundred people breathe at the same time)”

At the same time, such widespread alarmist expectations do not find confirmation in the data of fundamental science.

Thus, fears about a possible decrease in the amount of atmospheric oxygen due to an increase in the combustion of fossil carbon are not justified. It is estimated that the one-time use of all the deposits of coal, oil and natural gas available to mankind will reduce the average oxygen content in the air from 20.95 to 20.80%. Comparison with the most accurate analyzes of 1910 shows that, within the measurement error, there was no change in the oxygen content in the atmosphere by 1980.

The disappearance of oxygen in the hydrosphere, even when most modern waste is dumped into it, also does not threaten with danger. From Broker's calculations, it follows that with a ten billion population of the planet (about 1.7 times more than now), the annual discharge into the sea of 100 kg of dry organic waste per inhabitant (much higher than the current norm) will require about 2500 years to use up all oxygen supply of the hydrosphere. This is more than the duration of its renewal.

Broker concludes that the O2 content of the atmosphere is not limited in comparison with human requirements for it, and that an almost similar pattern is observed for the hydrosphere. He writes: “If the existence of the human race is seriously threatened by the danger of environmental pollution, then it will die more likely for any other reason than due to lack of oxygen” (cited in ).

The role of forests in ennobling the atmosphere (CO2 absorption and oxygen production) is also not as unambiguous as it seems to alarmists. The spread of emotional points of view is the result of an unprofessional assessment of the impact of forests on the state of the environment. We note the features of the problem, which are usually not noticed intentionally or consciously in such cases.

Yes, indeed, the reaction of photosynthesis is indisputable. But the reverse reaction to it is also indisputable, manifesting itself in the process of respiration of living organisms and during decay (oxidation) of mortmass (soil respiration). Therefore, at present in nature there is a stable balance between the amount of oxygen formed in the process of photosynthesis and absorbed during the respiration of living organisms and soil (decay)

After the death of the plant during the decay of the mortmass, a very complex structure of organic matter turns into simple compounds such as CO2, H2O, N2, etc. The source of oxidation of the mortmass is oxygen produced in excess of what is necessary for plant respiration. At the same stage, CO2, previously bound during photosynthesis, is released and enters the environment. In other words, after the death of an organism, all its carbon is oxidized again, binding the amount of oxygen, which is the difference between its mass released during photosynthesis and used for plant respiration during their life.