Benefits of Forests for Humans

Forests are critical in the water cycle.  Forests absorb huge amounts of water from rain, and release it back into the atmosphere through evapotranspiration.

When it rains, forests slow the runoff of water into the soil, groundwater, and waterways like streams and rivers.  Much of the water that falls over a forest is taken directly back up by the trees and other plants in the forest, but even the water that is not used is slowed down as it falls first onto tree leaves and branches, and then through the leaf litter and roots on the forest floor and in the soil.

Forests thus can reduce or prevent flooding downstream, relative to exposed ground or paved surfaces, which run water off quickly and absorb very little of it.

Forests also can provide water in times of drought, preventing or reducing the severity of drought.  In dry conditions, plants begin using up their stores of water, and the forest also utilizes water stored in the ground.  Some trees, like sugar maple, have deep taproots capable of hydraulic lift, taking water from deep in the ground and depositing it on the forest floor, both for themselves and other plants to use.

Forests act as giant buffers against extreme temperature swings, cooling on the hottest days and warming on the coolest ones.

Cooling in summer and hot climates:

In hot climates and in hot summers of temperate climates, forests release huge volumes of water through evapotranspiration.  This release of water into the atmosphere has a huge cooling effect.  Forests also reduce heat by directly capturing useful solar energy, and converting it into stored energy that is used later by plants and animals.  The energy captured by photosynthesis is all energy that would either become heat or be reflected (some of which would later become heat) if it were not for the plants capturing it.

Tall forests also block out a great deal of heat from reaching the ground.  The highest trees capture most of the sunlight, and the hottest air stays at the top of the forest and rises out, leaving the forest floor moderate in temperature.

Warmth in winter:

In areas with cold winters, forests also generate heat in the winter.  Plants burn a substantial portion of their stored energy in the winter, to keep themselves alive, and the animals in the forest also burn up their own energy stores.  All of this respiration generates heat.

Forests also increase heat capture by the sun on days when the ground is covered by snow.

An open field covered by snow reflects most of the sunlight that reaches it.  But a forest captures most of this light--especially a boreal forest consisting of mostly evergreen trees.  The conical shape of evergreens shunts off most of the snow onto the forest floor, leaving the treetops exposed.  The dark color of the evergreen trees' needles captures solar radiation as heat, warming the landscape to a higher temperature than an open field would be in winter.

Wind can be extremely costly to humans.  Windstorms, such as tornados and hurricanes, can cause extreme damage, but the main costs of wind are smaller and more regular.

In the winter, wind drastically increases heating costs.  At a fixed temperature, wind will cause a home or other building to lose a lot more heat to its surrounding than on a calm day.  Windbreaks thus save on the heating costs of homes and commercial buildings.

Wind can also cause soil erosion and dust storms in drier areas, such as the American southwest, or many parts of Africa.

Forests protect against all of these forms of wind costs.  As wind blows into a forest, its speed is greatly reduced by all the vegetation it needs to blow through.  Even a bare temperate forest in winter, with a bunch of tree trunks and branches devoid of leaves, still goes very far to break up wind.

Wood or timber is one of the most valuable economic products to come out of forests.  Wood is used in construction and also to produce paper and various other products.  It can also be used as a fuel, firewood, to heat homes or buildings.

Intact wild forests support a wide variety of animals, including many large enough to be hunted and eaten as food.  Large mammals like deer and large game birds like quail or turkey are supported by forested habitats.  These can in turn provide a natural and healthy food for humans, much healthier than the factory-farmed beef that makes up a large portion of the diet in the U.S.

Hunting is not only practical but it is a popular sport and recreational activity.

One of the best things about relying on wild animals for food is that we do not need to expend energy to raise or cultivate them, the way we do farm-raised meat.  The animals simply reproduce on their own, and we can go into the forest to take a reasonable amount of them for eating, without having to rely on resource-extensive feed and environmentally-damaging farming practices.

Forests tend to support a much greater biodiversity than sparser or more barren habitats.  Biodiversity has immense value to humans, as there are numerous plants and animals that have untapped potentials to benefit humans.  Biodiversity also protects ecosystems against changing conditions, providing genetic diversity that allows ecosystems to adapt as the world around them changes.