EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Ecosystems regulate the global climate by storing greenhouse gases. For example, as trees and plants grow, they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and effectively lock it away in their tissues.

Detailed explanation-2: -Forests and grasslands provide a wide range of ecosystem services. In addition to providing food, fuel and fiber, forests clean the air, filter water supplies, control floods and erosion, sustain biodiversity and genetic resources, and provide opportunities for recreation, education, and cultural enrichment.

Detailed explanation-3: -Carbon storage, as a stock, is an ecosystem service that contributes to climate regulation. Design of the framework for ecosystem accounting should encompass the best possible theoretical understanding of the system, even if there may be challenges in measuring all components.

Detailed explanation-4: -Healthy forest ecosystems provide a wide range of services – including reliable clean water, climate regulation, and productive soils – and forests underpin many of society’s basic needs, economic processes, and cultural or spiritual values.

Detailed explanation-5: -Forests also help to maintain nutrient cycling in the soil. Soil contains a myriad of organisms, such as earthworms, ants, termites, bacteria and fungi. This soil biodiversity helps regulate pest and disease occurrence in agricultural and natural ecosystems, and can also control or reduce environmental pollution.