| Fresh water is essential to all life on earth, and forests are essential to fresh water. Forests filter and clean water, soften heavy rainfalls which would otherwise erode soils, and hold river banks in place. In turn, water carries dissolved nutrients, which it distributes through the forest soil. Forests are "sponges", capable of collecting and storing large amounts of rainfall. Forest soils absorb four times as much rainfall as soils covered by grass, and eighteen times more rainfall than bare ground. |
 Water drops collect on leaves. Photo by Maya Walters |
| With their deep root systems, trees are able to pull water up from far below the ground. The water moves through the tree and is used in photosynthesis, cooling, and other growth processes. From the leaves, it is evaporated as water vapor. In this cycle, trees are living "water fountains" that redistribute liquid: moisture that would otherwise remain trapped deep underground is released through their leaves into the air, where it then condenses into clouds and falls as rain once again. Without trees to redistribute this water, the climate in many areas would be far drier. Trees release this constant underground reservoir of water slowly and evenly, helping to prevent seasonal floods and droughts. |
water -- page 1 of 5
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sub-topic
[riparian zones]
related topics
[erosion] [soil] [tree roots] [climate]
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