What is the Relationship Between Forests and Water?
The interdependence between forests and water is fascinating. Forests play a role in water lifecycle and at the same time water is a condition for trees’ life.
While most part of water evaporation comes from oceans, part of it also comes from plants.
As water vapor rises up, it condensates forming clouds, and then when too much water is condensed, it falls back down to Earth.
Water is then collected in rivers and returns to oceans. However, the essential role of trees is to help water infiltrate soils and recharge water tables.
Forests make rain
Through their deep roots, trees pump water (H20) and nutrients which result in biomass production and transpiration. To realize the photosynthesis, through their leaves, trees capture CO2 and use solar energy to transform CO2 and H2O into sugar and oxygen.
On one hand, sugar becomes sap which forms wood,
And on the other hand, when it gets warm part of the water evaporates (phenomenon called evapotranspiration). These vapors cool down temperature and form atmospheric moisture that results in rain.
Forests are even able to make rain thousand kilometers from the sea level.
This phenomenon is explained by a mechanism called the biotic pump by which large forests can transport atmospheric moisture inland – from sea to continental lands.
However, there are two necessary conditions:
- Presence of forests from sea to continental levels,
- Presence of forests at sea level.
Therefore, forests conservation and reforestation from sea to continental levels, are important to consider to make rain inland.
Forests increase water supply
When it rains, trees slow down falling raindrops. As a result, the soil is protected, and water can infiltrate slowly soil where it remains trapped. The excess of water not used by trees goes deep underground and years after years it becomes a pure source of spring water.
Animals might help increase water supply in forests as well. When cutting down trees, beavers build dams that change and slow down stream flow. Therefore, more water infiltrates soils, and also, more species grow around stagnant water, resulting in a biodiverse ecosystem.
Therefore, forests conservation and wildlife protection are important to increase green water supply.
To read more about Forest, here is an article about the secret life of trees: click here.
