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Short and long term consequences of deforestation
Short and long term consequences of deforestation
Benefit of deforestation
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Land clearing is the process of removing bushland, forest, woodland or grassland, and most commonly occurs in Queensland and New South Wales. Over the last 200 years 70 percent of Australia’s native vegetation was cleared, most occurring in the past 50 years. Approximately 6 million hectares of various ecosystems were removed between 2001 and 2004 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_clearing_in_Australia, 2010). Australia’s land has been utilized over the past century even though it is known as ‘one of the driest and least fertile continents of the world’ (Australian Conservation Foundation, 2000), although land clearing is still an issue due to increased soil salinity and greenhouse gases. Trees grow into woody plants with a main trunk, many branches, and come in varieties of shapes, leaf types and reproductive organs. Tree roots can spread up to three meters in depth and width, sometimes damaging buildings or footpaths (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis, 2010). All plants photosynthesise, allowing production of their own food, by converting carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen using sunlight energy. Therefore as all organisms release carbon dioxide through respiration, only plants use it to produce oxygen, which is a circular process (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis, 2010). Land clearing includes strict laws throughout Australia, with variation across states (Stone, A. 2010). A common technique, crushing light scrub and heavy trees is chaining, using a heavy chain up to 50 centimetres in diameter. The chain linked between two tractors is kept close to the ground, pulling trees out thoroughly with the roots, flattening areas. It is required that tractors work a maximum of 30 meters apart... ... middle of paper ... ..., ‘Australian Sera Clearing Methods’, FAO Corporate Document Repository, viewed 24 May 2010, • Levine, D. 2010, ‘Current Population’, World POPClock from US Bureau of the Census, viewed 27 April 2010, • Nicholas Rothwell, 2000, ‘A farming we will grow’, Land Conservation, Justin Healey (ed.), The Spinney Press, New South Wales, page 6. • Philip, M., & William F. 2004, ‘Tropical Deforestation and Greenhouse-gas Emissions’, Ecological Applications, (no publication information), Volume 14, Issue 4, pp. 982–986, viewed 23 April 2010, • Stone, A. 2010, ‘Queensland land clearing ban inadequate, could worsen clearing rates: WWF’, WWF Australia, viewed 10 May 2010,