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ShareVegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants, and is, by far, the most abundant biotic element of the biosphere.
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Vegetation serves several critical functions in the biosphere, at all possible spatial scales.
First, vegetation regulates the flow of numerous biogeochemical cycles, most critically those of water, carbon, and nitrogen; it is also of great importance in local and global energy balances.
Such cycles are important not only for global patterns of vegetation but also for those of climate.
Second, vegetation strongly affects soil characteristics, including soil volume, chemistry and texture, which feed back to affect various vegetational characteristics, including productivity and structure.
Third, vegetation serves as wildlife habitat and the energy source for the vast array of animal species on the planet (and, ultimately, to those that feed on these).
Vegetation is also critically important to the world economy, particularly in the use of fossil fuels as an energy source, but also in the global production of food, wood, fuel and other materials.
Perhaps most importantly, global vegetation (including algal communities) has been the primary source of oxygen in the atmosphere, enabling the aerobic metabolism systems to evolve and persist.
Lastly, vegetation is psychologically important to humans, who evolved in direct contact with, and dependence on, vegetation, for food, shelter, and medicines.
For more information about the topic Vegetation, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
Ecological succession — Ecological succession, a fundamental concept in ecology, refers to more-or-less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ... > read more
Forest — A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, a wooded area set aside for hunting). These plant communities cover large areas ... > read more
Slash and burn — Slash and burn (a specific practice that may be part of shifting cultivation or swidden-fallow agriculture) is an agricultural procedure widely used ... > read more
Tundra — In physical geography, tundra is an area where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three types of ... > read more
Evaporation from plants — Evapotranspiration (ET) is the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration. Evaporation accounts for the movement of water to the air from sources ... > read more
Taiga — Taiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway, northern Kazakhstan and ... > read more
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