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28 - Forest Commodity and Non-Commodity Values

from Part X - Forests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

Chadwick Dearing Oliver
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
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Summary

Forest occupy about thirty percent of the Earth’s land area, but are underutilized and often neglected, degraded, or burned. Forests can provide many timber and non-timber products and non-commodity values--ecosystem services. The values depend on thetand structures. Non-commodity values include biodiversity, water quality and quantity, fire protection, refuge, recreation and aesthetics, albedo, as sense of place, existence, carbon sequestration in the forest and by using forest products instead of steel or concrete in construction, and employment. Non-timber commodities include decorative greenery, mushrooms, medicinal plants, honey, resins, and nuts. Most of the value from forests currently comes from timber, which is used for fuelwood, lumber, and paper making. Trees are classified as broadleafs (hardwood) and conifers (gymnosperms). Conifers are generally used for construction because of their light strength to weight ratio. Hardwoods are generally used for furniture, flooring, and other things needing hardness. Trees grow wood differently at different ages, tree densities, and other tending regimes.

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