Биохимия спиртового брожения: Основу технологии получения пива составляет спиртовое брожение, - при котором сахар превращается...
Поперечные профили набережных и береговой полосы: На городских территориях берегоукрепление проектируют с учетом технических и экономических требований, но особое значение придают эстетическим...
Топ:
История развития методов оптимизации: теорема Куна-Таккера, метод Лагранжа, роль выпуклости в оптимизации...
Оценка эффективности инструментов коммуникационной политики: Внешние коммуникации - обмен информацией между организацией и её внешней средой...
Генеалогическое древо Султанов Османской империи: Османские правители, вначале, будучи еще бейлербеями Анатолии, женились на дочерях византийских императоров...
Интересное:
Лечение прогрессирующих форм рака: Одним из наиболее важных достижений экспериментальной химиотерапии опухолей, начатой в 60-х и реализованной в 70-х годах, является...
Отражение на счетах бухгалтерского учета процесса приобретения: Процесс заготовления представляет систему экономических событий, включающих приобретение организацией у поставщиков сырья...
Берегоукрепление оползневых склонов: На прибрежных склонах основной причиной развития оползневых процессов является подмыв водами рек естественных склонов...
Дисциплины:
2020-07-07 | 183 |
5.00
из
|
Заказать работу |
|
|
Ecosystems are dynamic, in that the populations constituting them do
not remain the same. This is reflected in the gradual changes of the vegetational
community over time, known as succession. It begins with the colonization
of a disturbed area, such as an abandoned crop field or a newly
exposed lava flow, by species able to reach and to tolerate the environmental
conditions present. Mostly these are opportunistic species that hold
on to the site for a variable length of time. Being short-lived and poor
competitors, they are eventually replaced by more competitive, longerlived
species such as shrubs, and then trees. In aquatic habitats, successional
changes of this kind result largely from changes in the physical environment,
such as the build-up of silt at the bottom of a pond. As the pond
becomes more shallow, it encourages the invasion of floating plants such
as pond lilies and emergent plants such as reed mace. The pace at which
succession proceeds depends on the competitive abilities of the species involved;
tolerance to the environmental conditions brought about by
changes in vegetation; the interaction with animals, particularly the grazing
herbivores; and fire. Eventually the ecosystem arrives at a point called
the climax, where further changes take place very slowly, and the site is
dominated by long-lived, highly competitive species. As succession proceeds,
however, the community becomes more stratified, enabling more
species of animals to occupy the area. In time, animals characteristic of
later stages of succession replace those found in earlier stages.
124
CONIFERS
Conifers, or softwood trees, form a distinct group, which has become
very important in the world's economy, because they grow fast on poor
soils even under harsh climates, and yield timbers that are very suitable for
industry. They are now being planted on a growing scale in most countries
as a source of wealth.
Distinctive characters of the conifers include:
a) narrow, needle-like or scale-like leaves;
b) foliage usually evergreen (the only common exception being the
larches);
c) scaly buds;
d) regular almost geometrical, branching habit;
e) resinous fragrance of foliage, buds, bark and timber;
f) male and female flowers always borne separately, though usually on
the same tree;
g) flowers always wind-pollinated, and therefore catlike, lacking
showy petals or nectar,
h) fruit in the form of a woody cone (rarely, as in yew and juniper, a
flesh berry).
Most conifers flower in spring, their cones may ripen during the following
autumn, the following spring, or in some species eighteen months
after pollination.
In natural forests conifers grow readily from seed, unaided by man. In
cultivation they are raised in nurseries nearly always from a seed, since
most kinds are very hard to grow from cutting.
The timber of conifers is always called softwood, though in a few species
|
it is quite hard. On the whole, however, it is softer and easier to work
than the hardwood yielded by broadleaved trees. Today the great bulk of
timber used in house building, fencing, packing cases and boxes of all
kinds, and as railway sleepers, telegraph poles, or pitprops, is softwood.
For paper making, which uses about half of the output of wood in the
main timber-growing countries, softwood is more suitable than hardwood
because, amongst other features, its fibres are substantially longer. Softwood
is very suitable for the manufacture of most kinds of artificial board,
an expanding industry that gives us wood chipboard, hardboard, arid insulation
board.
At the present time about nine-tenths of all the timber used in Britain,
whether in the unaltered state or made up into paper or manufactured
board, comes from coniferous trees.
125
BROADLEAVES
The broadleaves, or hardwood trees, are the leading feature in the
British landscape of woods and hedgerows. In the past they were the country’s
main source of building material, fencing and fuel. Today, when there
are other sources of heat and power, and steel and concrete play so large a
part in building, the hardwood timbers of these attractive trees are less important
to the British economy. But there is still a very substantial trade in
good sound oak, beech, ash, sycamore and elm, for the better classes of
furniture making and the joinery, while poplar is used in matches, and willow
for cricket bats.
To a growing extent, the country’s needs of timber in bulk are nowadays
met by the conifers, or softwood trees.
Most forest planting today is done, inevitably, with these conifers. But
the landscape, shade and shelter values of the broadleaves are so great that
they are always likely to play the larger part in hedgerows, as street trees.
Most of them are natives, and these are firmly established in old natural or
semi-natural woodlands throughout the British Isles.
Our broadleaved trees form part of the vast natural broadleaved forest
of Northern Europe. The key feature of all these woods and trees is, as the
name implies, the broad leaf, which is shed each autumn as the colder
weather approaches. Every leaf holds in its tissue a remarkable substance
called chlorophyll, which gives it its green colour. In sunlight and in the
presence of sufficient moisture and mineral salts, this chlorophyll ‘fixes’
some of the carbon dioxide gas that is always present in the air. Once
fixed, the carbon dioxide if transformed by intricate chemical processes
into sugars, and eventually into all the other complex materials that make
up the tree’s substance — wood, roots, flowers and seeds as well as the
leaves themselves.
|
|
Общие условия выбора системы дренажа: Система дренажа выбирается в зависимости от характера защищаемого...
История создания датчика движения: Первый прибор для обнаружения движения был изобретен немецким физиком Генрихом Герцем...
История развития пистолетов-пулеметов: Предпосылкой для возникновения пистолетов-пулеметов послужила давняя тенденция тяготения винтовок...
Механическое удерживание земляных масс: Механическое удерживание земляных масс на склоне обеспечивают контрфорсными сооружениями различных конструкций...
© cyberpedia.su 2017-2024 - Не является автором материалов. Исключительное право сохранено за автором текста.
Если вы не хотите, чтобы данный материал был у нас на сайте, перейдите по ссылке: Нарушение авторских прав. Мы поможем в написании вашей работы!