A forest is more than trees; but without trees there can be no forest. Trees create the structure that welds the entire community of plants and wildlife together by creating shade, enhancing the soil and soil hydrology. The roots hold fragile soils together, preventing erosion. Fallen leaves and branches build up nutrients in the soil and provide the substance on which soil microbes thrive. The trunks and branches become a substrate on which other living things grow, such as epiphytic plants.
The Forest Floor is a Garden
The floor of a healthy forest is a garden of understory plants. In moist forests, mosses, ferns and a myriad of flowering plants thrive. Many plant families are represented in the forest floor vegetation of Mexico’s evergreen forests, with forms that range from low-growing herbs to woody shrubs. Each has its own role to play in the ecosystem. Some provide berries for birds and mammals. Succulent leaves of others are eaten by browsing mammals, or the caterpillars of various butterflies. Leaf eating insects become food for birds, and the cycle continues. But, it all begins with the trees.
The Canopy is Inhabited by a Unique Flora
The canopy of forests in Michoacán are especially rich in epiphytic plants. These include ferns, orchids and bromeliads. Besides their contribution to the ecosystem, some of these plants also have economic value as ornamentals and are themselves disappearing due to loss of habitat.
Forests are Wildlife Habitat
Michoacán’s forests are important habitat for a diverse fauna, which includes many birds. Birds not only play an important role in the ecosystem, they are important to a fledgling ecotourism industry in Michoacán based on bird watching–a huge industry, world-wide. In the highlands of Michoacán about 350 resident and migratory bird species have been recorded. Six are narrow endemics, known nowhere else. The 18 or so hummingbirds and three trogans are among the local birds birdwatchers want to see.
In the forest ecosystem, it all begins with the trees
- With them great biodiversity is possible
- Without them a desert is born
