ABSTRACT
A forest is a biotic community predominated by trees and woody vegetation that are signifi cantly taller, greater, thicker, and deeper than other vegetation types and generally covers a large area (Chang, 2003). Forests cover approximately 26.2% of the world, with 45.7% of Latin America and the Caribbean being covered, 35% of East Asia and the Pacifi c, and 35% of the European Union. Canada and the United States (U.S.) combined account only for 6.8% of the world’s forests while Africa has even less 5.7% (Forest Types of the World, 2013). In the U.S., forests cover about one-third of its land (Sedell et al., 2000; Jones et al., 2009), totaling about 300 million ha (USDA, 2001). Forested areas in the temperate zone have not changed much in
recent decades, but continuing deforestation of tropical forests, about half of world total, is of great concern (World Resources Institute, 1996).
