describe two ecosystem services provided for humans by forests. explain how clear-cutting would affect each ecosystem service you describe.

Forests provide many ecosystem services to humans, but two especially important ones are carbon sequestration and water regulation & quality. Clear-cutting sharply reduces both services and can even reverse their benefits.

Carbon storage and climate control

• Forests act as long-term carbon sinks by taking in carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and storing carbon in trunks, branches, roots, leaf litter, and soils, which helps slow climate change and reduce the intensity of global warming.

• Clear-cutting removes most or all trees at once, which drastically reduces future carbon uptake and often leads to stored carbon being released back into the atmosphere through decomposition or burning of leftover biomass, turning the area from a carbon sink into a carbon source.

Water regulation and clean water

• Forests regulate the water cycle by capturing rain, allowing it to infiltrate into soil, reducing runoff, and filtering pollutants, so forested watersheds supply a large share of the world’s accessible, clean freshwater for drinking, agriculture, and industry.

• Clear-cutting removes the tree canopy and root systems that stabilize soil and slow water movement, which increases surface runoff, erosion, sedimentation of rivers and streams, and can lead to more frequent or severe floods while degrading water quality for downstream human communities.

Additional note: biodiversity & recreation

• Forests also support high biodiversity and provide recreation and cultural value to people, contributing to tourism, mental health, and local livelihoods.

• Clear-cutting can fragment or destroy habitat, reduce species richness, and diminish opportunities for outdoor recreation and cultural uses, which harms both ecological stability and human well-being linked to forest experiences.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.