How Cutting Trees Affects the Environment - Assignment Example

Cutting the trees reduces the amount of water that is trapped by the trees ensuring that there is a slower release of water into streams and other water bodies such as rivers and lakes. As a result, the volumes of water flowing through and into these water bodies go down drastically affecting all forms of life that are found within them. In addition, cutting trees reduces the likelihood of cloud and rain formation leading to lower volumes of rainfall or precipitation thus reduced water quantities for plant life and other animals that live in areas with trees and even those that depend on other animals that depend, extensively, of trees (“Indiscriminate Cutting of Trees”).

In addition, another common effect of cutting trees to live in the water that affects fish is the issue of temperature in the water and even in the air surrounding a forested area (“Deforestation”). This is because trees assist in keeping the temperature of the earth at a regulated level; which is crucial for the sustenance of life on earth, which is why desert lands are known to be either extensively hot or even extensively cold. With this in mind, temperature changes affect life drastically in relation to migration and the likelihood of animals and other plants facing extinction and even elimination from their natural habitat. Concerning this, fish in the water is known to feed mainly on planktons that grow in warm water that translates that increased temperatures due to tree felling results in increased plankton growth. As a result, there is bound to be a higher population of planktons than the fish that can feed on them, which makes them grow to excessive levels and die. The death of planktons requires decomposition in order to clean them from the water, and it takes oxygen to eliminate it. This, in turn, leads to reduced levels of oxygen in the water, which is bad for the fish and leads to their death and reduced numbers.

Due to this, the food chain is placed under pressure to find alternative sources of food, as is the case for humans who feed on fish and even birds. This turns them against other animal populations in order to fill in the deficit left by the reduced number of fish in the water. This might even cause some animals to migrate from their natural habitat in search of more suitable sources of food, as is the case for alligators and other animals that feed on fish as their primary source of food. This is all due to increased temperature levels that affect food growth in the water. In addition to increased water temperature levels, fish tend to migrate to areas that have lower or suitable temperatures in order to alleviate the likelihood of extinction (McKewon 82).

Other than these two effects of cutting trees, affecting streams and fish and finally the food chain, erosion also factors. In this case, cutting trees allows room for the erosion of soil into water bodies such as streams since trees protect the soil from being washed away (“Why Is Clearcutting…”). Erosion raises the streambed to higher levels than it should be leaving fish susceptible to predators due to hunting with ease. Through this, the fish face extinction thanks to high levels of being taken out of the water and even the population of the predators increases drastically putting the fish more at risk. This directly translates into pressure on the fish population and even that of the predators meaning that there is a gap in the food chain, which requires to be filled. The predator population increases and seeks other foods to meet the large population; thus putting more pressure on other populations both plants and animals. This can be seen in the case of humans and other omnivores that feed on fish or fish products. Should the fish population be affected, alternatives are other animals and plants mounting pressure on the ecosystem.

Cutting trees also affect the quality of water and in turn the fish population by having roads and other amenities created near streams (“Water Quality and Quantity”). These ensure that water is contaminated and destroy or inhibit migration paths of animals that seek to feed on fish in the water. This affects the food chain in that the fish population increases and overloads the ecosystem to the point where the fish die and lower the oxygen levels in the water due to putrefaction. Read More