Vegetation

Vegetation is the collective plant life occurring in a region or ecosystem, including trees, shrubs, grasses, herbaceous plants, and other photosynthesizing organisms. It describes the composition, cover, structure, and spatial distribution of plant communities and forms the primary energy base for most ecosystems through photosynthesis.

Vegetation varies widely with climate, soils, topography, and disturbance. It is often organized vertically into layers such as canopy, subcanopy, understory, and ground cover, and laterally into biomes and plant communities. Major broad patterns occur in tropical rainforests, temperate and boreal forests, grasslands and savannas, deserts, tundra, and wetlands.

The distribution and vitality of vegetation are governed by factors including temperature and precipitation regimes, soil nutrient availability, drainage, fire, wind, pests, and human land use. Disturbances can reset successional stages and alter community composition.

Vegetation performs essential ecological functions: it drives primary production, stores carbon, releases oxygen, stabilizes soils, influences water cycles, and provides habitat and food for animals. It also shapes microclimates and supports cultural, aesthetic, and economic values.

Human activities affect vegetation through agriculture, forestry, urban development, mining, and climate change. Conservation and restoration aim to preserve native vegetation, restore degraded ecosystems, and maintain ecosystem services.

Researchers study vegetation with field surveys and remote sensing, using metrics such as cover, biomass, and productivity to map vegetation types and monitor changes over time.