Why is the lack of conifers a critical loss?
In addition to increasing structural and species diversity, providing important habitat for assorted wildlife, and offering thermal cover for streams, these conifers provide watershed protection by retarding spring runoff and reducing the erosional capacity of the falling rain drops, thereby slowing the overall erosional rates. For example, the snow cover under conifers in the late winter is less than that under a nearby deciduous canopy, since a portion of the annual snowfall is captured by the evergreen foliage and sublimated into the atmosphere, never reaching the ground. Hence the amount of snow that will melt in the spring under conifers is less. Additionally, the rate at which the snow pack melts is also reduced under conifers, due to the permanent shade under conifers relative to the direct spring sun on the snowpack under deciduous trees prior to leaf out. Hence the flooding pulses are reduced both by volume and rate in conifer dominated systems, protecting overall ecosystem he
