Editing Forest (section)

== Definitions ==
[[File:Gate in the forest - geograph.org.uk - 1726119.jpg|thumb|Forest in the [[Scottish Highlands]] ]]
Although the word ''forest'' is commonly used, there is no universally recognised precise definition, with more than 800 definitions of forest used around the world.<ref name="unep"/> Although a forest is usually defined by the presence of trees, under many definitions an area completely lacking trees may still be considered a forest if it grew trees in the past, will grow trees in the future,<ref name="ap862">{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/ap862e/ap862e00.pdf |title=Forest Resources Assessment Working Paper 180 |first1=Kenneth |last1=MacDicken |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] of the United Nations Forestry Department |location=Rome |date=15 March 2013 |access-date=16 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924131113/http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/ap862e/ap862e00.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015}}</ref> or was legally designated as a forest regardless of vegetation type.<ref name="ipcc">{{cite web |url=http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/sres/land_use/index.php?idp=46|title=Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry |editor1-first=Robert T. |editor1-last=Watson |editor2-first=David J. |editor2-last=Verardo |editor3-first=Ian R. |editor3-last=Noble |editor4-first=Bert |editor4-last=Bolin |editor5-first=N.H. |editor5-last=Ravindranath |editor6-first=David J. |editor6-last=Dokken |publisher=[[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]] |year=2000 |access-date=16 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129020202/http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/sres/land_use/index.php?idp=46 |archive-date=29 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.forestfacts.org/l_3/forests_1.htm#1p1 |title=Facts on Forests and Forestry |first1=Nicholas |last1=Menzies |first2=Elisabeth |last2=Grinspoon |publisher= ForestFacts.org, a subsidiary of GreenFacts.org |date=22 October 2007 |access-date=16 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508030720/http://www.forestfacts.org/l_3/forests_1.htm#1p1 |archive-date=8 May 2015}}</ref>

There are three broad categories of definitions of forest in use: administrative, [[land use]], and [[land cover]].<ref name="ipcc"/> Administrative definitions are legal designations, and may not reflect the type of vegetation that grows upon the land; an area can be legally designated "forest" even if no trees grow on it.<ref name="ipcc"/> Land-use definitions are based on the primary purpose the land is used for. Under a land-use definition, any area used primarily for harvesting timber, including areas that have been cleared by harvesting, disease, fire, or for the construction of roads and infrastructure, are still defined as forests, even if they contain no trees. Land-cover definitions define forests based upon the density of trees, area of [[tree canopy]] cover, or area of the land occupied by the cross-section of tree trunks ([[basal area]]) meeting a particular threshold.<ref name="ipcc"/> This type of definition depends upon the presence of trees sufficient to meet the threshold, or at least of immature trees that are expected to meet the threshold once they mature.<ref name="ipcc"/>

Under land-cover definitions, there is considerable variation on where the cutoff points are between a forest, [[woodland]], and [[savanna]]. Under some definitions, to be considered a forest requires very high levels of tree canopy cover, from 60% to 100%,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/forest/htmls/intro_def.html |title=Introduction: Definition of a Forest |publisher=MuseumLink Illinois |access-date=16 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029231145/http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/forest/htmls/intro_def.html |archive-date=29 October 2014}}</ref> which excludes woodlands and savannas, which have a lower [[crown closure|canopy cover]]. Other definitions consider savannas to be a type of forest, and include all areas with tree canopies over 10%.<ref name="ap862"/>

Some areas covered with trees are legally defined as agricultural areas, for example [[Norway spruce]] plantations, under Austrian forest law, when the trees are being grown as Christmas trees and are below a certain height.