The Forgotten Forests IELTS Reading Answers with Passage
The Forgotten Forests IELTS Reading Answers: Learn how to answer IELTS Reading passage questions to prepare with sample questions and answers.
Porishmita Paul27 Dec, 2024
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The Forgotten Forests IELTS Reading Answers: "The Forgotten Forests IELTS Reading Answers" is a common topic on the IELTS Reading test. These questions often address topics such as the forgotten forest's importance, environmental significance, and other relevant issues. Practicing with The Forgotten Forests IELTS Reading Answers can provide candidates with significant insights into the types of questions they may face in the IELTS Reading module .
The practice tests frequently incorporate question types such as IELTS Reading Matching Headings and IELTS Reading Notes Completion. This page includes an example passage with answers designed for students studying for the IELTS exam in 2025.The Forgotten Forests IELTS Reading Answers Passage
The Forgotten Forests
Found only in the Deep South of America, longleaf pine woodlands have dwindled to about 3 per cent of their former range, but new efforts are underway to restore them.Paragraph A
The beauty and the biodiverity of the longleaf pine forest are well-kept secrets, even in its native South. Yet it is among the richest ecosystems in North America, rivalling tallgrass prairies and the ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest in the number of species it shelters. And like those two other disappearing wildlife habitats, longleaf is also critically endangered.Paragraph B
In longleaf pine forests, trees grow widely scattered, creating an open, parklike environment, more like a savanna than a forest. The trees are not so dense as to block the sun. This openness creates a forest 1oor that is among the most diverse in the world, where plants such as many-1 powered grass pinks, trumpet pitcher plants, Venus flytraps, lavender ladies and pineland bog-buttons grow. As many as 50 different species of wildflowers, shrubs, grasses and ferns have been catalogued in just a single square meter.Paragraph C
Once, nearly 92 million acres of longleaf forest nourished from Virginia to Texas, the only place in the world where it is found. By the turn of the 21st century, however, virtually all of it had been logged, paved or farmed into oblivion. Only about 3 per cent of the original range still supports longleaf forest, and only about 10,000 acres of that is uncut old-growth—the rest is forest that has regrown after cutting. An estimated 100,000 of those acres are still vanishing every year. However, a quiet movement to reverse this trend is rippling across the region. Governments, private organisations (including NWF), and individual conservationists are looking for ways to protect and preserve the remaining longleaf and plant new forests for future generations.Paragraph D
Figuring out how to bring back the piney woods also will allow biologists to help the plants and animals that depend on this habitat. Nearly two-thirds of the declining, threatened or endangered species in the southeastern United States are associated with longleaf. The outright destruction of longleaf is only part of their story, says Mark Danaher, the biologist for South Carolina’s Francis Marion National Forest. He says the demise of these animals and plants is also tied to a lack of fire, which once swept through the southern forests on a regular basis. “Fire is absolutely critical for this ecosystem and for the species that depend on it,” says Danaher.Paragraph E
Name just about any species that occurs in Longleaf, and you can find a connection to fire. Bachman’s sparrow is a secretive bird with a beautiful song that echoes across the longleaf flatwoods. It tucks its nest on the ground beneath clumps of wiregrass and little bluestem in the open under-story. But once the fire has been absent for several years and a tangle of shrubs starts to grow, the sparrows disappear. Gopher tortoises, the only native land tortoises east of the Mississippi, are also abundant in longleaf. A keystone species for these forests, its burrows provide homes and safety to more than 300 species of vertebrates and invertebrates ranging from eastern diamond-back rattlesnakes to gopher frogs. If fire is suppressed, however, the tortoises are choked out. “If we lose fire,” says Bob Mitchell, an ecologist at the Jones Center, “we lose wildlife.”Paragraph F
Without fire, we also lose longleaf. Fire knocks back the oaks and other hardwoods that can grow to overwhelm longleaf forests. “They are fire forests,” Mitchell says. “They evolved in the lightning capital of the eastern United States.” And it wasn’t only lightning strikes that set the forest aflame. “Native Americans also lit fires to keep the forest open,” Mitchell says. “So did the early pioneers. They helped create the longleaf pine forests that we know today.”Paragraph G
Fire also changes how nutrients flow throughout longleaf ecosystems in ways we are just beginning to understand. For example, researchers have discovered that frequent fires provide extra calcium to endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers, which is critical for egg production. Frances James, a retired avian ecologist from Florida State University, has studied these small black-and-white birds in Florida’s sprawling Apalachicola National Forest for more than two decades. When she realised female woodpeckers laid larger clutches in the first breeding season after their territories were burned, she and her colleagues went searching for answers. “We learned calcium is stashed away in woody shrubs when the forest is not burned,” James says. “But when there is a fire, a pulse of calcium moves down into the soil and up into the longleaf.” Eventually, this calcium makes its way up the food chain to a tree-dwelling species of ant, which is the red-cockaded’s favourite food. The result is more calcium for the birds, which leads to more eggs, more young, and more woodpeckers.Paragraph H
Today, fire is used as a vital management tool for preserving both Longleaf and its wildlife. Most of these fires are prescribed burns, deliberately set with a drip torch. Although the public often opposes any type of fire—and the smoke that goes with it—these frequent, low-intensity burns reduce the risk of catastrophic concentrations. “Forests are going to burn,” says Amadou Diop, NWF’s southern forests restoration manager. “It’s just a question of when. With prescribed burns, we can pick the time and the place.”Paragraph I
Restoring Longleaf is not an easy task. The herbaceous layer—-the understory of wiregrasses and other plants, also needs to be re-created. In areas where the land has not been chewed up by farming but converted into loblolly or slash pine plantations, the seed bank of the longleaf forest usually remains viable beneath the soil. In time, this original vegetation can be coaxed back. Where agriculture has destroyed the seeds, however, wiregrass must be replanted. Right now, the expense is prohibitive, but researchers are searching for low-cost solutions.Paragraph J
Bringing back Long-leaf is not for the short-sighted, however. Few of us will be alive when the pines being planted today become mature forests in 70 to 80 years. But that is not stopping long-leaf enthusiasts. “Today, it’s getting hard to find long-leaf seedlings to buy,” one of the private landowners says. “Everyone wants them. Long-leaf is in a resurgence.”The Forgotten Forests IELTS Reading Answers Sample Questions
The Forgotten Forests IELTS Reading Answers: Sentence Completion (Q1 – Q5):1. Longleaf pine forests are considered one of the most ______ ecosystems in North America. 2. The openness of longleaf pine forests allows sunlight to reach the ______, promoting biodiversity. 3. By the 21st century, only about ______ per cent of the original longleaf pine forest remained. 4. Fire plays a critical role in maintaining the longleaf ecosystem by preventing the growth of ______. 5. Calcium, essential for red-cockaded woodpeckers, becomes available to them after ______.
The Forgotten Forests IELTS Reading Answers: Flowchart (Q6 – Q9):Restoration of Longleaf Pine Forests 6. Longleaf forests reduced to 3% 7. Lack of fire causes decline in wildlife 8. Fire reintroduced through ______ 9. ______ benefit from increased calcium 10. Increased egg production and population growth.
The Forgotten Forests IELTS Reading Answers: True/False/Not Given (Q11 – Q14):11. Longleaf pine forests are more densely packed with trees than typical forests. 12. The majority of longleaf pine forests were cleared for agricultural purposes. 13. Gopher tortoises can survive in longleaf forests without regular fires. 14. The restoration of longleaf forests will take approximately 50 years to reach maturity.
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The Forgotten Forests IELTS Reading Answers with Explanations
Ans 1. Longleaf pine forests are considered one of the most diverse ecosystems in North America. Explanation: From Paragraph A – "Yet it is among the richest ecosystems in North America, rivalling tallgrass prairies and the ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest..." Ans 2. The openness of longleaf pine forests allows sunlight to reach the forest floor , promoting biodiversity. Explanation: From Paragraph B – "The trees are not so dense as to block the sun. This openness creates a forest floor that is among the most diverse in the world..." Ans 3. By the 21st century, only about 3 percent of the original longleaf pine forest remained. Explanation: From Paragraph C – "Only about 3 percent of the original range still supports longleaf forest..." Ans 4. Fire plays a critical role in maintaining the longleaf ecosystem by preventing the growth of oaks and hardwoods . Explanation: From Paragraph F – "Fire knocks back the oaks and other hardwoods that can grow to overwhelm longleaf forests." Ans 5. Calcium, essential for red-cockaded woodpeckers, becomes available to them after fires . Explanation: From Paragraph G – "Frequent fires provide extra calcium to endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers, which is critical for egg production." Ans 6. Longleaf forests reduced to 3% Explanation: From Paragraph C – "Only about 3 percent of the original range still supports longleaf forest..." This indicates that the vast majority of the longleaf forests have been lost, leaving just a small fraction of the original area. Ans 7. Lack of fire causes decline in wildlife Explanation: From Paragraph D – "The demise of these animals and plants is also tied to a lack of fire, which once swept through the southern forests on a regular basis." Ans 8. Fire reintroduced through prescribed burns Explanation: From Paragraph H – "Today, fire is used as a vital management tool for preserving both Longleaf and its wildlife. Most of these fires are prescribed burns, deliberately set with a drip torch." Ans 9. Red-cockaded woodpeckers benefit from increased calcium Explanation: From Paragraph G – "Frequent fires provide extra calcium to endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers..." Ans 10. Increased egg production and population growth. Explanation: From Paragraph G – "This calcium leads to more eggs, more young, and more woodpeckers." Ans 11. Longleaf pine forests are more densely packed with trees than typical forests. – False Explanation: From Paragraph B – "In longleaf pine forests, trees grow widely scattered, creating an open, parklike environment, more like a savanna than a forest." Ans 12. The majority of longleaf pine forests were cleared for agricultural purposes. – True Explanation: From Paragraph C – "...virtually all of it had been logged, paved or farmed into oblivion." Ans 13. Gopher tortoises can survive in longleaf forests without regular fires. – False Explanation: From Paragraph E – "If fire is suppressed, however, the tortoises are choked out." Ans 14. The restoration of longleaf forests will take approximately 50 years to reach maturity. – Not Given Explanation: While Paragraph J mentions that it will take "70 to 80 years" for longleaf forests to mature, there is no reference to a 50-year timeframe. Also Read:- Should You Use All Capital Letters in the IELTS Listening and Reading Tests
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The Forgotten Forests IELTS Reading Answers FAQs
Q. Why are longleaf pine forests considered endangered?
Ans. Due to logging, farming, and development, Longleaf pine forests have been reduced to just 3% of their original range.
Q. How does fire benefit longleaf ecosystems?
Ans. Fire prevents hardwood overgrowth, helps species like gopher tortoises thrive, and boosts calcium essential for woodpecker reproduction.
Q. What role do prescribed burns play in forest management?
Ans. Prescribed burns reduce the risk of catastrophic fires and maintain the ecosystem's health by mimicking natural fire cycles.
Q. What challenges are involved in restoring longleaf forests?
Ans. Restoring understory plants and replanting wiregrass is expensive, making large-scale restoration difficult.
Q. Why is longleaf forest restoration considered a long-term effort?
Ans. Longleaf pine trees take 70–80 years to mature, requiring long-term commitment for successful restoration.
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