Question

Forest control drought through
A. Lot of water plants
B. Increasing rainfall
C. Retention of water and prevention of erosion
D. Functioning as watershed

Answer 1

Hint: We know that the maintenance of the water cycle is an important part of drought control in a forest. Water in the form of ground water prevents the occurrence of droughts in forests, even during the hot seasons. The trees in a forest help in the prevention of droughts as they act as water storage containers.

Complete answer:
• Forests control drought through a combination of methods. The large number of plants and trees in a forest play a key role in preventing droughts.
• The roots of the plants and trees bind the soil of the forest floor. This prevents the soil from getting eroded and subsequently prevents droughts.
• Also, the groundwater and the water present in the soil gets absorbed by the roots of the plants. This helps in maintaining the moisture levels of the soil. The water that is retained by the roots prevents the drying of land during the hot, summer seasons.
• The water travels throughout the plant and reaches the leaves and from there, it undergoes transpiration and evaporation and gets incorporated into the atmosphere in the form of water vapour. This water vapour undergoes condensation to form water droplets (clouds). This water comes down in the form of precipitation, enters the soil and this is how the water cycle continues.
• This is another natural process by which forests are able to control and prevent droughts without an intervention.
• We can even understand by this point that trees are a major component of the whole process. In order to increase rainfall in the area, it is important to increase the number of trees. This is why drought occurs in those areas where there are little to no trees. The soil in drought areas is also dry and eroded.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: Deforestation can majorly affect the water cycle and lead to a decrease in rainfall. So even if one element of the cycle is affected, the whole cycle gets affected. Even though the thinning of forests can decrease the water demand, it leads to extensive soil erosion.