Today, in Europe, North America and Japan, most of the wood harvested is planted and managed as most other cultivated plants. Consumption of forestry products is high and currently increasing. S.E. Asia and much of west Africa, the forests are being wild harvested and we do not even know how to reforest them. Widescale deforestation has very serious economic and ecological results. In some cases, e.g., for paper manufacture, herbaceous plants can replace trees.
Conifers often grow in pure stands.
These trees are usually much more diverse and do not occur in pure stands. Many are deciduous. More than one half the world's remaining forests are tropical hardwood types. These are rarely managed. Slash and burn agriculture is important.