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Okay, I have a world just like ours. There is only difference: 1 out of 100.000 people wield the magic to change the form of wood.

They touch it and can form it to whatever form they think of, from easy things like sword and shield to the most complex of forms, but it remains plain wood. They also can't change the mass or other properties of the given wood, really only the form.

The transformation is pretty fast. A shield to protect the mage is done in a second or two, depending on the size. And even 2 meter tall, detailed statues e.g. wouldn't take longer then mere minutes.

If they form something that would break under its own weight, then it breaks as soon as the transformation is complete and the magic vanishes. They can't let trees grow faster, either.

Could these mages somehow influence our ecosystem?

Edit:

I want to know if this magic could be used to influence the ecosystem in a way, that would NOT be possible without said magic.

Simply destroying forests is something we (normal people) could do as well.

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  • $\begingroup$ How is this different from carving, save the time & tools factor? Is the wood melded into a new form, or is it extracted like a carving? Is the transformation something one does to living trees or felled wood? $\endgroup$
    – Josh
    May 27, 2017 at 12:47
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    $\begingroup$ For a very very long time very many people made a living by changing the shape of wood. They were called woodcutters, carpenters, cabinet makers, coopers, charcoal burners and so on. Over the centuries they did affect the ecosystems very much -- mostly by deforestation. These professions still exist, and they may even be practiced by more than 1 person in 100 000. No magic is required. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    May 27, 2017 at 12:52
  • $\begingroup$ @Josh - It's melded. So no loss of wood in order to get what you want. $\endgroup$ May 27, 2017 at 12:52

3 Answers 3

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There is one big advantage on using wood-bending than conventional methods of carving or building things: time.

You can build something out of wood in mere seconds, or minutes. You can beat a (wooden) handcraft factory just by bending!

When time is essential? When there is emergency. Or a large scale project that conventionally requires months, or years, to complete.

Dam

By providing the wood materials, you can quickly create a dam. Fortunately, usually dam is in, or at least close to, forest. Although it is not as reliable as modern, permanent, dam, at least you can build it in a day. Or two. Or a week, if you include the nights learning the blueprint.

Forest Fire

If you can "bend" living wood, obviously that is very useful in tackling forest fire. By moving the trees away from the fire, you can isolate the fire until it dies out.

"Moving" here is not meant moving rocks like in earth bending, but rather "sculpt" the trees away from the fire, or if possible, fell the trees away from the fire.

Flood

Redirect incoming flood by creating a barrier around the village.

Bonsai

You don't need patience to grow a bonsai, or at least not as much as using conventional method. Of course, if you can bend living wood.

Living Quarter

You can transform a tree (or trees) to a room for animals (or people). If you are an elf, you can use the magic to sculpt the World Tree to a village, or city. Of course, you must consult an engineer to make sure it won't break as soon as you finished.

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  • $\begingroup$ The last one "Living Quarter" is exactly what I've looked for. I didn't think about animals until your answer. Slightly manipulating forests to improve it for certain species over the course of several hundred years could (in theory) lead to a different route in evolution, as other individuals may fit better to the changed trees. Thanks! $\endgroup$ May 27, 2017 at 23:57
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Could these mages somehow influence our ecosystem?

In the sense that they could walk through entire forests transforming all the trees to non-living stuff (just chunks of dead tree). They might even do it to cause trouble for people. Or they might do it to show off.

That could wreck an ecosystem depending on how fast the transformation is affected.

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I don't think a few people walking around transforming trees/wood into MDF objects is going to be any environmental disaster, compared to the impact non-transformative people's actions have and the ratios you give.

If the transformation is lower than the cellular level things start getting interesting. Water, ethanol, poisons, hormones and other interesting substances could be extracted. Trees transformed into their carbon, hydrogen and oxygen parts could provide for spectacular pyrotechnics; pulling out the rare metals like gold or uranium to the detriment of all others might be the kind of thing that would devastate ecosystems.

But in the context of what you were suggesting, I'd be surprised if other people even noticed the 1:100000 people doing this.

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