You heal all living creatures, friend or foe, in the area unless you exclude some with the Selective Channel feat.
Anything with a Constitution score is alive. Constructs and Undead do not have constitutions scores (are not alive).
Elementals are alive. Elemental Channel allows you to heal or harm elemental creatures without affecting any other kind of creature.
If you need further evidence:
Unlike most living creatures, an outsider does not have a dual nature—its soul and body form one unit. When an outsider is slain, no soul is set loose. Spells that restore souls to their bodies, such as raise dead, reincarnate, and resurrection, don’t work on an outsider. It takes a different magical effect, such as limited wish, wish, miracle, or true resurrection to restore it to life. An outsider with the native subtype can be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected just as other living creatures can be.
Elementals are outsiders, outsiders are alive but have specific restrictions due to their singular nature (body and soul are one).
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Alignment Channel only works against outsiders with an alignment subtype.
This is in general discussion so lets discuss: would you heal non-sentient plants/insects etc in the area? They're alive in a technical sense. It wouldn't have a game impact but theoretically could you have a PC cleric go into a blighted area, find some plants diseased and dying but still technically alive, and then nurse the area back to health with area channels?
Channels don't remove conditions by default. It wouldn't cure the disease or blight by itself.
Isn't there an archetype that allows you to add paladin mercies to channel positive energy? I think it's called "Merciful Healer" or something.
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That would be awesome. Paladin of Saranrae enters the area of the blight, kills the evil hag making it and drives out the goblins and vermin. But at the end of the adventure the villagers are like "thank goodness the monsters are gone, but now, how will we survive?" Paladin kneels in the one shaft of sunlight coming down through the dead and dying trees dangling in the otherwise gray sky. "May the Dawnflower's Mercy be made to shine upon this land. Let her luminous grace fill you with life and heal this place."
Somewhere an angelic chorus cries out as the paladin's channel radius spills out. Everywhere it washes over in the forest the plants visibly respond. The disease is cured, the damage to the leaves and stems repaired. The local flora stretches skyward before the eyes of the assembled masses. The Paladin stands and where she knelt a single, glowing bloom has grown.
...
And centuries later a girl named Rapunzel is asked to let down her hair...
Regular plants, such as one finds growing in gardens and fields, lack Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores; even though plants are alive, they are objects, not creatures.
Regular plants do not get healed by Channel Energy, because they are objects, not creatures.