India, a fascinating country boasting a rich cultural heritage and a thriving economy is a land of varied vegetation. A strong reliance on agriculture has brought about tremendous growth in the production of forest produce. There are five major types of natural vegetation found in India- Tropical Evergreen, Deciduous, Dry Deciduous, Desert, Tidal and Mountain Forests.
1. Tropical Evergreen Forests –
Tropical Evergreen forests of India are found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as Western Ghats, which fringe the Arabian Sea, the coastline of peninsular India, and the greater Assam region in the north-east. Small remnants of evergreen forest are found in Odisha state.
These forests grow best in areas having rainfall more than 200 cm with a short dry season. The trees reach great heights up to 60 metres or even above. It has the vegetation of all kinds i.e trees, shrubs and creepers giving it a multilayered structure.
These forests appear green all the year-round. Important trees of this forest are ebony, mahogany, rosewood, rubber and cinchona.Common animals found in these forests are elephant, monkey, lemur and deer.
2. Tropical Deciduous Forests –
Tropical deciduous forests occur in regions with heavy rainfall for part of the year followed by a marked dry season. These forest formations are dense and lush during the wet summers, but become a dry landscape during the dry winters when most trees shed their leaves.
They are spread over the region having rainfall between 200 cm and 70 cm. They shed their leaves about 6 to 8 weeks in the dry summer. In these forests, the common animals found are lion, tiger, pig, deer and elephant. These forests are further divided into:
- Moist deciduous: These are found in areas having rainfall between 200 and 100 cm. Teak is the most dominant species of this forest. Bamboos, sa1, shisham, sandalwood, khair, kusum, arjun and mulberry are other commercially important species.
- Dry deciduous: These are found in areas having rainfall between 100 cm and 70 cm. There are open stretches, in which teak, sal, peepal and neem grow.
3. The Thorn Forests and Scrubs –
Tropical Thorn Forests and Scrubs are the types of forests or areas with an average rainfall of less than 70 cm, which is too little or too little. Thorn forests and shrubs are found in the areas where the annual rainfall is less than 70 cm and these are usually found in the semi arid regions of India.
This type of vegetation is found in the north-western part of the country, including semi-arid areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Trees are scattered and have long roots penetrating deep into the soil to get moisture. The stems are moist to conserve water. Leaves are mostly thick and small to minimise evaporation.
Acacias, palms, euphorbias and cacti are the main plant species. Common animals are rats, mice, rabbits, fox, wolf, tiger, lion, wild ass, horses and camels.
4. Montane Forests –
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify.
Montane forests are the forests which are found in the mountains. The wet temperate type of forests are found between a height of 1000 and 2000 metres.
At high altitudes, generally, more than 3,600 metres above the sea level, temperate forests and grasslands give way to the Alpine vegetation.
Alpine grasslands are used for grazing. At higher altitudes, mosses and lichens form part of tundra vegetation.
The common animals found are Kashmir stag, spotted deer, wild sheep, jack rabbit, Tibetan antelope, yak, snow leopard, squirrels, shaggy horn wild ibex, bear and rare red panda, sheep and goats.
5. Mangrove Forests –
Mangroves are a group of trees and shrubs that live in the coastal intertidal zone. Mangrove forest in Loxahatchee, Florida. There are about 80 different species of mangrove trees. All of these trees grow in areas with low-oxygen soil, where slow-moving waters allow fine sediments to accumulate.
Mangroves are trees that live along tropical coastlines, rooted in salty sediments, often underwater. The mangrove tidal forests are found in the areas of coasts influenced by tides. Mud and silt get accumulated on such coasts.
Dense mangroves are the common varieties with roots of the plants submerged underwater. Sundari trees are found in Ganga-Brahmaputra delta and provide hard timber. Royal Bengal Tiger is a famous animal in these forests.
