Natural Vegetation of India - Tropical Evergreen or Rain Forests

Tropical Evergreen or Rain Forests:

(a) Climatic Conditions: They thrive in areas with more than 200 cm of rainfall and a short dry season. In this region, the annual temperature exceeds 22°C and the average annual humidity exceeds 70%.

(b) Distribution: This type of forest can be found in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu coast, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, West Bengal, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, and Meghalaya.

(c) Characteristic Features:

• Because the region is warm and wet all year, it has a rich vegetation of all kinds, including trees, shrubs, and creepers, giving it a multilayered structure.
• The trees can grow to heights of 60 metres or more.
• The dense canopy of trees, which does not allow enough sunlight to reach the ground, prevents the carpet layer of herbs and grasses from growing.
• The trees in these forests do not have a fixed time to shed their leaves, flower, or fruit. That is why these forests are green all year.
• The most important trees are rubber, mahogany, ebony, rosewood, coconut, bamboo, cinchona, candes, palm, iron wood and cedar.
• Elephants, monkeys, lemurs, and deer are common animals in these forests. The Assam and West Bengal jungles are home to one-horned rhinoceroses. In addition to these animals, these jungles are home to numerous birds, bats, sloths, scorpions, and snails.

(d) Economical Value: Plant species of high economic value are produced in tropical evergreen forests. The timber produced is hard, durable and fine-grained. But, due to the tangled mass of canes, palms, bamboos, ferns, and climbers, as well as a lack of transportation, these forests have not been fully exploited.