Question

Describe the forests of India.

Answer 1

Natural Vegetation refers to a plant community which has grown naturally without human aid and has been left undisturbed by human for a long time.

1. Tropical Evergreen Forest:
   These forests are found in areas with 200 cm or more annual rainfall.The annual temperature is about more than 22°C and the average annual humidity exceeds 70 percent in this region. Western Ghats in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Andaman-Nicobar Islands, Assam, West Bengal, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya states have this type of forests. The most important trees are rubber, mahogany, ebony, rosewood, coconut, bamboo, cinchona, candes, palm, iron wood and cedar.
2. Tropical Deciduous Forest:
   It covers a large area of the Peninsula and northern India, where the rainfall is from 100 to 200 m. These trees of the forests shed their leaves for a few weeks in early summer. The main trees are teak, Sandalwood, deodars, sisam, sal and redwood.
3. Tropical Dry Forest:
   These are found in the areas with 50 to 100 cm. annual rainfall.They represent a transitional type of forests. These are found in east Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Eastern Maharashtra, Telangana, West Karnataka and East Tamilnadu. The important species are mahua, banyan, amaltas, palas, haldu, kikar, bamboo, babool, khair etc.,
4. Mountain or Montane Forest:
   These forests are classified on the basis of altitude and amount of rainfall. Accordingly two different types of forests namely Eastern Himalayas Forests and Western Himalayas Forests. Eastern Himalayan Forest: These are found on the slopes of the mountains in north-east states. They receive rainfall of more than 200 cm. The vegetation is of evergreen type. Sal, oak, laurel, amura, chestnut, cinnamon are the main trees from 1200 to 2400 m altitude oak, birch, silver, fir, fine, spruce and juniper are the major trees from 2400 to 3600 m height. Western Himalayan Forest: The rainfall of this region is moderate. They are found n the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In altitude from 900 to 1800 m, chir tree is the most common tree. The other important trees of this region are sal, semal, dhak, jamun and jujube.
5. Alpine Forest:
   It occurs all along the Himalayas with above 2400 m altitude. These are purely having coniferous trees. Oak, silver fir, pine and juniper are the main trees of these forests. The eastern parts of Himalayas has large extent of these forests.
6. Tidel Forest:
   These forests occur in and around the deltas, estuaries and creeks prone to tidal influences and as such are also known as delta or swamp forests. The delta of the Ganga-Brahmaputra has the largest tidal forest. The deltas of Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna rivers are also known for tidal forests. These are also known as mangrove forest.
7. Coastal Forest:
   These are littoral forests. Generally, coastal areas have these types of forests. Casurina, palm and coconut are the dominant trees. Both the eastern and western coasts have this type of forests.
8. Riverine Forest:
   These forests are found along the rivers on Khadar areas. These are known for tamarisk and tamarind trees. The rivers of Great Plains are more prominent for this type of natural vegetation.