Types of Natural Vegetation
NCERT Class 9 • Contemporary India I • Chapter "Natural Vegetation and Wildlife" | NCERT Class 11 • India Physical Environment • Chapter "Natural Vegetation"
Types of Natural Vegetation
India is one of the world's mega diverse countries in plant life because its climate, relief and soils vary so widely. Natural vegetation is classified mainly by rainfall, and five broad types are recognised, from dense evergreen forest in the wettest regions to thorn scrub in the driest.
Forest Types by Rainfall
- Tropical evergreen forest grows where rainfall is above about 200 cm, in the Western Ghats, the north-east and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; trees never shed all leaves at once, so the forest looks green all year.
- Its trees include mahogany, ebony and rosewood; the forest is dense and multi-layered.
- Tropical deciduous forest is India's most widespread forest type, found where rainfall is about 70 to 200 cm; trees shed leaves in the dry season.
- It is divided into moist deciduous, with teak, sal and shisham, and dry deciduous, with teak, bel and mixed species.
- Thorn forest and scrub grows below about 50 cm rainfall in Rajasthan, Gujarat and interior Deccan; acacia, khejri, babool and cactus dominate, with long roots and thick bark.
- Montane forest changes with altitude: broadleaf in the foothills, then pine, deodar and spruce, then alpine grassland and finally tundra.
- Mangrove forest grows in tidal coastal deltas; the Sundari tree gives the Sundarbans its name.
| Forest Type | Rainfall | Typical Tree |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical evergreen | Above 200 cm | Mahogany, rosewood |
| Moist deciduous | 100 to 200 cm | Teak, sal, shisham |
| Dry deciduous | 70 to 100 cm | Teak, bel |
| Thorn and scrub | Below 50 cm | Acacia, khejri, babool |
| Mangrove | Tidal coast | Sundari |
Deciduous — trees that shed their leaves during a particular dry season each year.
Why Vegetation Varies
- Rainfall is the single biggest control on which forest type appears.
- Temperature and altitude together change vegetation along a mountain slope.
- Soil decides which species can root there; mangrove needs saline tidal mud.
- Human activity has cleared large areas, so much of today's cover is not truly natural.
- Forests supply timber, fuelwood, gum, lac, resin and many medicinal plants.
- They hold soil in place, recharge groundwater and moderate the local climate.
- Social forestry and farm forestry aim to raise tree cover outside reserved forest land, on village land, roadsides and canal banks.
- Loss of forest cover directly increases soil erosion, flood intensity and loss of wildlife habitat.
Exam me kaise aata hai
- Most widespread forest type in India — tropical deciduous
- Sundarbans is named after which tree — Sundari
- Teak and sal belong to which forest — moist deciduous
- Evergreen forest needs rainfall above — 200 cm
UPSC/State PSC ke liye
- Mangrove trees have pneumatophores, breathing roots that rise above waterlogged saline mud.
- Deciduous trees shed leaves to cut water loss during the dry season, which is an adaptation, not a sign of poor health.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ Evergreen forest is most widespread in India | Deciduous forest is the most widespread | ✓
✗ Sal is a thorn forest tree | Sal belongs to the moist deciduous forest | ✓
✗ Mangrove grows in freshwater swamps | Mangrove grows in saline tidal coastal mud | ✓
Ek nazar me
- Five types: evergreen, deciduous, thorn, montane, mangrove.
- Rainfall is the main basis of classification.
- Deciduous is the most widespread; teak and sal are its key trees.
- Sundari of the Sundarbans is a mangrove tree.