a project report on forest and wildlife in India
Answers
Explanation:
WILDLIFE
India is home to a large number and variety of animals. It is a hot-spot for biodiversity with its various ecosystems ranging from the Himalayas in the north to the evergreen rain-forest of the south, the desert sands of the west to the marshy mangroves of the east. India, lying within the Indomalaya ecozone, is home to about 7.6% of all mammalian, 14.7% of all amphibians,6% of avian (bird), 6.2% of reptilian, and 6.0% of flowering plant species. This richness in Indian wildlife has been celebrated since yesteryears: four of India’s national symbols display India’s mammals. As of 2018-19, there are 870 Protected Areas including 104 National Parks, 551 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 88 Conservation Reserves and 127 Community Reserves covering a total of 1,65,088.57 km2 of geographical area which is approximately 5.02% of the country.[citation needed] In addition there are 50 Tiger Reserves, 18 Biosphere Reserves, 32 Elephant Reserves, 7 Natural World Heritage sites and 25 Ramsar Wetland sites in India. It is no wonder that despite incessant encroachment by mankind on the green reserves, India boasts of a vast diversity of both flora and fauna. India's Forest lands nurture about 400 species of mammals and 2000+ species of birds. India is located at the junction of three realms namely Afro-tropical, Indo-Malayan and Paleo-Arctic, and therefore, has characteristic elements from each of them, spurring migration of avifauna from these regions. As far as mammals are concerned, India is the only country with both the lion and the tiger and it has the largest deer as well as tiger population. Indigenous to the subcontinent are the unique species such as the Indian Sloth Bear, the Chausinga antelope and the majestic Barasinga. It is home to Bengal and Indochinese tiger, Asiatic lions, Indian and Indochinese leopards, snow leopards, clouded leopards, various species of Deer, including Chital, Hangul, Barasingha; the Indian Elephant, the Great Indian Rhinoceros, and many others. The region's diverse wildlife is preserved in more than 103 national parks, 18 Bio-reserves and more than 535 wildlife sanctuaries across the country. India has some of the most biodiverse regions of the world and contains four of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots – the Western Ghats, the Eastern Himalayas, Indo-Burma and Sunda Land. Wildlife management is essential to preserve the rare and endangered endemic species. India is one of the seventeen megadiverse countries. According to one study, India along with the other 16 megadiverse countries is home to about 60-70% of the world's biodiversity.
FOREST
A forest is a large area dominated by trees. Hundreds of more precise definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing and ecological function. According to the widely used Food and Agriculture Organization definition, forests covered 4 billion hectares (9.9×109 acres) (15 million square miles) or approximately 30 percent of the world's land area in 2006.
Forests are the dominant terrestrial ecosystem of Earth, and are distributed around the globe. Forests account for 75% of the gross primary production of the Earth's biosphere, and contain 80% of the Earth's plant biomass. Net primary production is estimated at 21.9 gigatonnes carbon per year for tropical forests, 8.1 for temperate forests, and 2.6 for boreal forests.
Forests at different latitudes and elevations form distinctly different ecozones: boreal forests around the poles, tropical forests around the Equator, and temperate forests at the middle latitudes. Higher elevation areas tend to support forests similar to those at higher latitudes, and amount of precipitation also affects forest composition.
Human society and forests influence each other in both positive and negative ways. Forests provide ecosystem services to humans and serve as tourist attractions. Forests can also affect people's health. Human activities, including harvesting forest resources, can negatively affect forest ecosystems