Indian vegetation types characteristics and distribution
Answers
Classification of Natural Vegetation of India
Classification of Natural Vegetation of India is primarily based on spatial and annual variations in rainfall. Temperature, soil and topography are also considered.
India’s vegetation can be divided into 5 main types and 16 sub-types as given below.
A. Moist Tropical Forests
Tropical Wet Evergreen
Tropical Semi-Evergreen
Tropical Moist Deciduous
Littoral and Swamp
B. Dry Tropical Forests
Tropical Dry Evergreen
Tropical Dry Deciduous
Tropical Thorn
C. Montane Sub-tropical Forests
Sub-tropical broad leaved hill
Sub-tropical moist hill (pine)
Sub-tropical dry evergreen
D. Montane Temperate Forests
Montane Wet Temperate
Himalayan Moist Temperate
Himalayan Dry Temperate
E. Alpine Forests
Sub-Alpine
Moist Alpine scrub
Dry Alpine scrub
Forest Type in India
% of Total Area
Tropical Moist Deciduous 37
Tropical Dry Deciduous 28
Tropical Wet Evergreen 8
Sub-Tropical Moist Hill 6
Tropical Semi-Evergreen 4
Rest below 4 %
types of forests in india- natural vegetation of india -
Moist Tropical Forests
Tropical Wet Evergreen Forests or Rain Forests
Climatic Conditions
Annual rainfall exceeds 250 cm
The annual temperature is about 25°-27°C
The average annual humidity exceeds 77 per cent and
The dry season is distinctly short.
Characteristics
Evergreen: Due to high heat and high humidity, the trees of these forests do not shed their leaves together.
Mesosphytic: Plants adopted to neither too dry nor too wet type climate.
What are mesophytes?
Unlike hydrophytic plants, such as water lily or pondweed, that grow in saturated soil or water, or xerophytic plants, such as cactus, that grow in extremely dry soil, mesophytes are ordinary plants that exist between the two extremes.
Mesophytic environments are marked by average to hot temperatures and soil that is neither too dry nor too wet.
Lofty: The trees often reach 45 – 60 metres in height.
Thick Canopy: From the air, the tropical rain forest appears like a thick canopy of foliage, broken only where it is crossed by large rivers or cleared for cultivation.
All plants struggle upwards (most ephiphytes) for sunlight resulting in a peculiar layer arrangement. The entire morphology looks like a green carpet when viewed from above.
epiphytes-rainforests
Epiphytes
Less undergrowth: The sun light cannot reach the ground due to thick canopy. The undergrowth is formed mainly of bamboos, ferns, climbers, orchids, etc.
Distribution
Western side of the Western Ghats (500 to 1370 metres above sea level).
Some regions in the Purvanchal hills.
In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Timber
Hardwood: The timber of these forests is fine-grained, hard and durable.
It has high commercial value but it is highly challenging to exploit due to dense undergrowth, absence of pure stands and lack of transport facilities [Read previous posts on Climatic regions to understand how lumbering industry works in Equatorial Rainforests (hardwood) and Taiga Climatic (softwood) conditions].
The important species of these forests are mahogany, mesua, white cedar, jamun, canes, bamboo etc.
Tropical Semi-Evergreen Forests
They are transitional forests between tropical wet evergreen forests and tropical deciduous forests.
They are comparatively drier areas compared to tropical wet evergreen forests.
cent
The dry season is not short like in tropical evergreen forests.
Distribution
Western coast
Assam
Lower slopes of the Eastern Himalayas
Odisha and
Andamans.
Characteristics
The semi-evergreen forests are less dense.
They are more gregarious [living in flocks or colonies – more pure stands] than the wet evergreen forests.
These forests are characterized by many species.
Trees usually have buttressed trunks with abundant epiphytes.
Buttressed Trunks
Buttressed Trunks
The important species are laurel, rosewood, mesua, thorny bamboo – Western Ghats, white cedar, Indian chestnut, champa, mango, etc. – Himalayan region.
Timber
Hardwood: Similar to that in tropical evergreen forests except that these forests are less dense with of about 27°C
The average annual relative humidity