Question

Explain the different types of forests in India

Answer 1

Instructions:
1)Tropical evergreen forests.
2) The tropical deciduous forests.
3) Scrub forests and grassland.
4) Desert vegetation.
5) Mountain forests. and
6) Mangrove forests

Solution:
Tropical evergreen forests:
The tropical evergreen forests do not shed their leaves at a time and hence they are green throughout the year. These forests are found in areas with high temperatures and heavy rainfall exceeding 250 cm. Which places in India fall under this category? They are found mainly on the western slopes of the Western Ghats and hills of northeastern states of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur Lakshadweep and Andaman – Nicobar islands.
The main trees that we can see in these forests are Teak, Rosewood, Ebony, Mahogany, Gurjan and Champa.

Tropical deciduous forests:

Tropical deciduous forests occur in regions with heavy rainfall for part of the year followed by a marked dry season. The term deciduous means- tend to fall off. The trees in these forests shed their leaves. But do you know why? this is because of the survival instinct of the trees. To overcome the loss of water in the dry season, they shed their leaves. This helps them conserve water. As they shed their leaves in spring and early summer and grow back during the monsoon season they are also known as monsoon forests. These are the most widespread forest in India occupying the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Chotanagpur plateau, foothills of the Himalayas, and parts of Odisha and West Bengal. The trees found in these forests are Teak, Sal, Sandalwood, Kusum, Kanju, Myrobalan, Siris, Mango, Neem and Tamarind.

Scrub forests and grassland

This vegetation consists of many southern tropical thorns which are scrub-type forests.
These forests are mostly found in the kutch and the fringes of the Thar desert. And grasslands are mainly found in eastern Rajasthan, Punjab, parts of the Western Ghats and the Cardamom hills. These forests have rainfall between 60 to 100 cm. And the main trees found in these forests are the scrub with short coarse grass, thorny trees and bushes

Desert vegetation:

The vegetation in the desert is very dry and sparse as it receives rainfall only between 10 to 50 cm. These deserts consist of sand that has accumulated over the last 1.8 million years. This vegetation is mostly found in the Thar desert including parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and the Deccan plateau. Also, we can see scattered trees and thorny bushes like Cacti, Acacias, Palms, Euphorbias, Jhand, Khair, Kolko, Babul, Cacti and Khejra.

Mountain forest

Mountain forests are found on the slopes of the mountain which are mostly found in the Himalayas and to a small extent in the Niligiri hills. The most common trees in these areas are Oak, Chestnut, Ash, Beech, Pine, Cedar, Spruce, Fir, Deodar and Walnut.

Mangrove forests

Mangroves are a special type of vegetation. And they are found in the intertidal regions where freshwater and saltwater intermixes, in the bays, estuaries, creeks, and lagoons. They are the salt-tolerant variety of plants and waterlogged soil that doesnt have enough oxygen content. Therefore, we can say that it can survive in harsh conditions.
They are found in the wet marshy regions in the river deltas like Ganga, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri. The most common trees found here are Rhizophora, Canes, Screw pipe, Palms, Sundari etc.