Forest In India

● Natural vegetation refers to the plant community that

occurs without any external interference over a long
period of time.
● Various types of natural vegetation are found in India.
● On the basis of vegetation type and climatic conditions,
Indian forests are divided into five types, which are as
follows-

Tropical Evergreen Forest:

This forest is again divided into two parts:-

1) Tropical Evergreens:-
● These forests are found on the western slopes of the
Western Ghats, the hills of Northeast India and the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
● These forests are found in areas where annual rainfall is
more than 200 cm, relative humidity is more than 70% and
average annual temperature is more than 22 °C.
● Due to high humidity and temperature, these forests are
very dense and high.
● The height of trees in these forests is more than 60 meters.
● Rosewood, Mahogany, Annie and Ebony are the main tree
species found in this forest.
● The net primary productivity of tropical forests is highest.
● These forests are not very useful from the economic point
of view because the wood of these forests is very hard and
due to dense forests, the transportation facility is limited.

Semi-evergreen forest:-
● These forests are found in these areas, in areas with
relatively less rainfall.
 ● These forests are a mixed form of evergreen and
moist-deciduous forests.
● Cedar, Holak and Kail are the main tree species found in
this region.
● These forests have been degraded to a large extent due to
shifting agriculture.
● The British government understood the economic
importance of these types of forests in India, so they
exploited them in large quantities.

Tropical deciduous forest

● These forests are found in abundance in India.
● These trees shed their leaves at the beginning of summer,
hence they are also called 'monsoon or deciduous forests'.
● In India, these forests are found in areas with annual
rainfall of 70 to 200 cm.

On the basis of availability of water, these forests are divided

into moist and dry deciduous forests.

1) Moist deciduous forest:-

● This type of forests is found in Most area of India.
● These forests are found in the middle and low plains of the
Ganges, the eastern slope of the Western Ghats, West
Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Odisha.
● Sal, teak, shisham, mahua, amla and sandalwood are the
main trees found here, which are used as timber, that is,
they have economic importance.

2) Dry deciduous forest:-

● These forests are found in areas where the annual rainfall
ranges from 70 to 100 cm.
● These forests are mainly found in the areas of peninsular
India, plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
 ● In the peninsular plateau and plains of North India with
high rainfall, these forests form a park-like landscape,
where there is green grass between teak and other trees.
● Tendu, Amaltas, Axalwood, Palash are the main trees found
here.
● The flowers of the Palash tree are very attractive, hence it is
called the 'fire of the forest'.
● It is also the state flower of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

Tropical thorn forest

● These forests are found in those areas of India where the
annual rainfall is less than 50 cm.
● Different types of grasses and shrubs are found in these
forests because they require less water.
● Their extension is found in the semi-arid areas of
South-West Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
● Date palm, neem, khair, acacia and bar are the main tree
species found in these areas.
● The Khair tree found here is used to make Katha.

Mountain forest
● According to their name, these forests are found in
mountainous areas, which can be divided into two parts-
1) Northern montane forest
2) Southern Mountain Forest

Northern mountain forests: -

● These forests are found on the southern slopes of the
Himalayan Mountains.
● Eastern Himalayas receive more rainfall than Western
Himalayas, due to which more dense forests are found in
Eastern Himalayas.
 ● In these forests, vegetation ranging from tropical forests to
tundra type is found.
● Bhojpatra is a tree found in the Himalayan region. It was
used in writing work in ancient times.
● Cedar trees are found in the Western Himalayas at
altitudes above 1500.
● Leesa, obtained from the pine forests of Uttarakhand, is an
important non-forest produce, which is used to make
turpentine oil. Turpentine is used in the paper industry,
soap and paint industry.

Major trees found in these regions:

Tree Height
Deciduous Forests 500 to 1000 meters
Moist temperate forest 1,000 to 2,000 meters
Oak and chestnut 1,500 to 1,750 m
Spruce and Bluepine 2,225 to 3,050 m
Silver Fir, Pine, 3,000 to 4,000 m
Rhododendron

Southern mountain forests: -

● Southern mountain forests are mainly found in three parts
of the peninsula, Western Ghats, Vindhyachal and Nilgiri
mountain ranges.
● These mountain ranges fall in the tropical region and their
average height above sea level is about 1,500 meters, that is
why temperate tropical vegetation is found in the higher
regions of these mountains and subtropical vegetation is
found in the lower regions.
 ● The temperate forests found on the hills of Annamalai,
Nilgiris and Palani are known as 'Sholas'.
● In these forests, tree species named Magnolia, Cinchona,
Vatel and Laurel are found in the Satpura and Maikal
mountain ranges.

Mangrove Vegetation:
● Different types of mangrove forests are found in India.
● Mangrove forests are found in an area of about 6,740
square kilometers in India, which is about 7% of the world's
mangrove area.
● A mangrove forest is a group of trees and shrubs that grow
in coastal brackish water.
● It is found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions,
mainly between 25°N and 25°S latitude.
● These forests are found in Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
Sunderbans delta of West Bengal and deltaic part of
Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri rivers.
● The Sundarbans abound in the Sundari tree, after which it
is called the Sundarbans.

Mangroves Forest Area in India

State Total Area (in sq.km)
West Bengal 2114
Gujarat 1175
A&N island 616
Andhra pradesh 405
Maharashtra 324
Odisha 259