PHYTOGEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS

AND
MAJOR VEGETATION TYPES OF THE
WORLD

Ranjana Negi
Scientist-C,
Systematic Botany discipline,
Botany Division,
Forest Research Institute, DDun 1
 Classification
Phytogeography has two main approaches:
1. Descriptive OR Static Phytogeography

Dealing with description of flora or

flora of different botanical area

2. Interpretive OR Dynamic Phytogeography

Dealing with interpretations of
causes of plant distribution

2
 Wallace’s Realms
In 1876, Alfred Russel Wallace suggested that earth
could be divided in to 6 Biogeographic regions on the
basis of fundamental feature found of plants in those
areas. Wallace reffered these areas as REALMS :-

BIOTIC PROVINCES*

* Region inhabited by Characterstic set of taxa, bound by barriers that prevent

the spread of the distinctive kinds of life to the other regions and the immigration of
3
foreign species.
Zoogeographic realms

Largely based on Wallace’s analysis of the ranges of families of mamm

4
 Philip Sclater (1858)
“On the General Geographical Distribution of the Avian founa”

“An important problem in Natural History, and one that has hitherto been too little
agitated, is that of ascertaining the most natural primary divisions of the earth's surface,
taking the amount of similarity or dissimilarity of organized life solely as our guide. It is a
well-known and universally acknowledged fact that we can choose two portions of the
globe of which the respective Faunæ and Floræ shall be so different, that we should not be
far wrong in supposing them to have been the result of distinct creations. Assuming then
that there are, or may be, more areas of creation than one, the question naturally arises,
how many of them are there, and what are their respective extents and boundaries, or in
other words, what are the most natural primary ontological divisions of the earth's
surface?”

Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society: Zoology 2

5
(1858): 130-145
Sclater’s realms (1858)

6
 Response from Alfred Wallace:

My Dear Mr. Sclater --Your paper on "The Geographical

Distribution of Birds” has particularly interested me, and I
hope that a few remarks and criticisms thereon may not be
unacceptable to you. With your division of the earth into
six grand zoological provinces I perfectly agree, and
believe they will be confirmed by every other department
of zoology as well as by botany.

Letter from Mr. Wallace Concerning the Geographical Distribution of Birds (1859) Ibis,

7
 “Wallace’s Line”
“There is perhaps no fact connected with geographical distribution more extraordinary,
and at first sight inexplicable, than the division of such an apparently homogeneous tract
as the Indian Archipelago* between two provinces which have less in common than any
other two upon the earth. To the geographer and geologist, there is absolutely nothing to
mark the division between the two regions.     
…… Between the Indian and Australian zoological regions, as above defined, I believe
there is absolutely no true transition…..I believe that these two regions are as absolutely
distinct as South America and Africa, and it is only because they are separated by straits
of from 20 to 100 miles wide, instead of the Atlantic, that they have become slightly
connected by the interchange of a few species and genera.”

*Indonesian archipelago

Letter from Mr. Wallace Concerning the Geographical Distribution of Birds (1859) Ibis,
8
 Oriental-Australian distinctiveness
Isolines = percentage of
the Indonesian fauna
(mammals, birds, reptiles,
amphibians, butterflies
and land snails) that are
of Australian origin
“cockatoo limit”
Oriental

>300
2

10 30 55 Number of freshwater
75 Australian fish species

9
 Oriental-
Australian
realm
boundaries

10
 Modern Explanation for the origin of
Wallace’s Realms:-

Continental drift resulted in to periodic

unification and separation of the continents

• Unification – allowed genetic mixing

• Separation – led to genetic isolation and thus
evolution of new species

11
 Wallace’s Realms V/s Good’s Floral Regions
• Botanist Ronald Good identified six floristic kingdoms (Boreal or
Holarctic, Neotropical, Paleotropical, South African, Australian, and Antarctic).
• The largest natural units he determined for flowering plants.
• Good's six kingdoms are subdivided into smaller units, called provinces.
• The Paleotropical kingdom is divided into three subkingdoms, which are each
subdivided into floristic provinces.

Each of the other five kingdoms are subdivided directly into

provinces. There are a total of 37 floristic provinces. Almost all
provinces are further subdivided into floristic regions.

 Boreal Floral Region

 Neotropical Floral Region
 Cape Floral Region
 Paleotropical Floral Region
 Australian Floral Region
 Antarctic Floral Region 12
13
Cape floral

14
 Vegetational belts of the World

1. The Arctic Zone

2. The North Temperate Zone
3. The Tropical Zone
4. The South Temperate Zone

15
 1.The Arctic Zone:
i Arctic Proper/ TUNDRA ZONE
– Covered with ice all the year round.
– Featured with very little biological activity
• Represented by only specialized group of plants as mosses
( Polytrichum, Erytrichum, Lichens) and some prostrate growing grasses,
Rhododendron sps, Salix sps. etc.

16
 1.The Arctic Zone:
ii. Sub Arctic
Extends from southern arctic zone to Northern limits temperate zone.
• Represented by Conifers (Firs, Pinus sps., shruby Juniperus) and Birch,
Salix and some Oaks and Chestnuts among angiosperms
• Ground is covered with Lycopodium, Equisetum, Drosera (Insectivorous
plant), mosses and lichens.

17
 2. The North Temperate Zone
B/W 300N Lat. And 550 N Lat

I. The North temperate of the Western Hemisphere:

Parts B/w U.S.A. & Canada ( b/w 330 N &550 N).
- Conifers and Deciduous trees
- Acer, Pinus, Abies, Thuja etc.
- Eastern coastal regions have very characteristic
species like Schizaea pusilla– a tropical fern.
- Northern California tallest tree Sequoia sempervirens

18
 2.The North Temperate Zone :
i The North temperate of the Western Hemisphere

19
20
 2. The North Temperate Zone

II. The North temperate of the eastern Hemisphere:

divided in to 4 Zones

a) Western and Central Europe

b) Mediterranean Flora
c) Northern Africa
d) The Himalayas, Eastern Asia and Japan

21
 2.The North temperate of the eastern Hemisphere :
a. Western and Central Europe

Sub-arctics

British Isles

ALPS

Dominant flora : Pinus sylvestris, picea excelsa, Abies pectinata, Taxus baccata.
Oaks (Quercus pedunculata), Maple (Acer sps.), Chest nut (Castania sps.)
Some Orchids, wild roses, species of Viola, Salvia and Dianthus.
22
 2.The North temperate of the eastern Hemisphere :
b. Mediterranean Flora (b/w 300 N & 400 N)

Around Mediterranean sea

Climate: Warm Temperate type

Dominant flora : Fruit trees Olives, Nut trees and Oranges.
Asia region as Arab countries, vegetation sparse with species of Atriplex,
Athagi, Polygonum, Artemisia tridentata, Phoenix dactylifera 23
 2.The North temperate of the eastern Hemisphere :
C. Northern Africa

Climate: Scanty Rainfall with sparse vegetation

Dominant flora : Succulent Xerophytic Euphorbia sps.
Hard woody Acacia sps. Are common
Stipa tenacissima grass used for paper manufacturing. 24
 2.The North temperate of the eastern Hemisphere :
d. Himalayas, Eastern Asia and Japan

Dominant flora : Eastern Himalaya have dense forests of Shorea robusta, Dalbergia sissoo,
Acacia catechu, Cedrella toona, Bauhinia sps., Lagerstroemia sps.
Conifers of China and Japan are Cryptomeria, Sciadopitys, Cephalotaxus,
Torreya etc.
Ginkgo biloba only survivor of Mesozoic origin. 25
 3. The Tropical Zone

Tropical Africa

a. The Paleotropics
Tropical Asia

b. The Neotropics

26
 3. The Tropical Zone :
a. Paleotropics--Tropical Africa

Sahara desert

Climate: Rainfall little Or absent. Vegetation from very dense to scanty.

Dominant flora : western coast of Africa houses endemic Welwitschia mirabilis (Gymnosperm).
Acacia catechu, Cedrella toona, Bauhinia sps., Lagerstroemia sps.
East Africa Many plants common to India (Ficus, Asparagus, Clematis
Phaseolus, Cassia fistula) 27
 3. The Tropical Zone :
a. Paleotropics- Tropical Asia

Dominant flora : Arabia: several Acacia sps. and Prosopis are common. Coffea arabica is
supposed to be native of Arabia.
Sri Lanka very rich in density and diversity because of equatorial climate.
Myanmar and Thailand mainly under Rice cultivation. Common trees are
Jackfruit, Orange, Banana, Mango.
Malaysia and Indonesian islands : Luxurious vegetation. Varieties of palms and28Ferns
 3. The Tropical Zone :
b. Neotropics

Dominant flora : Mexico: with areas of low rainfall , Xerophytes are common
S. America: Amazon basin comprises of dense forests. Xerophytes like agave
and Yucca. Much land is under cultivation of wheat, Maize, fruits and
vegetables. Mangroves and epiphytes are also common.
“Flood forest” characteristic with sps. Of Bertholletia excelsa, Maximiliana
regia, Bombax sps. Etc. 29
 4. The South Temperate Zone

Dominant flora : Africa: Mainly ferns and Gymnosperms.

Australia: Northern part comprises of palms, Eucalyptus, Acacia and Casuarina
and towards Southern part trees of Araucaria are very common.
New Zealand: mostly conifers together with ferns.
Richest Bryophytic flora with exceptionally gigantic sizes of Dawsonia
superba and Monoclea forsteri. 30
Climate change and range dynamics

31
 BIOGEOGRAPHIC ZONES
AND
FOREST TYPES OF INDIA

Ranjana Negi
Scientist-C,
Systematic Botany discipline,
Botany Division,
Forest Research Institute, DDun 32
• India is a mega-biodiversity country.
• Variety of physiographic and climatic conditions has attributed
India with rich biodiversity.
• Biogeographically, India is situated at the tri-junction of three
realms, namely, Afro-tropical, Indo-Malayan and Palaeo-arctic
realms.

India represents three major biomes, viz., tropical humid forests, tropical dry
forests/deciduous forests and warm forests/semi-arid desert (Joshi and Joshi, 2004).
33
• India ranks 10th in the world and 4th in Asia in plant
diversity and ranks 7th in the number of endemic
species of higher vertebrates in the world (MoEF,
1999 and 2001).

34
 BIOGEOGRAPHIC ZONES of INDIA
• Wildlife Institute of India (WII) divides India into 10
biogeographic zones or regions.

35
 Trans-Himalayan Zone
1A-Ladakh Mountains

• It is an extension of the 1B-Tibetan plateau

Tibetan plateau, harboring
high-altitude cold desert in
Laddakh (Jammu &
Kashmir) and Lahul Spiti
(Himachal Pradesh). It
comprises about 5.7 per cent
of the country’s landmass.

36
 2.Himalayan Zone
2A-NW Himalaya 2B-High Himalaya

• The entire mountain chain, 2C-Central Himalaya

running from north-western
2D-East Himalaya
to north-eastern India,
comprises a diverse range of
biotic provinces and biomes.
It covers 7.2 per cent of the
country’s landmass.

37
 3. Desert Zone
• This is an extremely arid
3A-Thar
area, which is mainly in the
west of the Aravalli hills
3B- Katchchh
range, comprising both the
salty desert of Gujarat and
the sand desert of Rajasthan.
It covers about 6.9 per cent
of the country’s landmass.

38
 4. Semi-arid Zone
4B-Gujrat- Rajputana 4A- Punjab plains
• The zone lies between the
desert and the Deccan
plateau, including the
Aravalli hills range. It
covers 15.6 per cent of the
country’s landmass.

39
 5. Western Ghats Zone
• The hill ranges and plains
running along the western
coastline, south of the Tapti
river, cover an extremely
diverse range of biotic
provinces and biomes. It is
extended on 5.8 per cent of
the country’s area.

5A-Malabar Plains

5B-W. Ghats Mountains

40
 6. Deccan Peninsula Zone
6 A- Central Highlands
• This is largest of the zones,
covering much of the
southern and south-central
plateau with predominantly
deciduous vegetation. About
42 per cent of the country’s
landmass is under this
province.
6 B- Chhota Nagpur

6 D- Deccan plateau
6 C- Eastern Highlands

41
 7. Gangetic Plain Zone
• This is defined by the 7A- Upper Ganga Plain
Ganga river system. These
plains are relatively
homogenous in surface
characteristics. It covers
about 11 per cent of the
country’s landmass.

7B- Lower Ganga Plain

42
 8. Coasts
• A large coastline distributed
both to the west and east, with
distinct differences between
the two; Lakshadweep islands
are included in this with the
percentage area being
negligible.

8 A- East Coast

8B-West Coast 43
8C-Lakshdweep
 9. North-east India
9A-Brhamputra valley
• The plains and non-
Himalayan hill ranges of
north-eastern India have
wide variation of vegetation.
This zone is one of the
highly diverse regions in
terms of species richness
and endemism covering
about 5.2 per cent of the 9B-NE Hills
country’s geographical area.

44
 10. Islands
• This includes Andaman and
Nicobar Islands in the Bay
of Bengal, with a highly
diverse set of biomes
comprising of 0.03 per cent
of the country’s landmass.

10 A- Andaman 45
 Types of Forests Found in India

• Champion (1936) recognized 13 major types of forest in India.

• Champion and Seth (1968) recognized 16 types of forest

46
The relative extents of different types of forests in India

47
 1. Tropical forest
A. Tropical moist forests.
(i) Tropical moist evergreen forests,
(ii) Tropical moist semi-evergreen
forests, and
(iii) Tropical moist deciduous
forests.
(iv) Littoral and swamp forests.

B. Tropical dry forests.

48
(i) Tropical moist evergreen
forests

• Also called tropical rain forests.

>250 cm average annual rainfall.
• These are climatic forests having
luxuriantly growing lofty trees
which are more than 45 meters in
height.
• The shrubs, lianas and epiphytes
are abundant.
• These forests are found in
Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
Western coasts and parts of
Karnataka (N. Canara), Annamalai
hills (Koorj), Assam and Bengal.

49
(ii) Tropical moist semi-
evergreen forests:

• Annual rainfall is between 200 and 250 cm.

• Characterised by giant and luxuriantly
growing intermixed deciduous and
evergreen species of trees and shrubs.
• The important plants in these forests are the
species of Terminalia, Bambusa, Ixora,
Dipterocarpus, Garcinia, Sterculia,
Mallotus, Calamus, Albizzia, Vitis, Shorea,
Cinnamomum, Bauhinia, Albizzia, etc.
• Orchids, ferns, some grasses and several
other herbs are also common.
• These forests are found along the western
coasts, eastern Orissa and upper Assam.

50
(iii) Tropical moist deciduous
forests

• Cover an extensive area of the country

receiving sufficiently high rainfall (100 to
200 cm).
• The forests of Southern India are
dominated by Teak, Terminalias, Dalbergia,
Lagerstroemia, Adina etc. In north, they are
dominated by Shorea robusta with
associates Terminalia tomentosa, Dellenia,
Eugenia, Boswellia and Mallotus
philippensis.
• Wet western side of the Deccan plateau, i.e.
Mumbai, N-E. Andhra, Gangetic plains and
in some Himalayan tracts extending from
Punjab in west to Assam valley in the east.
51
(iv) Littoral and Swamp Forests
1. Beach forests:
– All along the sea beaches and river
deltas.
– Sandy soil poor in N2 and other
mineral nutrients.
– Ground water is brackish, water table
is only a few mts. deep and rainfall
varies from 75 cm to 500 cm. The
temperature is moderate.
– The common plants of these forests are
Casuarina equisetifolia, Borassus,
Phoenix, Manilkara littoralis,
Callophyllum littoralis, Pandanus,
Thespesia, Barringtonia, Pongamia,
Cocos nucifera, and a number of
climbers.
52
2. Tidal forests or Mangrove
forests
– Tidal forests grow near the
estuaries or the deltas of rivers,
swampy margins of Islands and
along sea coasts.
– Soil formed of silt, silt-loam or
silt-clay and sand.
– The plants are typical halophytes
which are characterized by
presence of prop roots with well
developed knees for support and
pneumatophores and viviparous
germination of seeds.

53
3. Fresh water swamp
forests.
– These forests grow in low lying areas
where rain or swollen river water is
collected for some time.
– Water table is near the surface.
– Important plants include Salix
tetrasperma, Acer, Putranjiva,
Holoptelia, Cephalanthus,
Barringtonia, Olea, Phoebe, Ficus,
Murraya, Adhatoda, Canna and a
variety of grasses.

54
 B. Tropical dry forests

i. Tropical dry evergreen

forests,
ii. Tropical dry deciduous
forests, and
iii. Tropical thorn forests.

55
(i) Tropical dry evergreen
forests

• Rainfall is in plenty but dry season is

comparatively longer.
• The trees are dense, evergreen and short
(about 10 to 15 mts high).
• The common plant species are much the
same as in Tropical moist evergreen
forests. Species of Calotropis, Zizyphus,
Randia etc. Bamboos are absent but
grasses are common.
• These forests are found in eastern part of
Tamil Nadu, in east and west coasts.

56
(ii) Tropical dry deciduous forests
• Annual rainfall is usually low, ranging between 70
and 100 cm with long dry season.
• The forest not dense, 10 to 15 m in height, with
abundant undergrowth.
• In north, the forests are dominant sps. is Shorea
robusta with Terminalia, Semecarpus, Buchnania,
Carissa, Modhuca, Acacia, Sterculia, Launea,
Salmalia Adina, Bauhinia, Aegle, Grewia,
Phyllanthus, etc. and in south Tectona grandis with
Dalbergia, Terminalia, Dillenia, Acacia,
Pterospermum, Diospyros, Anogeissus, Boswellia,
Chloroxylon, Bauhinia, Hardwickia, Gymnosporia,
Zizyphus, Moringa, Dendrocalamus etc.
• Punjab, U.P., and Bihar, Orissa, M.P. and large part
of Indian peninsula.
• The largest area of the country’s forest land is
occupied by Tropical dry deciduous forests.
57
(iii) Tropical thorn scrubs
• Rainfall is between 20 to 70 cm, dry season is hot and
very long.
• The vegetation occurs only along the rivers. The land
away from the rivers and devoid of irrigation is
mostly sandy and devoid of trees.
• The vegetation is of open type consisting of small
trees (8 to 10 m high) and thorny or spiny shrubs of
stunted growth. The forests remain leafless for most
part of the year and are sometimes called thorn scrub
or scrub jungles.
• There is luxuriant growth of ephemeral herbs and
grasses during the rainy season. Towards the desert
region the vegetation diminishes and in arid parts
there is almost no vegetation.

The species of Acacia, Cassia, Calotropis, Randia, Albizzia, Zizyphus, Erythroxylon,

Euphorbia, Cordia, Prosopis. Salvadora, Aegle, Gymnosporia, Grewia, Asparagus,
Berberis, Butea, Capparis, Adhatoda, etc. characterise the plant formations of semiarid
regions of India.
• They are found in South Punjab, most of Rajasthan and part of Gujarat.
58
 II. Subtropical montane forests:
(i) Wet hill broad leaved forests,
(ii) Dry evergreen forests, and
(iii) Pine forests.

• Fairly high rainfall but where

temperature differences between
winter and summer are less
marked. Winter generally goes
without rains.
• Altitude of about 1500 mts in
south and up to 1800 mts in the
north.
• Composition almost intermediate between tropical forests and temperate forests
and a sharp demarcation can seldom be made between tropical and subtropical or
subtropical and temperate forests.
59
(i) Wet hill broad leaved
forests
• The important plants found in the wet hill forests
of south are the species of Eugenia, Randia,
Terminalia, Eleganus, Murraya, Atylosia, Ficus,
Pterocarpus etc. while those of the north are
Castonopsis, Calamus, Alnus, Quercus, Betula,
Schima phoebe, Cedrella, Garcinia, Populus etc.

• They are found in Mahabaleshwar, Coorg,

Karnataka, parts of Assam, Panchmarhi and
other parts of M.P.

60
(ii) Dry evergreen forests
• The common constituents of
vegetation are Acacia, Olea etc.

• They occupy the foot-hill areas of

Himalayas.

61
(iii) Pine forests:

• The forests are dominated by

species of Pinus (Pinus
khasiana and P. roxburghii).
Species of Myrica,
Rhododendron, Quercus,
Berberis, Carissa, Bauhinia
may also occur rarely in pine
forests.
• They are found mostly in
western and central Himalayas
and in Assam hills.

62
 III. Temperate Montane forests

• Himalayas at the altitude from

1800 to 3800 metres where
humidity and temperature are
comparatively low.

(i) Montane Wet temperate forest,

(ii) Himalayan Moist temperate
forest, and
(iii) Himalayan Dry temperate
forest

63
(i) Montane Wet temperate
forests:

• Dense forest may be 15 to 20 m high.

• Epiphytes are in abundance. Important
plants constituting the vegetation in
Eastern Himalayas are species of
conifers, Hopea, Balanocarpus,
Elaeocarpus, Artocarpus, Pterocarpus,
Myristica, Hardwickia, Salmelia,
Dioscoria. The members of family
Compositae, Rubiaceae, Acanthaceae
and Leguminosae form the undergrowth.
• These are found in Himalayas extending
from Nepal to Assam at the altitude from
1800 to 3000 m, as well as in some parts
of South India (Nilgiris- Evergreen
Sholas). 64
(ii) Himalayan Moist temperate
forests

• The trees are high, sometimes

up to 45 mts tall.
• The dominant elements of
vegetation are oak and
conifers. Undergrowth is
shrubby and consists of
deciduous species of Barberis,
Spiraea, Cotaneaster, etc.

65
(iii) Himalayan Dry temperate
forests

• These forests dominated by

Rhododendrons, oaks and conifers
from a narrow belt at the altitude from
3000 to 4000 m in the western
Himalayas extending from a part of
Uttarakhand through Himachal
Pradesh and Punjab to Kashmir.
• The other commonly found species
belong to genera Daphne, Desmodium,
Indigofera, Artemisia, Cannabis,
Plectranthus, Fraxinus, several
epiphytic mosses, Lichens, etc.

66
 IV. Sub-alpine Forests

• The sub-alpine forests are found

throughout Himalayas from Ladakh
in the west to Arunachal in the east
at the altitude from 2800 m to 3800
m.
• Annual rainfall is less than 65 cm.
but snowfall occurs for several
weeks in a year. Strong winds and
below 0°C temperature prevail for
greater part of the year.
• Trees are like those of temperate
zone. Epiphytic mosses and lichens
are in abundance.
67
 V. Alpine forests
Alpine forests:
– In India, alpine flora occurs in
Himalayas between 4500 and 6000
meters. At lower level, alpine
forests consist of dwarf trees with
or without conifers and at higher
level scrubs and only scattered
xerophytic shrubs are left to merge
with alpine meadows.
– The common plants of alpine
forests are Abies, Pinus, Juniperus,
Betula, shrubby Rhododendrons,
Quercus, Pyrus, Salix etc.

68
(a) Moist Alpine scrubs:
– This type of vegetation is distributed
extensively throughout the Himalayas
above 3000 metres.
– It is most often dense and composed of
evergreen dwarf Rhododendron species,
some birch and other deciduous trees.
Mosses and ferns cover the ground with
varying amounts of alpine shrubs & herbs.
– Alpine pastures include mostly mesophytic
herbs with very little grasses.
(b) Dry Alpine scrubs:
– These are open xerophytic formations
spread in U.K., Himachal Pradesh, Punjab
and Kashmir.
– Species belonging to Artemisia, Potentilla,
Juniperus predominate in the vegetation
which develops generally on lime stone
rock.
69