- Books Name
- Learn with me Social Science Book
- Publication
- Learn with me publication
- Course
- CBSE Class 9
- Subject
- Social Science
Types of Vegetation
- The major types of vegetation in India are Tropical Rainforests, Tropical Deciduous Forests, Tropical Thorn Forests and Scrubs, Montane Forests and Mangrove Forests.
- With warm and wet climate all year round the Tropical Rainforests have luxurious trees, shrubs and creepers. The rainfall is more than 200 cm.
- The are restricted to heavy rainfall areas of the Western Ghats and Island groups, upper parts of Assam and Tamilnadu.
- A large variety of animals are found in the rainforests.
- The most widespread forests of India — the Tropical Deciduous Forests — are also known as the Monsoon Forests. Rainfall ranges between 200 to 70 cm.
- On the basis of the availability of water, these forests are further divided into moist and dry deciduous forests.
- These are spread across northeastern states, foothills of Himalayas, Jharkhand, West Orissa, and Chhattisgarh and eastern slopes of Western Ghats.
- Lions, tiger, pig, deer elephant, variety of birds, reptiles are found here.
- The leaves of vegetation in Thorn Forests and Scrubs are mostly thick and small to minimize evaporation and have succulent stems to conserve water. Rainfall is less than 70 cm.
- These forests are found in Northwestern part of the country and semi-arid areas of Gujrat, Rajasthan, M.P. Chhattisgarh, U.P., and Haryana.
- Common animals found are rats, mice, rabbits, fox, wolf, tiger, lion etc.
- Montane forests have a succession of natural vegetation belts in the same order as we see from the tropical to the Tundra region.
- Wet temperate forests are found between a height of 1000 and 2000 meters while temperate grasslands are found at higher elevations above 3600 meters and give way to alpine vegetation.
- At 3600 meters above sea level, temperate forests and grasslands give way to alpine vegetation.
- The mangrove tidal forests are found in the areas of coasts influenced by tides.
- Dense mangroves are the common varieties with roots of the plants submerged underwater.
- Delta regions of major rivers have such vegetation.
- Royal Bengal Tiger is famous animal of these forests.
- India has more than 1200 species of birds, 2500 species of fish and between 5 to 8 percent of the world’s amphibians, reptiles, and mammals.
- India is the only country in the world that has both tigers and lions.
- The Himalayas have a large range of animals that survive the bitter cold.
- Every species of animal has a role to play in the ecosystem; hence conservation is essential.
- Hunting and pollution is causing threat to animal species.
- To protect the flora and fauna of the country, the government has taken many steps.
- Fourteen biosphere reserves have been set up in the country to protect flora and fauna.
- 89 National Parks, 49 Wildlife Sanctuaries and Biosphere Reserves have been set up to take care of natural heritage