Tropical Evergreen and Semi Evergreen Forests

• Western slope of the Western Ghats, hills of the north- eastern region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
• Warm and humid areas
• Annual precipitation of over 200 cm
• Mean annual temperature above 22º C
• Well stratified, with layers closer to the ground and are covered with shrubs and creepers, with short structured trees followed by tall variety of trees.
• No definite time for trees to shed their leaves, flowering and fruition.
• Species- mahogony, aini, ebony, etc

The semi evergreen

• Found in the less rainy parts of these regions.
• Mixture of evergreen and moist deciduous trees.
• The under growing climbers provide an evergreen character to these forests.
• Species- white cedar, hollock and kail
• The British were aware of the economic value of the forests in India; hence, large scale exploitation of these forests was started.
• The structure of forests was also changed.
• The oak forests in Garhwal and Kumaon were replaced by pine (chirs) which was needed to lay railway lines.
• Forests were also cleared for introducing plantations of tea, rubber and coffee.
• The British also used timber for construction activities as it acts as an insulator of heat.
• The protectional use of forests was, thus, replaced, thus, replaced by commercial use.

Tropical Deciduous Forests

• Most widespread forests in India
• Also called the monsoon forests.
• Spread over regions which receive rainfall between 70-200 cm
• On the basis of the availability of water, these forests are further divided into moist and dry deciduous

The Moist deciduous

• Rainfall between 100-200 cm
• North- eastern states along the foothills of Himalayas, eastern slopes of the Western Ghats and Odisha
• Species- Teak, sal, shisham, hurra, mahua, amla, semul, kusum, and sandalwood etc.

Dry deciduous forest–

• Rainfall ranges between 70 -100 cm.
• Found in rainier areas of the Peninsula and the plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
• The dry season begins, the trees shed their leaves completely and the forest appears like a vast grassland with naked trees all around.
• Species- Tendu, palas, amaltas, bel, khair, axlewood, etc.

Tropical Thorn Forests

• Rainfall less than 50 cm
• Variety of grasses and shrubs
• Semi-arid areas of south west Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
• Plants remain leafless for most part of the year and give an expression of scrub vegetation
• Babool, ber, and wild date palm, khair, neem, khejri, palas, etc.
• Tussocky grass grows upto a height of 2 m as the under growth

Montane Forests

• In mountainous areas, the decrease in temperature with increasing altitude leads to a corresponding change in natural vegetation.
• Can be classified into two types, the northern mountain forests and the southern mountain forests
• The Himalayan ranges show a succession of vegetation from the tropical to the tundra, which change in with the altitude.
• Deciduous forests are found in the foothills of the Himalayas

The southern mountain forests-

• 3 distinct areas of Peninsular India viz; the Western Ghats, the Vindhyas and the Nilgiris.
• As they are closer to the tropics, and only 1,500 m above the sea level, vegetation is temperate in the higher regions and subtropical on the lower regions of the Western Ghats, especially in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
• The temperate forests are called Sholas in the Nilgiris, Anaimalai and Palani hills.
• Species- magnolia, laurel, cinchona and wattle.
• Also found in the Satpura and the Maikal ranges

Littoral and Swamp Forests

• About 70 % of this comprises areas under paddy cultivation.
• 2 sites — Chilika Lake (Odisha) and Keoladeo National Park (Bharatpur) are protected as water-fowl habitats under the Convention of Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention).

The country‘s wetlands have been grouped into eight categories, viz.

• The reservoirs of the Deccan Plateau in the south together with the lagoons and other wetlands of The southern west coast;
• The vast saline expanses of Rajasthan, Gujarat and the Gulf of Kachchh
• freshwater lakes and reservoirs from Gujarat eastwards through Rajasthan (Keoladeo National Park) and Madhya Pradesh;
• The delta wetlands and lagoons of India‘s east coast (Chilika Lake);
• The freshwater marshes of the Gangetic Plain;
• The floodplains of the Brahmaputra; the marshes and swamps in the hills of northeast India and the Himalayan foothills;
• The lakes and rivers of the montane region of Kashmir and Ladakh; and
• The mangrove forest and other wetlands of the island arcs of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Mangroves grow along the coasts in the salt marshes, tidal creeks, mud flats and estuaries