Natural

NaturalVegetation
Vegetation ininIndia
India

Natural Vegetation includes that part of the plant life

which grows in the wild without human aid and
adapts to the constraints of the natural environment
in size, structure, and requirements.
- The main climatic factors are rainfall and temperature.

- Climate, soil and topography are the major factors that

influence Natural vegetation of a place.

- As the temperature falls with altitude in the Himalayan region

the vegetal cover changes with altitude from tropical to sub-
tropical, temperate and finally alpine.

- Soil is an equally determining factor in few regions. Mangrove

forests, swamp forests are some of the examples where soil
is the major factor

- Topography is responsible for certain minor types e.g., alpine

flora, tidal forests, etc
Annual Rainfall Type of Vegetation

200 cm or more Evergreen rain forests

100 to 200cm Monsoon deciduous forests

50 to 100cm Drier deciduous or tropical Savanna

25 to 50cm Dry thorny Scrub(Semi-arid)

Below 25cm Desert (Arid)

 Classification of Natural Vegetation in India
India’s vegetation can be divided into 5 main types and 16 sub-
types

Moist Tropical Forest

Tropical Wet Evergreen
Tropical Semi-Evergreen Montane Temperate Forests
Tropical moist deciduous Montane Wet Temperate
Littoral and swamp Himalayan Moist Temperate
Himalayan Dry Temperate
Dry Tropical Forest
Tropical Dry Evergreen Alpine Forests
Tropical Dry Deciduous Sub-Alpine
Tropical Thorn Moist Alpine
Dry Alpine Scrub
Montane Sub-Tropical Forests
Sub-tropical broad leaved hill
Sub-tropical moist hill (pine)
Sub-tropical dry evergreen
 MOIST TROPICAL FORESTS

Tropical Wet Evergreen Forests or Rain Forests

Climatic Conditions
Annual rainfall exceeds 250 cm
The annual temperature is about 25°- 27°C
The average annual humidity exceeds 77 per cent and
The dry season is distinctly short.

Characteristics

Evergreen: Due to high heat and high humidity, the trees of these forests do not
shed their leaves together.

Mesosphytic: Plants adapted to neither too dry nor too wet type climate.

Lofty: The trees often reach 45 – 60 metres in height.

Thick Canopy: From the air, the tropical rain forest appears like a thick canopy of
foliage, broken only where it is crossed by large rivers or cleared for cultivation.
 -The wood of these trees is sturdy and heavy to work with.
-All plants struggle upwards (most ephiphytes) for sunlight resulting in a
peculiar layer arrangement. The entire morphology looks like a green carpet when
viewed from above.
Less undergrowth: The sun light cannot reach the ground due to thick
canopy. The undergrowth is formed mainly of bamboos, ferns, climbers,
orchids, etc. Grasses are almost absent.
Mahogany, cinchona, bamboos, and palms are typical species of plants found
in these forests.

Distribution

-Western side of the Western Ghats (500 to 1370 metres above sea level).
-Some regions in the Purvanchal hills.
-In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
 Tropical Semi-Evergreen (Transitional Forests)
They are transitional forests between tropical wet evergreen forests and tropical
deciduous forests.
They are comparatively drier areas compared to tropical wet evergreen forests.

Climatic Conditions
Annual rainfall is 200-250 cm
Mean annual temperature varies from 24°C to 27°C
The relative humidity is about 75 per cent
The dry season is not short like in tropical evergreen forests.

Distribution
Western coast
Assam
Lower slopes of the Eastern Himalayas
Odisha and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Characteristics
The semi-evergreen forests are less dense.
They are more gregarious [living in flocks or colonies – more pure stands] than the wet
evergreen forests.
These forests are characterized by many species.
Trees usually have buttressed trunks with abundant epiphytes.
The important species are laurel, rosewood, mesua, thorny bamboo – Western Ghats,
 Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests

Climatic Conditions
-Annual rainfall 100 to 200 cm.
-Mean annual temperature of about 27°C
-The average annual relative humidity of 60 to 75 per cent.
-Spring (between winter and summer) and summer are dry.
-As with all kinds of forests, these forests are also suffering from deforestation for
timber, mining, agriculture, etc.

Characteristics
-The trees drop their leaves during the spring and early summer when sufficient
moisture is not available.
-The general appearance is bare in extreme summers (April-May).
-Tropical moist deciduous forests present irregular top storey [25 to 60 m].
-Heavily buttressed trees and fairly complete undergrowth.
-These forests occupy a much larger area than the evergreen forests but large tracts
under these forests have been cleared for cultivation.
Distribution

-Belt running along the Western Ghats surrounding the belt of evergreen forests.
-A strip along the Shiwalik range including terai and bhabar from 77° E to 88° E.
-Manipur and Mizoram.
-Hills of eastern Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
-Chota Nagpur Plateau.
-Most of Odisha.
- Parts of West Bengal and
-Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Timber
-These provide valuable timber like Teak.
-The main species found in these forests are teak, sal, Laurel, rosewood, amla,
jamun, bamboo, etc.
-It is comparatively easy to exploit these forests due to their high degree of
gregariousness (more pure stands).
 Littoral and Swamp Forests

-They can survive and grow both in fresh as well as brackish water (The mixture of
seawater and fresh water in estuaries is called brackish water and its salinity can range
from 0.5 to 35 PPT)

-Occur in and around the deltas, estuaries and creeks prone to tidal influences (delta or
tidal forests).

-Littoral (relating to or on the shore of the sea or a lake) forests occur at several places
along the coast.

-Swamp forests are confined to the deltas of the Ganga, the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the
Krishna and the Cauvery.

-Dense mangroves occur all along the coastline in sheltered estuaries, tidal creeks,
backwaters, salt marshes and mudflats. It provides useful fuel wood.
-Sundari is the typical tree of tidal forests found in Sundarbans. Some other varieties are,
Bhendi, Keora, Nipa, etc.
 DRY TROPICAL FORESTS

Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests

Distribution
Along the coasts of Tamil Nadu.

Climatic Conditions
-Annual rainfall of 100 cm [mostly from the north-east monsoon winds in October –
December].
-Mean annual temperature is about 28°C.
-The mean humidity is about 75 per cent.
-The growth of evergreen forests in areas of such low rainfall is a bit strange.

Characteristics
-Short statured trees, up to 12 m high, with complete canopy
-Bamboos and grasses not conspicuous.
-The important species are jamun, tamarind, neem, etc.
-Most of the land under these forests has been cleared for agriculture or
casuarina plantations.
Tropical Dry Deciduous

Climatic Conditions: Annual rainfall is 100-150 cm.

Characteristics
-These are similar to moist deciduous forests and shed their leaves in dry season.
-The major difference is that they can grow in areas of comparatively less rainfall.
-They represent a transitional type – moist deciduous on the wetter side and thorn forests on the
drier side.
-They have closed but uneven canopy.
-The forests are composed of a mixture of a few species of deciduous trees rising up to a height of
20 metres.

Distribution
-They occur in an irregular wide strip running from the foot of the Himalayas to
Kanyakumari except in Rajasthan, Western Ghats and West Bengal.
-The important species are teak, axlewood, rosewood, common bamboo, red sanders,
laurel, satinwood, hurra, mahua etc.
-Large tracts of this forest have been cleared for agricultural purposes.
-These forests have suffer from over grazing, fire, etc.
 Tropical Thorn Forests

Climatic Conditions
-Annual rainfall less than 75 cm.
-Humidity is less than 50 per cent.
-Mean temperature is 25°-30°C.

Characteristics
-The trees are low (6 to 10 metres maximum) and widely scattered.
-Acacias and Euphorbias are very prominent.
-The Indian wild date is common. Some grasses also grow in the rainy season.

Distribution
-Rajasthan, south-western Punjab, western Haryana, Kachchh and neighboring
parts of Saurashtra.
-Here they degenerate into desert type in the Thar Desert.
-Such forests also grow on the leeside of the Western Ghats covering large areas of
-Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
-The important species are neem, babul, cactii, khair, pipal, etc.
 MONTANE SUB-TROPICAL FORESTS

Sub-Tropical Broad Leaved Hill

Climatic conditions
Mean annual rainfall is 75 cm to 125 cm.
Average annual temperature is 18°-21°C.
Humidity is 80 per cent.

Distribution
Eastern Himalayas to the east of 88°E longitude at altitudes varying from 1000 to
2000m.
Western Ghats such as Mahabaleshwar, the summits of Satpura and the Maikal
range, highlands of Bastar and Mt. Abu in the Aravalli range
 Sub-Tropical Moist Hill (Pine)

Climatic Conditions
-Mean annual rainfall is 75 cm to 125 cm.
-Average annual temperature is 18°-21°C.
-Humidity is 80 per cent

Distribution
- Western Himalayas between 73°E and 88°E longitudes at elevations between
1000 to 2000 metres above sea level.
-Some hilly regions of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Naga Hills and Khasi Hills.

Characteristics
-Chir or Chil is the most dominant tree which forms pure stands.
-It provides valuable timber for furniture, boxes and buildings.
-It is also used for producing resin and turpentine
 Sub-Tropical Dry Evergreen

Distribution: Found in the Bhabar, the Shiwaliks and the western Himalayas up to about
1000 metres above sea level.

Climatic Conditions
Annual rainfall is 50-100 cm (15 to 25 cm in December-March).
The summers are sufficiently hot and winters are very cold.

Characteristics
Low scrub forest with small evergreen stunted trees and shrubs.
Olive, acacia modesta and pistacia are the most predominant species
 MONTANE TEMPERATE FORESTS

Montane Wet Temperate Forests

Climatic Conditions
-Grows at a height of 1800 to 3000 m above sea level
-Mean annual rainfall is 150 cm to 300 cm
-Mean annual temperature is about 11°C to 14°C and the
-Average relative humidity is over 80 per cent.

Distribution: Higher hills of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, in the Eastern Himalayan
region

Characteristics
-These are closed evergreen forests. Trunks have large girth.
-Branches are clothed with mosses, ferns and other epiphytes.
Himalayan Dry Temperate

Climatic Conditions: Precipitation is below 100 cm and is mostly in the form of snow.

Characteristics:
-Coniferous forests with Xerophytic shrubs in which deodar, oak, ash, olive, etc
are the main trees.

-Other important varieties are chiigoza, ash, maple, mulberry, willow, celtis, etc.

Distribution
-Such forests are found in the inner dry ranges of the Himalayas where south- west
monsoon is very feeble.
-Such areas are in Ladakh, Lahul, Chamba, Kinnaur, Garhwal and Sikkim.
Himalayan Moist Temperate

Climatic Conditions: Annual rainfall varies from 150 cm to 250 cm

Distribution
Occurs in the temperate zone of the Himalayas between 1500 and 3300 metres.

Characteristics
-Mainly composed of coniferous species.
-These are very thick forests of lofty trees.
-Species occur in mostly pure strands.
-Trees are 30 to 50 m high.
-Pines, cedars, silver firs, spruce, etc. are most important trees.
-They form high but fairly open forest with shrubby undergrowth
ALPINE FORESTS

Sub-Alpine

-Occur as lower alpine scrub and grasslands.

-It is a mixture of coniferous and broad-leaved trees in which the
coniferous trees attain a height of about 30 m while the broad-leaved
trees reach only 10 m.
-Fir, spruce, rhododendron etc.
 Moist Alpine Scrub
-Is a low evergreen dense growth of rhododendron, birch.
-Occurs from 3,000 metres and extends up to snowline.
-Bugyals are alpine grasslands found in areas of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh,
and Jammu and Kashmir. Tribes like "Gaddis" uses these grasslands to practice
transhumance.

Dry Alpine Scrub

Is the uppermost limit of scrub xerophytic, dwarf shrubs, over 3,500 metres
above sea level and found in the dry zone. Juniper, Honeysuckle, Artemisia etc.