NATURAL VEGETATION:
Natural vegetation refers to a plant community which has grown naturally without human aid. They have been left undisturbed by humans for a long time. We call this virgin vegetation. Thus, cultivated crops and fruits, orchards form part of vegetation but not natural vegetation. Now, we will look at some of the factors that impact the vegetation in our country.The growth of vegetation depends on temperature and moisture. It also depends on factors like slope and thickness of soil. It is categorized into three broad categories: Forest, grassland and shrubs.
- Different types of forests in India :-
■ tropical evergreen forest:these forests are found on the western slopes of western Ghats, parts of north east India, Andaman and nicobar islands, and lakshwdeep. In these regions, ther is humidity throughout the year and annual rainfall is more than 200cm . Important species are rose wood,mahogany, aini,ebony,etc. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as coniferous and holly in cold climates,eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias and banksia in more temperate zones, and rainforest trees in tropical zones.
■ semi– evergreen forest: these forests are found in the less rainy areas of Evergreen forest. These forests have mixture of Evergreen and deciduous trees. The undergrowth provide and evergreen character to these forests . Species are white cedar, ,hollock, and kail.
A distinct formation type, dominated by both evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved trees, flanking the rain forest in areas that have a marked dry season. Examples are found on all the continents with tropical territory, but are especially extensive in central and S. America, south-eastern Asia, and northern Australia. In Africa, savannah and related types of vegetation seem to have replaced much of this kind of forest.
■ tropical deciduous forests: this forests are the most widespread forest in India. They are also called tropical monsoon forest and grow in regions with annual rainfall between 50 and 200 CM. Teak,sal,shisham,hurra,mahua, amla,semul, kusum,and sandalwood are the common tree varieties of moist deciduous forests, whereas,tendu , palas,amaltas,bel,khair, axlewood are the common tree varieties of dry deciduous forests.
They are the monsoon forests found in the large part of India- Eastern Slopes of the Western Ghats, the Tarai regions of the Himalayas, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh.
Tigers, lions, elephants, langoors and monkeys are the common animals of these regions.
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■ Tropical thorn forest:
The Thorn Forests are found in those states in our country where the average annual rainfall is too less or scanty. The semi-arid regions of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana & the dry parts of the Deccan plateau are very much suitable for the thorn forests to thrive well and even sustain themselves for a longer time-period. These forests exist in regions receiving less than 50 rainfall.these include semi arid and arid region of Rajasthan ,Northern Gujarat, and South western punjab.important species found are babool ,ber, wild date palm,khair,neem,khejri, and palas.
■ Montane forest :
montane forest A forest in the montane zone of tropical and middle latitudes. Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affect the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. Dense montane forests are common at moderate elevations, due to moderate temperatures and high rainfall.these forests represent different bio-geographical zones based on latitude and altitude of Mountains.in India, these forests are classified into the following types:
• northern montane forests :
These forest have vegetation ranging from tropical to polar type depending on altitude. The vegetation ranges from deciduous forests at the foothills, coniferous in the middle altitudes, alpine meadows at even higher altitudes ,and polar type of vegetation at the peaks.
• southern montane forests:
These forests are located within tropical regions and their altitudes is less in comparison to the Himalayas. As a result, the vegetation in these forests ranges from deciduous forests or rainforests at the foothills to coniferous forests at the peak.
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■ Mangroves:
A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S.
Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to life in harsh coastal conditions. They contain a complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion and wave action. They are adapted to the low oxygen conditions of waterlogged mud.
The mangrove biome, or mangal, is a distinct saline woodland or shrubland habitat characterized by depositional coastal environments, where fine sediments collect in areas protected from high-energy wave action. India possess nearlyqq 7% of the world’s mangrove forests. Mangroves are considered important because they protect the coastline from incoming oceans waves and provide safe shelter to species living in that area.
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2 .FORESTS IN INDIA.
Forestry in India is a significant rural industry and a major environmental resource. India is one of the ten most forest-rich countries of the world. Together, India and these other 9 countries account for 67 percent of total forest area of the world.India’s forest cover grew at 0.20% annually over 1990–2000, and has grown at the rate of 0.7% per year over 2000–2010,after decades where forest degradation was a matter of serious concern.
As of 2010, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates India’s forest cover to be about 68 million hectares, or 22% of the country’s areaThe 2013 Forest Survey of India states its forest cover increased to 69.8 million hectares by 2012, per satellite measurements; this represents an increase of 5,871 square kilometers of forest cover in 2 years. However, the gains were primarily in northern, central and southern Indian states, while northeastern states witnessed a net loss in forest cover over 2010 to 2012. In 2018, the total forest and tree cover in India increased to 24.39% or 8,02,088 km2.It increased further to 24.56 percent or 807,276 square kilometres in 2019. For ecological balance ,the forests cover should be more than one -third of the total land area .only 15 states of India fulfil this criteria. In 1988,a new forests policy was launched to bring 33% of the total area of India under forest ,cover 80% of area under hills and 20% of area under plains.
🔸️ Difference between forest cover and forest area:
Forest area:
The term ‘Forest Area’ generally refers to all the geographic areas recorded as forest
in government records. Recorded forest areas largely
comprises Reserved Forests and Protected Forests
which have been constituted under the provisions of Indian
Forest Act, 1927.the area recorded as forest in the government records is called a forest area or recorded forest area. the recorded forest area denotes the legal status of the land.
Forest cover:
It would be, therefore, quite useful if the area of forest
cover within and outside recorded forest area is known. This
will not only facilitate policy, planning and management of
forest areas by the State Forest Departments but also benefit
other agencies of Government, NGOs, private landowners and
village communities in tree planting efforts.
Mapping of forest cover within and outside the forest
areas can be done only if the geo-coded boundaries of the
recorded forests are available at an appropriate scale. There is no proper account of forest cover outside
recorded forest area. Since the SFDs are the custodians of the
details of the recorded forest areas, so if the boundaries of
such areas are made available, then the forest cover within
and outside the recorded forests can be determined.
▪︎ the mangrove cover in India has increased following acute conservation in the Sundarbans and bhitarkanika forest.
▪︎ although the total forest cover has seen an increase, around 2510km² of very dense and mid-dense forests have been wiped out since 2013.
▪︎ among all the states and union territories ,mizoram has the highest forest cover in terms of percentage with 88.93%of the total area, followed by lakshwdeep.
▪︎the top five states/unions territories with the maximum forest cover in percentage of their geographical areas are as follows: mizoram (88.93%)>lakshwdeep (84.56%) >andaman and nicobar islands (81.84%)>arunachal pradesh (80.30%)>nagaland(78.21%).
▪︎ the top five states with maximum forest cover are as follows:
▪︎ madhya pradesh >arunachal pradesh>chattisgarh>maharashtra>odhisa.
