NCERT 9 GEOGRAPHY CHAPTER 5

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5. NATURAL VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE


  • India - one among the 12 mega biodiversity countries in the world
  • Plant diversity - 47,000 plant species, tenth place in the World and fourth place in Asia
  • 15,000 flowering plants which accounts 6 % in the world
  • Natural vegetation (virgin vegetation) - Plants which has grown naturally without human aid and left undisturbed
  • Cultivated crops, fruits, orchards are vegetation not natural vegetation
  • Endemic  or Indigenous species - virgin vegetation which are purely Indian, Exotic plants - from outside India
  • Flora - Plants, Fauna - Animals
  • Forests - Renewable resource, enhancing environment quality, modify local climate, control soil erosion, provide livelihood
  • Indian state of Forest Report 2011, the forest cover - 21.05%
   FACTORS :
     RELIEF
     1.LAND 
        - The nature of land influences the type of vegetation; fertile land(agriculture), undulating and rough terrains (grassland and woodlands develop)

    2. SOIL
       - sandy soil(cactus and thorny bushes), wet, marshy, deltaic soils(mangrove and deltaic vegetation), hill slopes(conical trees)

     CLIMATE
    1.TEMPERATURE
        Himalayan slopes and the peninsular hills - temperature falls, alpine vegetation
    
    2. PHOTOPERIOD
         due to variation in the duration of sunlight, trees grow faster in summer

    3. PRECIPITATION
         the entire rainfall( southwest monsoon and retreating northeast monsoon), areas with rainfall (dense vegetation)
    
  TYPES OF VEGETATION

1.TROPICAL EVERGREEN FORESTS
  • mostly in heavy rainfall areas (> 200 cm) of Western Ghats, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar, upper parts of Assam and Tamil Nadu coast
  • appear as evergreen (different trees shed leaves at different times) short dry season
  • height of trees - 60m 
  • Important trees - Ebony, Mahogany, Rosewood, Rubber, Cinchona
  • Animals - Elephant, monkey, lemur, deer, one -horned rhinoceroses (Assam and West Bengal), plenty of birds, bats, sloth, scorpions and snails
   2. TROPICAL DECIDUOUS FORESTS
  • most widespread forests, monsoon forests
  • shed leaves in 6 to 8 weeks in dry summer
  • Types - moist and dry deciduous forests
     MOIST DECIDUOUS FORESTS
  • in areas of rainfall (between 200 and 100 cm) of northeast states, the Himalayan foothills, Jharkhand, West Odisha and Chhattisgarh and in eastern slopes of Western Ghats
  • Important trees - Teak, bamboos, sal, shisham, sandalwood, khair, kusum, arjun and mulberry
     DRY DECIDUOUS FORESTS
  • areas with rainfall (between 100 and 70 cm) in rainier parts of the peninsular plateau, plains of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh 
  • Trees - teak, sal, peepal and neem
  • Animals - lion, tiger, pig, deer, elephant, birds, lizards, snakes and tortoises
  3.THE THORN FORESTS AND SCRUBS
  • areas of rainfall (70 cm) north-western areas in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana
  • Plant species - Acacia, palms, euphorbias and cacti
  • Modification - trees have long roots(retain moisture), stems succulent (conserve water), leaves - thick and small (minimise evaporation)
  • Animals - rats, mice, rabbits, fox, wolf, tiger, lion, wild ass, horses, camels
    4. MONTANE FORESTS
  • heights of 1000 and 2000 m - oaks and chestnuts
  • between 1500 and 3000 m - coniferous trees like pine, deodar, silver fir, spruce and cedar
  • At 3600 m, Alpine vegetation - silver fir, junipers, pines and birches
  • Alpine grasslands used for grazing by tribes (the Gujjaris and Bakarwals)
  • Tundra vegetation - mosses and lichens
  • Animals - Kashmir stag, spotted dear, wild sheep, jack rabbit, Tibetan antelope, yak, snow leopard, squirrels, shaggy horn wild ibex, bear and rare red panda, thick haired sheep and goats
    5.MANGROVE FORESTS
  • Mangrove tidal forests (roots of plants submerged under water) - in deltas of the Ganga, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri
  • In Ganga- Brahmaputra delta, durable hard timber - sundari trees ; other plants - palm, coconut, keora, agar
  • Animal - Royal Bengal Tiger (famous animal), turtle, crocodiles, gharial and snakes
    WILDLIFE
  • 90,000 animal species, 2000 bird species(13% of world's total)
  • 2546 fish species(12% of world's stock)
  • Amphibians, reptiles and mammals (5 and 8%)
  • India - the only country which has both lion and tiger
  • Elephants - majestic animals, in hot wet forests of Assam, Karnataka and Kerala
  • One-horned rhinoceroses - swampy and marshy lands of Assam and West Bengal
  • Wild ass and Camels - arid areas of Rann of Kachchh and the Thar desert
  • Indian lion - Gir forest in Gujarat (remains the last habitat for Asiatic lion)
  • Tigers - forests of Madhya Pradesh, the Sunderbans, the Himalayan regions, leopards(cat family)
  • Other animals - Indian Bison, nilgai(blue bull), chousingha (four- horned antelope), gazel, deer and monkeys.. In rivers and lakes, turtles, crocodiles and gharials found
  • Animals survive in extreme cold - Yak(the shaggy horned wild ox), the Tibetan antelope, the bharal (blue sheep), and the Kiang (Tibetan wild ass), the ibex, bear, snow-leopard and rare red panda
  • Birds - peacock, pheasants, ducks, parakeets, cranes and pigeons
  • Migratory Birds - Siberian Crane, Flamingo
  CONSERVATION OF FLORA AND FAUNA
  • 1300 plant species are endangered and 20 species extinct 
  • The World Conservation Union's Red list named 352 medicinal plants (52 critically threatened and 49 endangered)
  • Wildlife Protection Act - implemented in 1972 in India
  • 18 biosphere reserves set up
  • 10 of these were in world network of biosphere reserves( the Sundarbans, Nanda Devi, the Gulf of Mannar, the Nilgiri, Nokrek, Great Nicobar, Manas, Simlipal, Pachmarhi and Achanakmar- Amarkantak)
  • Government started to provide financial and technical assistance to botanical gardens since 1992 ; Kachchh, Cold Desert, Seshachalam, Panna
  • Project Tiger, Project Rhino, Project Great Indian Bustard and many eco- developmental projects introduced
  • 103 National Parks, 535 Wildlife Sanctuaries and Zoological gardens set up
     WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES
  • Mudumalai, Periyar, Pocharam, Kawal, Eturnagaram, Chandaka Dampara, Chandra Prabha, Mahanadi and Sariska
     BIRD SANCTUARIES
  • Vedanthangal and Ranganathittu
     NATIONAL PARKS
  • Guindy, Bandipur, Sanjay Gandhi, Gir, Taboda, Kanha, Simlipal, Shivpuri, Rajgir, Ranthambhor, Keoladeo Ghana, Dudhwa, Corbett, Rajaji, Dachigam, Gorumara, Manas and Kaziranga
     

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