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Natural Vegetation and Wildlife NATURAL VEGETATION AND ANIMAL LIFE Natural vegetation and animal life depend on climate, relief and soil. The diversity of India s climate and relief have made natural vegetation and animal life interdependent on each other and they form a single ecosystem. This ecosystem has evolved through thousands of years. Indiscriminate meddling with this ecosystem causes harmful effects. Natural vegetation and animal life are also called flora and fauna respectively. NATURAL VEGETATION India has a wide variety of natural vegetation ranging from tropical evergreen forests to desert vegetation. The natural vegetation of India can be divided into six main types. They are : 1) Tropical evergreen forests, 2) Tropical deciduous forests or Monsoon forests, 3)Tropical thorn and shrub forests, 4) Desert vegetation, 5) Mangrove forests and 6)Himalayan vegetation. 1) Tropical evergreen forests: This type of vegetation is found in areas where rainfall is above 250 cms and temperature ranges between 250C and 270C. Since the trees are always green they are called evergreen forests. The heavy rainfall, high temperature and humidity are responsible for the growth of these dense forests. The trees grow about 60 mts. high. The branches of trees form a canopy and prevent the sun's rays from reaching the ground. In India, most of these forests are found on the western side of the Western Ghats,in the NorthEastern hills and the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The semievergreen forests are found in the lower rainfall areas of the Western Ghats, Orissa and West Bengal. Ebony, mahogany, rose-wood and rubber are the important trees. Bamboo bushes are also found. 2) Tropical deciduous forests: These forests are also called monsoon forests. They cover a greater part of India. They are found in regions where the rainfall is between 75cms. and 250 cms. These forests are found on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, Jammu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand. In these forests, the trees are fewer and shorter. Bamboos and canes are also grown here. The trees shed their leaves at the beginning of summer. The important trees of these forests are teak, sal and sandal-wood. They have great commercial value. The deciduous forests of Karnataka have sandal-wood trees. Wherever these forests are cut down or burnt, bushes and
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