· Our country India is one of the 12 mega bio-diversity countries of the world.

· With about 47,000 plant species India occupies tenth place in the world and fourth in Asia in
plant diversity.

· There are about 15,000 flowering plants in India, which account for 6 per cent in the world’s
total number of flowering plants.

· The country has many nonflowering plants, such as ferns, algae and fungi.

· India also has approximately 90,000 species of animals, as well as, a rich variety of fish in its
fresh and marine waters.

· Natural vegetation refers to a plant community, which has grown naturally without human aid
and has been left undisturbed by humans for a long time. This is termed as a virgin vegetation.
Thus,cultivated crops and fruits, orchards form part

· of vegetation but not natural vegetation.

· The virgin vegetation, which are purely Indian are known as endemic or indigenous species but
those which have come from outside India are termed as exotic plants.

· The term flora is used to denote plants of a particular region or period. Similarly, the species of
animals are referred to as fauna.

· This huge diversity in flora and fauna kingdom is due to the following factors.

· NATURAL VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE

RELIEF

· Land

Land affects the natural vegetation directly and indirectly. The nature of land influences the
type of vegetation. The fertile level is generally devoted to agriculture. The undulating and rough
terrains are areas where grassland and woodlands develop and give shelter to a variety of wildlife.

· Soil

The soils also vary over space. Different types of soils provide basis for different types of
vegetation.

The sandy soils of the desert support cactus and thorny bushes, while wet, marshy, deltaic
soils support mangroves and deltaic vegetation. The hill slopes with some depth of soil have
conical trees.

CLIMATE
 Temperature

· The character and extent of vegetation are mainly determined by temperature along with
humidity in the air, precipitation and soil.

· On the slopes of the Himalayas and the hills of the Peninsula above the height of 915 metres,
the fall in the temperature affects the types of vegetation and its growth, and changes it from
tropical to subtropical temperate and alpine vegetation.

Photoperiod (Sunlight )

· The variation in duration of sunlight at different places is due to differences in latitude, altitude,
season and duration of the day.

· Due to longer duration of sunlight, trees grow faster in summer.

Precipitation

· In India, almost the entire rainfall is brought in by the advancing southwest monsoon (June to
September) and retreating northeast monsoons.

· Areas of heavy rainfall have more dense vegetation as compared to areas of less rainfall.

· The vegetation cover of India in large parts is no more natural in the real sense. Except in some
inaccessible regions, like the Himalayas, the hilly region of central India and the marusthali, the
vegetation in most of the areas has been modified at some places, or replaced or degraded by
human occupancy.

· According to India State of Forest Report 2011, the forest cover in India is 21.05 per cent.

TYPES OF VEGETATION

The following major types of vegetation may

be identified in our country (Figure 5.3).

(i) Tropical Evergreen Forests

(ii) Tropical Deciduous Forests

(iii) Tropical Thorn Forests and Scrubs

(iv) Montane Forests

(v) Mangrove Forests

Tropical Evergreen Forests

· They are at their best in areas having more than 200 cm of rainfall with a short dry season.

· The trees reach great heights up to 60 metres or even above.

· Since the region is warm and wet throughout the year, it has a luxuriant vegetation of all kinds
trees, shrubs and creepers giving it a multilayered structure.

· There is no definite time for trees to shed their leaves.

· As such, these forests appear green all the year round.

· Some of the commercially important trees of this forest are ebony, mahogany, rosewood,
rubber and cinchona.

· The common animals found in these forests are elephant, monkey, lemur and deer.

· Onehorned rhinoceroses are found in the jungles of Assam and West Bengal.

· Besides these animals, plenty of birds, bats, sloth, scorpions and snails are also found in these
jungles

Tropical Deciduous Forests

· These are the most widespread forests of India.

· They are also called the monsoon forests and spread over the region receiving rainfall between
200 cm and 70 cm.

· Trees of this forest type shed their leaves for about six to eight weeks in dry summer.

· On the basis of the availability of water, these forests are further divided into moist and dry
deciduous.

Tropical moist Deciduous Forests

· The moist deciduous is found in areas receiving rainfall between 200 and 100 cm.

· These forests exist, therefore, mostly in the eastern part of the country — northeastern
states, along the foothills of the Himalayas, Jharkhand, West Odisha and Chhattisgarh, and on
the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats.
 · Teak is the most dominant species of this forest.

· Bamboos, sal, shisham, sandalwood, khair, kusum, arjun and mulberry are other commercially
important species.

The dry deciduous forests

· The dry deciduous forests are found in areas having rainfall between 100 cm and 70 cm.

· These forests are found in the rainier parts of the Peninsular plateau and the plains of Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh.

· There are open stretches, in which teak, sal, peepal and neem grow.

· A large part of this region has been cleared for cultivation and some parts are used for grazing.

· In these forests, the common animals found are lion, tiger, pig, deer and elephant.

· A huge variety of birds, lizards, snakes and tortoises are also found here.

The Thorn Forests and Scrubs

· In regions with less than 70 cm of rainfall, the natural vegetation consists of thorny trees and
bushes.

· This type of vegetation is found in the north-western part of the country, including semi-arid
areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

· Acacias, palms, euphorbias and cacti are the main plant species.

· Trees are scattered and have long roots penetrating deep into the soil in order to get moisture.

· The stems are succulent to conserve water.

· Leaves are mostly thick and small to minimise evaporation.

· These forests give way to thorn forests and scrubs in arid areas.

· In these forests, the common animals are rats, mice, rabbits, fox, wolf, tiger, lion, wild ass, horses
and camels.

Montane Forests
 · In mountainous areas, the decrease in temperature with increasing altitude leads to the
corresponding change in natural vegetation.

· As such, there is a succession of natural vegetation belts in the same order as we see from the
tropical to the tundra region.

· Evergreen broad-leaf trees, such as oaks and chestnuts predominate. Between 1500 and 3000
metres, temperate forests containing coniferous trees, like pine, deodar, silver fir, spruce and
cedar, are found.

· These forests cover mostly the southern slopes of the Himalayas, places having high altitude in
southern and north-east India.

· At higher elevations, temperate grasslands are common.

· At high altitudes, generally, more than 3,600 metres above the sea level, temperate forests and
grasslands give way to the Alpine vegetation.

· Silver fir, junipers, pines and birches are the common trees of these forests.

· However, they get progressively stunted as they approach the snow-line.

· Ultimately, through shrubs and scrubs, they merge into the Alpine grasslands.

· These are used extensively for grazing by nomadic tribes, like the Gujjars and the Bakarwals.

· At higher altitudes, mosses and lichens form part of tundra vegetation.

· The common animals found in these forests are Kashmir stag, spotted dear, wild sheep, jack
rabbit, Tibetan antelope, yak, snow leopard, squirrels, Shaggy horn wild ibex, bear and rare red
panda, sheep and goats with thick hair.

Mangrove Forests

· The mangrove tidal forests are found in the areas of coasts influenced by tides.

· Mud and silt get accumutated on such coasts.

· Dense mangroves are the common varieties with roots of the plants submerged under water.

· The deltas of the Ganga, the Mahanadi, the Krishna, the Godavari and the Kaveri are covered by
such vegetation.

· In the GangaBrahmaputra delta, sundari trees are found, which provide durable hard timber.

· Palm, coconut, keora, agar, etc., also grow in some parts of the delta.
 · Royal Bengal Tiger is the famous animal in these forests.

· Turtles, crocodiles, gharials and snakes are also found in these forests.

WILDLIFE

Like its flora, India is also rich in its fauna. It has approximately 90,000 animal species.

The country has about 2,000 species of birds. They constitute 13% of the world’s total.

There are 2,546 species of fish, which account for nearly 12% of the world’s stock. It also shares between
5 and 8 per cent of the world’s amphibians, reptiles and mammals.

The elephants are the most majestic animals among the mammals. They are found in the hot wet forests
of Assam, Karnataka and Kerala.

One-horned rhinoceroses are the other animals, which live in swampy and marshy lands of Assam and
West Bengal. Arid areas of the Rann of Kachchh and the Thar Desert are the habitat for wild ass and
camels respectively.

Indian bison, nilgai (blue bull), chousingha (four-horned antelope), gazel and different species of deer are
some other animals found in India.

It also has several species of monkeys.

Wildlife Protection Act was implemented in 1972 in India.

India is the only country in the world that has both tigers and lions.

The natural habitat of the Indian lion is the Gir forest in Gujarat.

Tigers are found in the forests of Madhya Pradesh, the Sundarbans of West Bengal and the Himalayan
region.

Leopards, too, are members of the cat family.

They are important among animals of prey.

The Himalayas harbour a hardy range of

animals, which survive in extreme cold.

Ladakh’s freezing high altitudes are a home to yak, the shaggy horned wild ox weighing around one
tonne, the Tibetan antelope, the bharal (blue sheep), wild sheep, and the kiang (Tibetan wild ass).

Furhtermore, the ibex, bear, snow-leopard and rare red panda are found in certain pockets.
In the rivers, lakes and coastal areas, turtles, crocodiles and gharials are found. The latter is the only
representative of a variety of crocodile, found in the world today.

Bird life in India is colourful. Peacocks, pheasants, ducks, parakeets, cranes and

pigeons are some of the birds inhabiting the forests and wetlands of the country.

We have selected our crops from a bio-diverse environment, i.e., from the reserve

of edible plants. We also experimented and selected many medicinal plants. The animals

were selected from large stock provided by nature as milch animal. They also provided

us draught power, transportation, meat and eggs. The fish provide nutritive food. Many

insects help in pollination of crops and fruit trees and exerting biological control on such

insects is harmful. Every species has a role to play in the ecosystem. Hence, conservation is

essential. As has been mentioned earlier due to excessive exploitation of plant and animal

resources by human beings, the ecosystem has been disturbed. About 1,300 plant species are
endangered and 20 species are extinct. Quite a few animal species are also

endangered and some have become extinct. The main causes for this major threat to

nature are hunting by greedy hunters for commercial purposes. Pollution due to

chemical and industrial waste, acid deposits, introduction of alien species and reckless

cutting of the forests to bring land under cultivation and habitation, are also

responsible for the imbalance.

To protect the flora and fauna of the country, the government has taken many steps.

(i) Eighteen biosphere reserves have been set up in the country to protect flora and

fauna. Ten out of these, the Sundarbans Nanda Devi, the Gulf of Mannar,the Nilgiri,

Nokrek, Great Nicobar, Manas, Simlipal, Pachmarhi and Achanakmar-Amarkantak

have been included in the world network of biosphere reserves.

(ii) Financial and technical assistance is provided to many botanical gardens by the

government since 1992.

• Kachchh
• Cold Desert

• Seshachalam

• Panna

(iii) Project Tiger, Project Rhino, Project Great Indian Bustard and many other

eco-developmental projects have been introduced.

(iv) 103 National Parks, 535 Wildlife sanctuaries and Zoological gardens are set up to take care of natural
heritage.

All of us must realise the importance of the natural ecosystem for our own survival. It is

possible if indiscriminate destruction of natural environment is put to an immediate end.

Eighteen Bio-reserves

• Sundarbans • Simlipal • Gulf of Mannar • Dihang-Dibang • Nilgiri • Dibru Saikhowa • Nanda Devi •
Agasthyamalai • Nokrek • Kangchendzonga • Great Nicobar • Pachmarhi • Manas • Achanakmar-
Amarkantak

Migratory Birds

Some of the wetlands of India are popular with migratory birds.

During winter, birds, such as Siberian Crane, come in large numbers.

One such place favourable with birds is the Rann of Kachchh.

At a place where the desert merges with the sea, flamingo with their brilliant pink plumage come in
thousands to build nest mounds from the salty mud and raise their young ones.

It is one among many extraordinary sights in the country.