Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

What is natural vegetation?

The term natural vegetation refers to a plant community that has grown naturally, without any human help, and has been left undisturbed for a long time. This is why it is also called virgin vegetation. Cultivated crops and fruits, orchards and gardens are not natural vegetation because they are grown by people; they form what we call cropland. The word flora is used to describe the plants of a particular region or period, and the word fauna describes the species of animals. India is incredibly rich in both: it has about 47,000 plant species and 90,000 animal species, which makes it one of the twelve mega bio-diversity countries of the world. With around 8 per cent of the world's total recorded species, India holds a place of pride on the biological map of the Earth.

Factors that affect natural vegetation

The kind of vegetation that grows in a place depends on several factors. Relief — that is, land and soil — plays a major role. Fertile level land is mostly used for farming, while undulating and rough terrain is left for grasslands and woodlands which shelter wildlife. Different soils support different plants: sandy soils of the desert grow cactus and thorny bushes, while wet, marshy, deltaic soils support mangroves. Climate is the second big factor and includes temperature, photoperiod (sunlight) and precipitation (rainfall). On the slopes of the Himalayas and the hills of the peninsula, vegetation changes with falling temperature — tropical to temperate to alpine forests appear as we go higher. Sunlight varies with latitude, altitude and season; trees grow faster in summer because of longer hours of sunlight. Areas of heavy rainfall have dense forests, while areas of low rainfall have thorny shrubs and grasses.

1. Tropical Evergreen Forests

These rainforests are found in the warm and wet regions that receive more than 200 cm of rainfall with a short dry season — the Western Ghats, the islands of Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar, the upper parts of Assam and the Tamil Nadu coast. They are evergreen because there is no particular time for trees to shed leaves, so the forests look green all year round. They are tall, dense and have many layers. Important trees are rosewood, ebony and mahogany. Animals include elephants, monkeys, lemur, deer, one-horned rhinoceros (in Assam) and plenty of birds, bats, sloth and scorpions.

2. Tropical Deciduous Forests

These are the most widespread forests of India, also called the monsoon forests. They grow in regions receiving rainfall between 70 cm and 200 cm. The trees shed their leaves for about six to eight weeks in the dry summer to save water. On the basis of water availability they are divided into moist deciduous (rainfall 100–200 cm — eastern India, foothills of the Himalayas, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha; main trees teak, bamboo, sal, shisham, sandalwood, kusum, arjun, mulberry) and dry deciduous (rainfall 70–100 cm — rainier parts of the peninsula and plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; trees teak, sal, peepal, neem). Common animals are lions, tigers, pigs, deer and elephants.

3. Tropical Thorn Forests and Scrubs

In regions with less than 70 cm of rainfall — the semi-arid areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana — the natural vegetation is thorny trees and bushes. Plants here have long roots that go deep for water and thick, small, waxy leaves to reduce loss of water through transpiration. Important trees are acacia, palms, euphorbia and cactus. The animals include rats, mice, rabbits, fox, wolf, tiger, lion, wild ass, horses and camels.

4. Montane (Mountain) Forests

In mountains, vegetation changes with height as the temperature falls. Between 1000 and 2000 m wet temperate forests of evergreen broad-leaved trees such as oak and chestnut grow. Between 1500 and 3000 m are temperate forests of conifers like pine, deodar, silver fir, spruce and cedar. Higher up at 3000–4000 m come alpine vegetation — silver fir, junipers, pines and birch — and finally grasslands used by nomadic tribes for grazing. At the snowline these merge into mosses and lichens of the tundra. Animals of these forests include the Kashmir stag, spotted deer, wild sheep, jack rabbit, Tibetan antelope, yak, snow leopard, squirrels, shaggy horn wild ibex, bear and panda.

5. Mangrove Forests

In the coastal areas where mud and silt gather, mangrove tidal forests grow. The roots of the plants stay submerged under water. The deltas of the Ganga, Mahanadi, Krishna, Godavari and Kaveri are covered by such forests. In West Bengal these are called the Sundarbans, named after the Sundari tree which provides hard, durable timber. The Royal Bengal Tiger is the famous animal here, along with turtles, crocodiles, gharials and snakes.

Wildlife of India

India is equally rich in fauna. It has about 90,000 species of animals, 2,000 species of birds, 2,546 species of fish (nearly 12% of the world's stock) and 5–8% of the world's amphibians, reptiles and mammals. The elephant is the most majestic animal of the hot wet forests of Assam, Karnataka and Kerala. The one-horned rhinoceros lives in the swampy lands of Assam and West Bengal. Wild ass and camels live in the deserts of the Rann of Kachchh and Thar. India is the only country with both tigers and lions — the Asiatic lion's home is the Gir forest of Gujarat. Tigers are found in the forests of Madhya Pradesh, the Sundarbans and the Himalayan region.

Why are species disappearing & how do we protect them?

Sadly, this great wealth is shrinking. Hunting, pollution, poisoning, forest fires and the loss of habitat have made many species vanish. About 1,300 plant species are endangered and 20 are already extinct. To protect nature, the government has set up 18 biosphere reserves, financial help for botanical gardens, Project Tiger, Project Rhino, Project Great Indian Bustard and many such schemes. There are 103 National Parks, about 535 Wildlife Sanctuaries and many zoological gardens to take care of the natural heritage.