Indian Geography / Natural Vegetation
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There are 5 types of forests in India and these types are further classified into 16 subtypes based on three factors, namely Temperature, Altitude and Rainfall. The types of forests found in India are Moist tropical forests, Dry tropical forests, Montane subtropical forests, Montane temperate forests and Alpine forests. The classification of forests in India is done based on the ecological principles that are adopted by Champion and Seth.
According to the IFSR-2021 report, the total forest and tree cover in India is 24.62% of the geographical area, of which 21.71% is the forest cover and 2.91% is the tree cover. A variety of forest resources are produced from these forests like timber, wild fruits, palm products, firewood, herbal medicines, honey, lac, etc. The main causes of different types of forests in India are due to huge geographical size, variation in the rainfall distribution, variation in temperature and due to differences in the altitudes.
Moist tropical forests in India are further classified into 4 different subtypes of forests. These are Tropical wet evergreen forests, Tropical semi evergreen forests, Tropical moist deciduous forests and Mangrove forests.
Wet Evergreen Forests are found in those regions having an annual temperature range of 25-270C and annual rainfall of more than 250 cm.
Important trees in these forests are Rosewood, Ebony, Ironwood, Calophyllum, etc. These forests are found in windward side of Western Ghats, parts of North
East India and Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Semi Evergreen Forests are found in those regions having an annual temperature range of 24-270C and annual rainfall range of 200-250 cm.
Important trees in these forests are Rosewood, Benteak, Kadam, Irul, etc. These forests are found in West coast region, Lower slopes of Eastern Himalayas and
the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Moist Deciduous Forests are found in those regions having an annual temperature of 270C and annual rainfall range of 100-200 cm and having
a relative humidity of 60-75%.
Deciduous itself means shedding leaves, so the trees that grow here shed their leaves. The trees that grow here are Sal,
Teak, Mahua, Badam, Bamboo, Jamun, etc. These forests are found in Siwalik range of Himalayas, Interiors of Peninsular plateau and parts of North Eastern India.
These forests occur in estuaries, tidal creeks and along the deltas of numerous rivers. The most important of these kind are Sundarbans in Ganges delta. The trees that grow here are Rhizophora, Sundri, Palms, etc.
Dry tropical forests in India are further classified into 3 different subtypes of forests. These are Dry evergreen forests, Dry deciduous forests and Thorn forests.
Dry Evergreen Forests are found in those regions having an annual temperature range of 280C and annual rainfall of 100 cm and having humidity
around 75%.
The trees that grow here are Neem, Tamarind, Toddy palm, Khirni trees, etc. These forests are found in Tamil Nadu and Southern Andhra Pradesh.
These forests are found everywhere in India from Kanyakumari to Himalayan foothills but are not found in Western Ghats and Rajasthan.
These are found in
those regions having an annual rainfall of 100 cm. The trees that grow here are Red sandalwood, Bamboo, Teak, Axle wood trees, etc.
These forests are found in those regions where there is a rainfall of less than 75 cm and having the temperature range of 25-300C and low
humidity of less than 50%.
These are mainly found in Rajasthan, Western Haryana, parts of Saurashtra and parts of Punjab. The trees that grow here are Babul,
Neem, Cashew nut, Acasia, etc.
Montane subtropical forests in India are further classified into 3 different subtypes of forests. These are Subtropical broad-leaved forests, Subtropical Pine forests and Subtropical dry evergreen forests.
These forests are grown in those regions where the annual temperature range is 18-210C and annual rainfall of 75-125 cm and humidity of 80%.
These are called Shola forests in South India.
These are mainly found in highlands of Bastar, Nilgiri hills, Khasi hills, Palani hills, etc. The trees
that grow here are Indian Mahogany, Bishop wood, Calophyllum, Cluster Fig tree, etc.
These are found in Naga hills, Khasi hills and in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. Chir Pine tree is mostly found in these forests.
These forests are found in Bhabar region, Siwalik region and in Western Himalayas. Acacia, Pistacia and Olive trees are mainly found here.
Montane temperate forests in India are further classified into 3 different subtypes of forests. These are Montane wet temperate forests, Montane moist temperate forests and Montane dry temperate forests.
These kind of forests are found in those regions where the climate is cold having an annual temperature range of 11-140C and annual rainfall of
150-300 cm.
These are mainly found in the hills of Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and in Eastern Himalayan region. The trees that grow here are
Chestnut, Oak, Cinnamon, Birch, Plum, etc.
These forests are found in Western and Eastern Himalayas. Coniferous variety of trees like Pine, Cedar, Spruce, etc. grow here.
These type of forests are found in inner dry areas of Himalayas where the average rainfall is less than 100 cm. The main trees that are found here are Oak, Olive, Juniper, Celtis, etc.
These types of forests in India are found in the Himalayan Alpine regions having a height of 3000 m to 4000 m. These forests can be further classified into (i) Sub-Alpine, (ii) Moist Alpine and (iii) Dry Alpine Scrubs. The trees that grow here are stunted shrubs of Fir, Juniper, Pine, Plum, etc.