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mainly used in ship-building and houses. These Tropical Deciduous Forests
forests have suffered severe destruction at the These forests are found in the regions having
hands of man. They have been largely cleared to below 200 cm of rainfall, but above 75 cm, such
make way for agriculture and industry, as they
as the Deccan Plateau and Northern Plains. The
grow in favourable temperate climate and there is important trees are teak, sal, shisham, neem and
rapid expansion of population in these regions.
mango.
Tropical Deciduous Forests
Thorn and Scrub Forests
Also called tropical monsoon forests, they are These forests are found in rain-starved regions,
found in subtropical areas with a distinct dry such as in north-western desert. The common
season—southern Asia, parts of Central America,
shrubs found in these forests include scrub,
Brazil and northern Australia, New Zealand, bushes, cactus, thorny grasses, date palm, babool
southern China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, etc.
the Philippines, Thailand etc. They are less dense
than tropical evergreen forests, and have less Tidal Forests
variety. The valuable trees of these forests are These are evergreen forests and are found in river
teak, sal, sandalwood, acacia, eucalyptus and deltas, such as in Sundarbans. Other deltas are
shisham. The mangrove trees are found in swamps formed by the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and
and delta regions. Kaveri rivers. Sundri tree is the main tree found in

Temperate Deciduous Forests these areas.
These forests are found in temperate coastal Mountain Vegetation
regions with cool climate and moderate rainfall. The Himalayas have different types of vegetation
These trees shed their leaves in winter to protect depending upon the altitude. The tropical
themselves from cold. They are widely found in deciduous forests are found in the lower
New Zealand and southern Chile, western Europe, mountains up to an altitude of 1800 metres,
north-eastern China, Japan and north-eastern US.
A F G H A N I S T A N
The principal species of trees are redwood,
poplar, ash, beech, cedar, birch, elm, maple, fir
etc. These forests are exploited for industrial,
domestic and settlement purposes.

P A K I S T A N
Just Think! N E
BHUTAN
P A L
Why different types of forests are found at
different places?

NATURAL VEGETATION IN INDIA

India is blessed with a wide variety of plant life.
A R A B I A N S E A B AY O F B E N G A L
We can divide the natural vegetation in India
under the following types :

Tropical Evergreen Forests Tropical rainforests
Tropical deciduous forests
Thorn forests
These forests are found in the regions having Mangrove forests
Mountain forests
above 200 cm rainfall, such as the Western Ghats
and north-eastern states. These forests have thick
S R I
and tall trees, such as rosewood, bamboo, ebony, I N D I A N L A N K A O C E A N
teak, sandalwood, rubber tree etc. India : Natural vegetation
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