Natural Vegetation in India

 Land

• Land is among the most important natural resources, thirty per cent of the total area.

Land Use

• Land is used for different purposes such as agriculture, forestry, mining, building houses, roads and setting up of industries.
• Use of land is determined by physical factors such as topography, soil, climate, minerals and availability of water.
• Private land (Owner Private) and Community land (Common Property Resources).

Landslides - Mass movement of rock, debris or earth down a slope. Mitigation Mechanism Hazard Mapping, Construction of retention wall to stop land from Slipping. Increase in the vegetation cover to arrest landslide in the vegetation cover to arrest landslide. Surface drainage control works to control the movement of landslide along with rain water and spring flows

• Land degradation, landslides, soil erosion, desertification are the major threats to the environment because of the expansion of agriculture and construction activities.

Conservation of Land Resources

• Afforestation, land reclamation, regulated use of chemical pesticide and fertilisers and checks on overgrazing are some of the common methods used to conserve land resources.

Soil

• Soil is made up of organic matter, minerals and weathered rocks found on the earth. This happens through the process of weathering. The right mix of minerals and organic of weathering.

Factors of soil Formation

• Soil formation are the nature of the parent rock and climatic factors.
• Topography, role of organic material and time taken for the composition of soil formation

Degradation of Soil

• Deforestation, overgrazing, overuse of chemical feritilisers or pesticides, rain wash, landslides and floods.

Conservation Measures

• Mulching: bare ground between plants is covered with a layer of organic matter like straw.
• Contour Barriers: build barriers along contours.
• Rock dam: Slow down the flow of water. Prevents gullies and further soil loss.
• Terrace farming: steps or terraces, reduce surface run off and soil erosion.
• Intercropping: grown in alternate rows, sown at different times
• Contour ploughing: parallel to the contours of a hill slope to form a natural barrier
• Shelter belts: coastal and dry regions, rows of trees are planted to check the wind movement protect soil cover.

Water

• Three fourths of the earth’s surface are covered with water. Fresh water accounts for only about 2.7 per cent (70 per cent of this occurs as ice sheets and glaciers), Only 1 per cent of freshwater is available and fit for human use.
• Humans use huge amounts of water not only for drinking and washing but also in the process of production. Water for agriculture, industries, production.
• Leading to shortages in supply of fresh water either due to drying up of water sources or water pollution.

Problem in Water Availability

• Water shortage may be a consequence of variation in seasonal or annual precipitation.
• The scarcity is caused by over-exploitation and contamination of water sources.
• Discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage, agricultural chemicals and industrial effluents in water bodies are major contaminants. They pollute are major contaminants

Conservation of water Resources

• Forest and other vegetation cover slow the surface runoff and replenish underground water.
• Water Harvesting, Canals & Sprinklers effectively.
• In dry regions with high rates of evaporation, drip or trickle irrigation is very useful.

Natural Vegetation

• One of the 12 mega bio-diversity countries.
• Approximately 90,000 species of animals, as well as, a rich variety of fish in its fresh and marine waters.
• Growth of vegetation depends primarily on temperature and moisture.
• Major vegetation types of the world are grouped as forests, grasslands, scrubs and tundra.
• Virgin vegetation - 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.
• Flora (Plants) & Fauna (Animals) - 10 per cent of India’s recorded wild flora and 20 per cent of its mammals are on the threatened list.
• Area of Heavy rainfall, huge trees may thrive. The forests are thus associated with areas having abundant water supply.
• Moderate rainfall - Short stunted trees and grasses grow (Grasslands of the world).
• Low Rainfall – Scrubs & Thorny shrubs grow.
• Deep roots and leaves with thorny and waxy surface reduce loss of moisture through transpiration.
• Tundra vegetation of cold Polar Regions comprise of mosses and lichens.
• Relief
• Land - Affects the natural vegetation directly and indirectly.
• Soil
• Different types of soils provide basis for different types of vegetation.
• Sandy Soil – Cactus & thorny bushes.
• Wet, marshy, deltaic soil – Mangroves & Deltaic Vegetation.
• Hill slope – Conical tree.
• Climate
• Temperature
• Character and extent of vegetation are mainly determined by temperature along with humidity in the air, precipitation and soil.
• Photoperiod (Sunlight)
• Variation in duration of sunlight.
• Due to latitude, altitude, season and duration of the day.
• Precipitation
• Advancing southwest monsoon (June to September) and retreating northeast monsoons.
• Heavy rainfall - denser vegetation.
• Biodiversity
• Immensely rich in wildlife and cultivated species, diverse in form and function but closely integrated in a system through multiple network of interdependencies.

Forest

• Forest area is the area notified and recorded as the forest land irrespective of the existence of trees, while the actual forest cover is the area occupied by forests with canopy.
• Modify local climate, control soil erosion, regulate stream flow, support a variety of industries, provide livelihood for many communities and offer panoramic or scenic view for recreation.
• Natural vegetation changes due to growing demand for cultivated land, development of industries and mining, urbanisation and over-grazing of pastures.
• Vegetation change except Himalayas, the hilly region of central India and the marusthali, other areas has been modified, or replaced or degraded by human occupancy.
• India State of Forest Report 2021, the forest cover in India is 21.71 per cent. (7,13,789 sq.km).
• Lakshadweep – 0%; Andaman and Nicobar - 86.93% forest area.
• 15 states where the forest cover is more than one-third of the total area.
• Vanishing Forests – Wood that have been removed by people for a varities of Reason.

Types of Vegetation

Tropical Evergreen Forests	Tropical Deciduous Forests	Tropical Thorn Forests and Scrubs	Montane Forest	Littoral & Swamp/ Mangrove Forest
Heavy rainfall More than 200 cm, tree tall  up to 60 metres or above	Monsoon forests. Moist deciduous - 200 – 100 cm  & Dry Deciduous – 100 - 70 cm	Grasses and shrubs less than 70 cm of rainfall	Decrease in temperature with increasing altitude	Areas of coasts influenced by tides. Mud and silt get accumutated on  such coasts (6,740 sq.km which is 7 % of  the world’s mangrove forests)
Warm and wet throughout the year Semi evergreen forests  found in less rainy parts of these regions (Mixture of evergreen & Moist Deciduous)	-	Scrub vegetation	Wet temperate type of forests b/w 1000 - 2000 m. Temperate forest – b/w 1500 – 3000 m Alpine Vegetation – more than 3000.-	70% of Paddy Cultivation – 3.9 million ha. - Chilika Lake (Odisha)  & Keoladeo National Park (Bharatpur) water-fowl habitats under the Convention of Wetlands of International  Importance (Ramsar Convention)
No definite time for trees to shed their leaves	Shed their leaves for about six to eight weeks in dry summer	Plants remain leafless for most part of the year	-
Western Ghats and the island groups of Lakshadweep, Andaman and  Nicobar, upper parts of Assam and Tamil Nadu coast	Moist Deciduous –  northeastern states, long the foothills of the Himalayas, Jharkhand, West  Odisha and Chhattisgarh, and on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. Dry Deciduous -  Peninsular plateau and the plains of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh	Semi-arid areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,  Uttar Pradesh and Haryana	Northern Slope 1000 – 2000 m - Northeaster  India, hilly areas of West Bengal and Uttaranchal 1500 – 1750 m – western part of Himalayan range. Southern Slope Western Ghats (Kerala, TN &  Karnataka), the Vindhyas and the Nilgiris. (Satpura and the Maikal ranges) Temperate in the higher regions, and subtropical on the lower regions	Deltas of the Ganga, the Mahanadi, the Krishna, the Godavari and the  Kaveri.
White cedar, hillock & kail. Elephant, monkey, lemur and deer.  One- horned Rhinoceroses in Assam & WB	lion, tiger, pig, deer and elephant	Rats, mice, rabbits, fox, wolf, tiger, lion, wild ass, horses and  camels	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	Royal Bengal Tiger,
Ebony, mahogany, rosewood, aini, rubber and cinchona.	Moist Deciduous – Teak,  Bamboos, sal, shisham, sandalwood, khair, kusum, Arjun and mulberry. Dry Deciduous - teak,  sal, peepal and neem grow. Common - Tendu,  palas, amaltas, bel, khair, axlewood, etc	Vegetation of Thorny trees and Bushes.   Acacias, palms, wild date palm, khair, neem, khejri, palas, etceuphorbias  and cacti. Tussocky grass – 2cm height.	Northern Slope 1000 – 2000 m - Evergreen  broad-leaf trees, such as oaks and chestnuts predominate. 1500 – 1750 m - Coniferous trees, like pine, deodar, silver fir, spruce and cedar. 2,225 - 3000m - Silver fir,  junipers, blue pines and birches. 3000 – 4000m - Silver firs,  junipers, pines, birch and rhododendrons, etc. Southern Slope magnolia, laurel, cinchona and wattle Higher Latitude – Tundra  Vegetation	Hard timber, Palm, coconut, keora, agar
Animals, plenty of  birds,  bats, sloth, scorpions and snails	Variety of birds, lizards, snakes and tortoises			Turtles, crocodiles, gharials and snakes

The country’s wetlands have been grouped into eight categories, viz.

1. the reservoirs of the Deccan Plateau in the south together with the lagoons and other wetlands of the southern west coast;
2. the vast saline expanses of Rajasthan, Gujarat and the Gulf of Kachchh;
3. freshwater lakes and reservoirs from Gujarat eastwards through Rajasthan (Keoladeo National Park) and Madhya Pradesh;
4. the delta wetlands and lagoons of India’s east coast (Chilika Lake);
5. the freshwater marshes of the Gangetic Plain;
6. the floodplains of the Brahmaputra; the marshes and swamps in the hills of northeast India and the  imalayan foothills;
7. the lakes and rivers of the montane region of Kashmir and Ladakh; and
8. the mangrove forest and other wetlands of the island arcs of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Mangroves grow along the coasts in the salt marshes, tidal creeks, mud flats and estuaries.

Forest Destruction

• Since 1951, 5,000 sq. km of forest was cleared for river valley projects.
• Development Project – Ex: Narmada Sagar Project in Madhya Pradesh, which would inundate 40,000 hectares of forest.
• Mining – Ex: Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal is seriously threatened by dolomite mining.
• Habitat destruction, Deforestation, Soil erosion, Constructional Activity, hunting, tsunami, landslides, poaching, over-exploitation, environmental pollution, poisoning and forest fires are factors decline in India’s biodiversity.
• Unequal access, inequitable consumption of resources and differential sharing of responsibility for environmental well-being.
• Richest five per cent of Indian society probably cause more ecological damage because of the amount they consume than the poorest 25 per cent.
• Biological loss is strongly correlated with the loss of cultural diversity.
• Poverty in these cases is a direct outcome of environmental destruction.

Types and Distribution of Forest

• Reserved Forests
• Half of the total forest land. Most valuable.
• Protected Forests
• One-third of the total forest. protected from any further depletion.
• Unclassed Forests
• Other forests and wastelands.
• Reserved and protected forests - Permanent forest. MP - 75 per cent of its total forest.
• Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Maharashtra have large percentages of reserved forests.
• Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan have a bulk of it under protected forests.
• North-eastern states and parts of Gujarat have a very high percentage of their forests as unclassed forests managed by local communities.

Social Forestry

• National Commission on Agriculture (1976).
• Urban forestry - Raising and management of trees on public and privately owned lands. Ex: green belts, parks, roadside avenues, industrial and commercial green belts, etc.
• Rural forestry - Promotion of agro-forestry and community-forestry.
• Agro-forestry is the raising of trees and agriculture crops on the same land inclusive of the waste patches
• Community forestry involves the raising of trees on public or community land such as the village pasture and temple land, roadside, canal bank, strips along railway lines, and schools etc.
• Farm Forestry - farmers grow trees for commercial and non-commercial purposes on their farm lands

Community and Conservation

• Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, villagers have fought against mining by citing the Wildlife Protection Act.
• Alwar district of Rajasthan declared 1,200 hectares of forest as Bhairodev Dakav ‘Sonchuri own set of rules and regulations.
• Chipko movement in the Himalayas - shown that community afforestation.
• Farmers and citizen’s groups like the Beej Bachao Andolan in Tehri and Navdanya have shown that adequate level of diversified crop production without the use of synthetic chemicals are possible and economically viable.
• India joint forest management (JFM) - involving local communities in the management and restoration of degraded forests. (Formally exist in Odisha since 1988).
• protection activities mostly on degraded forest land managed by the forest department. In return, the members of these communities are entitled to intermediary benefits like non timber forest produces and share in the timber harvested by ‘successful protection’.
• Awareness programmes like social forestry and Vanamohatasava.
• Forest policy in 1952, modified in 1988.
1. Bringing 33 per cent of the geographical areas under forest cover;
2. Maintaining environmental stability and to restore forests where ecological balance was disturbed;
3. Conserving the natural heritage of the country, its biological diversity and genetic pool;
4. Checks soil erosion, extension of the desert lands and reduction of floods and droughts;
5. Increasing the forest cover through social forestry and afforestation on degraded land;
6. Increasing the productivity of forests to make timber, fuel, fodder and food available to rural population dependant on forests, and encourage the substitution of wood;
7. Creating of a massive people’s movement involving women to encourage planting of trees, stop felling of trees and thus, reduce pressure on the existing forest.

Wildlife

• 90,000 animal species. 2,000 species of birds - 13% of the world’s total.
• 2,546 species of fish - 12% of the world’s stock.
• 5 and 8 per cent of the world’s amphibians, reptiles and mammals.
• Elephant - Hot wet forests of Assam, Karnataka and Kerala.
• One-horned Rhinoceroses - swampy and marshy lands of Assam and West Bengal.
• Wild ass and camels - Rann of Kachchh and the Thar Desert.
• Indian bison, nilgai (blue bull), chousingha (four-horned antelope), gazel, Different species of deer & Several Species of Monkey.
• India is the only country in the world that has both tigers and lions.
• Asiatic lion - Gir forest in Gujarat.
• Tigers - forests of Madhya Pradesh, the Sundarbans of West Bengal and the Himalayan region.
• Ladakh’s freezing high altitudes are a home to yak, the shaggy horned wild ox (around one tonne), the Tibetan antelope, the bharal (blue sheep), wild sheep, and the kiang (Tibetan wild ass). Also the ibex, bear, snow-leopard and rare red panda.
• River, Lake, Coastal area - turtles, crocodiles and gharials found.
• Birds - Peacocks, pheasants, ducks, parakeets, cranes and pigeons. 1,300 plant species are endangered and 20 species are extinct

Reason for wildlife decline

• Industrial and technological advancement.
• Agriculture, human settlement, roads, mining, reservoirs, etc.
• Fodder, Fuel wood removal of small timber by local people.
• Hunting (Poaching is rampant) & forest fire.

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)

• Normal Species
• Considered to be normal for survival.
• Ex: Cattle, sal, pine.
• Endangered Species
• Danger of extinction. Survival of such species is difficult. Decline in their population continue to operate.
• Ex: Black buck, Crocodile, Indian wild ass, Indian rhino, lion tailed macaque, sangai (brow anter deer in Manipur), etc.
• Vulnerable Species
• Move into the endangered category in the near future.
• Ex: blue sheep, Asiatic elephant, Gangetic dolphin.
• Rare Species
• Small population may move into the endangered or vulnerable category.
• Ex: Himalayan brown bear, wild Asiatic buffalo, desert fox and hornbill.
• Endemic Species
• Species which are only found in some particular areas.
• Ex: Andaman teal, Nicobar pigeon, Andaman wild pig, mithun in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Asiatic Cheetah:
• The species was declared extinct in India long back in 1952.
• 50 cheetahs to be reintroduces in national parks over 5 years, under Action plan for introduction of Cgeetah in India.
• 17^th September PM introduce 8 Cheetah (3 Male & 5 Female) in Kuno-Palpur National Park (KNP)

Wildlife Conservation

• Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act was implemented in 1972 – banning hunting, giving legal protection to their habitats, and restricting trade in wildlife.
• Wildlife Act of 1980 and 1986, several hundred butterflies, moths, beetles, and one dragonfly have been added to the list of protected species. In 1991. plants were also added to the list, starting with six species.
• UNESCO’s ‘Man and Biosphere Programme’
• Biosphere reserves – 18.
• Financial and technical assistance is provided to many botanical gardens by the government since 1992 – Kachchh, Cold Desert, Seshachalam & Panna.
• Eco-developmental projects – Project tiger (1973), Project Elephant (1992), the one horned rhinoceros, the Kashmir stag or hangul, three types of crocodiles – fresh water crocodile, saltwater crocodile and the Gharial, the Asiatic lion
• 103 National Park.
• 535 Wildlife sanctuaries and Zoological gardens.
• CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments.
• Increase awareness.

Biosphere Reserves

• Totally 18 Biosphere Reserves, 10 Recognised by the UNESCO on World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve

• September 1986. Altitude: 250m to 2,650m & Area: 5,520 sq.km.
• Sanctuary complex of Wyanad, Nagarhole, Bandipur and Mudumalai, the entire forested hill slopes of Nilambur, the Upper Nilgiri plateau, Silent Valley and the Siruvani hills.
• Vegetation Type - Several dry scrubs, dry and moist deciduous, semi evergreen and wet evergreen forests, evergreen sholas, grasslands and swamps.
• Two endangered animal – Nilgiri Tahr and the Lion-tailed macaque.
• Largest south Indian population of elephant, tiger, gaur, sambar and chital.
• 80 per cent of the flowering plants reported from the Wester in Ghats occur in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.

Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve

• Uttarakhand includes parts of Chamoli, Almora, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts.
• Major forest type is temperate. Species are silver weed and orchids like latifolie and rhododendron.
• snow leopard, black bear, brown bear, musk deer, snow cock, golden eagle and black eagle.
• Threats: Endangered plants for medicinal use, forest fires and poaching.

Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve

• Swampy delta of the river Ganga in West Bengal. Area: 9,630 sq. km.
• Mangrove forests, swamps and forested islands. 200 Royal Bengal tigers.
• Species, from fish to shrimp. More than 170 birds species are known to inhabit these mangrove forests.
• Adapting itself to the saline and fresh water environment.
• Mangrove forests are characterised by Heritiera fomes, a species valued for its timber.

Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve

• 105,000 hectares - Southeast coast of India.
• World’s richest regions from a marine biodiversity.
• 21 islands with estuaries, beaches, forests of the nearshore environment, sea grasses, coral reefs, salt marshes and mangroves.
• 3,600 plant and animal species are the globally endangered.