Indian Forest

A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. It is the most important part of Earth's eco-system. It plays an important role to make a healthy environment and reduce air pollution. There are three general types of forest found on earth: Temperate, Tropical, and Boreal(also known as taiga). In India forest can be classified in five major categories named as Moist tropical forest,Dry tropical forest,Montane temperate forest,Montane sub tropical forest, and Alpine forest. India's total forest cover is about 19.26% of total land area of India.

Moist tropical forest: As the name suggest: Moist tropical, this type of forest receives good annual rainfall of around 200 cms and 250 cms. Moist tropical forest are also called as semi-evergreen forests and are found along the Western ghats, lower slopes of the eastern Himalayas, eastern cost line of India especially Orissa coast and its neighbouring hills.

Dry tropical forest: This type of forest is mainly found in India where average annual rainfall ranges from 51 cms to 151 cms. Trees of dry tropical forest shed its leaves in winter season (due to the dry winter weather). The shedding of leaves helps trees conserve water and energy. As dry weather approaches, hormones in the trees trigger the process of abscission, whereby the leaves are actively cut off the tree and new leaves are generated after winter season. During rainy season these types of forest are completely decorate lush green leaves. Some significant trees of dry tropical forest are sal, mangoes, acacia and bamboo. Northern hilly regions and some states of Southern India have this type of dry tropical forest.

Montane temperate forest: This type of forest is mainly found in India in hilly areas having a mid-high altitude and where average annual rainfall is above 200 cms, areas such as middle Himalayas ranges of northern India have Montane temperate forest. Some significant trees of Montane temperate forest are oak, ferns, maple, deodar, etc. Fauna includes Tibetan antelope, Yak, Sheeps, Goats, Red panda etc.

Montane sub tropical forest: Subtropical forests can be found around the edges of the tropics. Montane sub tropical forest are mainly found in eastern Indian states such as Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, etc. and also in few areas of Western ghats. Trees found in this forest types are sal, sandan, olive, etc.Fauna includes Wild boar, Spotted deer, Stag, etc.

Alpine Forest: This type of forest is common in the Himalayan regions at an elevation of above 3000m and grow up to the region just below the snowline. It is mainly a grassland and shrubland forest with vegetation that can grow upto 1.5m in height. The vegetation consists mainly of grasses, mosses, lichens, etc. whereas honeysuckle and willow are the common trees found here. Climatic conditions here vary from the sub-arctic to arctic, with snow covering the ground for almost over 6 months a year.