Natural vegetation and wildlife

MADE BY – VEER SINGH

NATURAL VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE

The wildlife of India is a mix of species of number of different types of organism. The region's rich and diverse wildlife is preserved in 89 national parks, 13 Bio reserves and 400+ wildlife sanctuaries across the country. Since India is home to a number of rare and threatened animal species, wildlife management in the country is essential to preserve these species. According to one study, India along with 17 mega diverse countries is home to about 60-70% of the world's biodiversity.

India, lying within the Indomalaya ecozone, is home to about 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of avian, 6.2% of reptilian, and 6.0% of flowering plant species. Many ecoregions, such as the shola forests, also exhibit extremely high rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indian plant species are endemic. India's forest cover ranges from the tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and Northeast India to the coniferous forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the sal-dominated moist deciduous forest of eastern India; teak-dominated dry deciduous forest of central and southern India; and the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain. Important Indian trees include the medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies. The pipal fig tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, shaded the Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment.

INTRODUCTION

Many Indian species are descendants of taxa originating in Gondwana, to which India originally belonged. Peninsular India's subsequent movement towards, and collision with, the Laurasian landmass set off a mass exchange of species. However, volcanism and climatic change 20 million years ago caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms. Soon thereafter, mammals entered India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes on either side of the emerging Himalaya. As a result, among Indian species, only 12.6% of mammals and 4.5% of birds are endemic, contrasting with 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians. Notable endemics are the Nilgiri leaf monkey and the brown and carmine Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172, or 2.9%, of IUCN-designated threatened species. These include the Asiatic lion, the Bengal tiger, and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which suffered a near-extinction from ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle.

In recent decades, human encroachment has posed a threat to India's wildlife; in response, the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial habitat; further federal protections were promulgated in the 1980s. Along with over 500 wildlife sanctuaries, India now hosts 15 biosphere reserves, four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; 25 wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.

The varied and rich wildlife of India has had a profound impact on the region's popular culture. The common name for wilderness in India is Jungle, which was adopted into the English language. The word has been also made famous in The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. India's wildlife has been the subject of numerous other tales and fables such as the Panchatantra and the Jataka tales.

Tropical evergreen forests are usually found in areas receiving more than 200 cm of rainfall and having a temperature of 15 °C to 30 °C. They occupy about seven per cent of the Earth's land surface and harbour more than half of the world’s plants and animals. Found mostly near the equator, these tropical forests are dense, multi-layered and harbour many types of plants and animals. The trees are evergreen as there is no period of drought or frost. They are mostly tall hardwood trees with broad leaves that release excess water through transpiration.

In India, evergreen forests are found on the western slopes of the Western Ghats in States such as Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka. And also found in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. They are also found in the hills of Jaintia and Khasi. Some of the trees found in Indian Tropical Forests are rosewood, mahogany and ebony. Bamboo and reeds are also common.

Tropical evergreen forests

Temperate evergreen forests are found mainly in regions like Montane North America, Asian-Russia, Canada and Northern Scandinavia, and Broadleaf evergreen forests are found in countries around the Mediterranean Sea like Lebanon and Morocco and eastern North America. Evergreen forests around the world are under threat of logging, mining, oil and gas developments, pollution, hydroelectric projects and other human developments planned in these areas.

The temperate evergreen forests are located in the mid-latitudinal coastal region. They are commonly found along the eastern margin of the continents, e.g., in southeastern United States, southern China and in southeastern Brazil. They comprise with both broad leaf and coniferous trees, such as oak, pine and eucalyptus.

Temperate evergreen forest encompasses the wet temperate and subtropical conifer forests of the northwestern North America, as well as subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests (e.g., in China) and the nothofagus and eucalyptus forests of the Southern Hemisphere. Temperate evergreen forests are characterized by their hardy trees. Trees need to withstand sandy, rocky, and basically poor quality soil, occasional fires, droughts and cold weather. These forests are generally dominated by pines, but also support fir, hemlock, oak, and giant sequoia.

Temperate evergreen forests

A temperate deciduous forest, more precisely termed temperate broadleaf forest or temperate broadleaved forest, is a biome found in North America, southern South America, Europe, and Asia. A temperate deciduous forest consists of trees that lose their leaves every year. Examples include oak, maple, beech, and elm.

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, defined by the World Wildlife Fund, characterized by dry summers and rainy winters. Summers are typically hot in low-lying inland locations but can be cool near some seas, as near San Francisco, which have a sea of cool waters. Winters are typically mild to cool in low-lying locations but can be cold in inland and higher locations.

The Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome can be found around the world. More specifically, it occurs in the world's five Mediterranean climate zones, on the west coast of continents in the mid-latitudes:

the Mediterranean Basinthe Chilean Matorralthe California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of

California and the Baja California Peninsulathe Cape Province-Western Cape of South Africathe Southwest Australia corner area

Mediterranean forests

Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest. In most temperate coniferous forests, evergreen conifers predominate, while some are a mix of conifers and broadleaf evergreen trees and/or broadleaf deciduous trees. Temperate evergreen forests are common in the coastal areas of regions that have mild winters and heavy rainfall, or inland in drier climates or mountain areas. Many species of trees inhabit these forests including cedar, cypress, douglas-fir, fir, juniper, kauri, pine, podocarpus, spruce, redwood and yew. The understory also contains a wide variety of herbaceous and shrub species.

Temperate coniferous forest

Large expanses of land in the tropics do not receive enough rainfall to support extensive tree cover. The Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands are characterized by rainfall levels between 90-150 centimetres per year.

However, there may be great variability in soil moisture throughout the year. Grasses dominate the species composition of these ecoregions, although scattered trees may be common. Large mammals that have evolved to take advantage of the ample forage typify the biodiversity associated with these habitats.

These large mammal faunas are richest in African savannas and grasslands. The most intact assemblages currently occur in East African Acacia savannas and Zambezian savannas comprised of mosaics of miombo, mopane, and other habitats1). Large-scale migration of tropical savanna herbivores, such as wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and zebra (Equus zebra), are continuing to decline through habitat alteration and hunting

GRASSLANDS

The plants of the Desert habitat area have adapted to its dry, hot extremes by using both physical and behavioral mechanisms. Plants that have adapted by altering their physical structure are called xerophytes. Xerophytes, such as cacti, usually have special ways of storing and conserving water. They often have few or no leaves, which reduces water loss. Phraetophytes are plants that have adapted to living in the desert by growing very long roots, allowing them to get their moisture deep within the earth, at or near the water table. Perennials (plants which live for years) and annuals (plants which live one season) also have behavioral adaptations. The perennials survive by remaining dormant during the dry periods and come to life when water is available. Annuals germinate after heavy rain and complete their reproductive cycle quickly. They bloom for a few weeks in spring. Their seeds remain dormant in the soil until the next year’s rain.

DESERT VEGETATION

In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine tundra,[2] and Antarctic tundra. In tundra, the vegetation is composed of dwarf shrubs, sedges and grasses, mosses, and lichens. Scattered trees grow in some tundra. The ecotone (or ecological boundary region) between the tundra and the forest is known as the tree line or timberline

Tundra vegetation

FORMS OF TUNDRA VEGETATION

Arctic tundra occurs in the far Northern Hemisphere, north of the taiga belt. The word "tundra" usually refers only to the areas where the subsoil is permafrost, or permanently frozen soil. (It may also refer to the treeless plain in general, so that northern Sápmi would be included.) Permafrost tundra includes vast areas of northern Russia and Canada. The polar tundra is home to several peoples who are mostly nomadic reindeer herders, such as the Nganasan and Nenets in the permafrost area .

Arctic

Antarctic tundra occurs on Antarctica and on several Antarctic and subantarctic islands, including South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the Kerguelen Islands. Most of Antarctica is too cold and dry to support vegetation, and most of the continent is covered by ice fields. However, some portions of the continent, particularly the Antarctic Peninsula, have areas of rocky soil that support plant life. The flora presently consists of around 300–400 lichens, 100 mosses, 25 liverworts, and around 700 terrestrial and aquatic algae species, which live on the areas of exposed rock and soil around the shore of the continent. Antarctica's two flowering plant species, the Antarctic hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica) and Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis), are found on the northern and western parts of the Antarctic Peninsula

ANTARTIC

Alpine tundra does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. Alpine tundra is distinguished from arctic tundra in that alpine tundra typically does not have permafrost, and alpine soils are generally better drained than arctic soils. Alpine tundra transitions to subalpine forests below the tree line; stunted forests occurring at the forest-tundra ecotone are known as Krummholz.

Alpine tundra occurs in mountains worldwide. The flora of the alpine tundra is characterized by dwarf shrubs close to the ground. The cold climate of the alpine tundra is caused by the low air pressure, and is similar to polar climate.

ALPINE

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