Chapter 5 — Natural Vegetation

Natural vegetation refers to a plant community that has been left undisturbed over a long time, allowing individual species to adjust to climate and soil conditions as fully as possible.

Indian forests are classified into: (i) Tropical Evergreen and Semi Evergreen forests, (ii) Tropical Deciduous forests, (iii) Tropical Thorn forests, (iv) Montane forests, and (v) Littoral and Swamp forests.

They are found on the western slope of the Western Ghats, hills of the northeastern region, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. They receive over 200 cm of annual precipitation and have mean annual temperatures above 22°C. Trees reach up to 60 m and include rosewood, mahogany, aini, and ebony. There is no definite time for trees to shed leaves, so they appear green all year round.

They are called monsoon forests because they spread over regions receiving rainfall between 70–200 cm, which is closely tied to the monsoon season. They are the most widespread forests in India.

Moist deciduous forests receive 100–200 cm of rainfall and are found in northeastern states, eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, and Odisha; species include teak, sal, shisham, mahua, and sandalwood. Dry deciduous forests receive 70–100 cm of rainfall and are found on the Peninsular plateau and the plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; common species include tendu, palas, amaltas, bel, and khair.

Thorn forests occur in areas receiving less than 50 cm of rainfall. They cover semi-arid areas of southwest Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. Plants remain leafless for most of the year, and important species include babool, ber, wild date palm, neem, and khejri. Tussocky grass grows up to 2 m as undergrowth.

Transhumance is the seasonal movement of people with their livestock to alpine pastures. In the Himalayas, tribes like the Gujjars, Bakarwals, Bhotiyas, and Gaddis use these alpine pastures extensively for transhumance.

Sholas are temperate forests found in the higher regions of the Nilgiris, Anaimalai, and Palani hills in Peninsular India (the southern mountain forests).

Mangroves grow along coasts in salt marshes, tidal creeks, mud flats, and estuaries and consist of salt-tolerant plant species that shelter a wide variety of birds. India's mangrove forests cover 4,992 sq. km, which is 7% of the world's mangrove forests. They are highly developed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Sunderbans of West Bengal, and are also present in the Mahanadi, Godavari, and Krishna deltas.

Social forestry means the management and protection of forests and afforestation on barren lands to aid environmental, social, and rural development. The National Commission on Agriculture (1976) classified it into: Urban forestry (trees in parks, green belts, and roadsides in urban areas), Rural forestry (agro-forestry and community forestry), and Farm forestry (farmers growing trees for commercial and non-commercial purposes on their farmlands).

The 1988 Forest Policy aimed at: bringing 33% of the geographical area under forest cover; maintaining environmental stability; conserving biological diversity and the genetic pool; checking soil erosion and reducing floods and droughts; increasing forest productivity for rural populations; and promoting social forestry and afforestation on degraded land.

Project Tiger was launched in 1973 to ensure a viable tiger population in India for scientific, aesthetic, cultural, and ecological values. It started with 9 tiger reserves covering 16,339 sq. km and has expanded to 58 reserves encompassing 84,487 sq. km across 18 states. The tiger population grew from 1,411 in 2006 to 3,682 in 2023, which is more than 75% of the global tiger population.

A Biosphere Reserve is a unique and representative ecosystem of terrestrial and coastal areas recognised under UNESCO's Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme. India has 18 Biosphere Reserves, and 12 of them are recognised on the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1986, was the first.

Key reasons include: rapid exploitation of forests due to industrial and technological advancement; clearing of land for agriculture, settlement, roads, mining, and reservoirs; local pressure for fodder, fuelwood, and small timber; grazing by domestic cattle; hunting and commercial poaching; and incidence of forest fires.

Chilika Lake in Odisha and Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur are protected as water-fowl habitats under the Ramsar Convention (Convention on Wetlands of International Importance).

Yes — the NCERT PDF for Class 11 Geography Chapter 5 Natural Vegetation is available free with no sign-up on cbseprepmaster.com.