Forests and their types

In India, all lands which are more than 1 hectare in area and with a canopy density of more than 10% irrespective of ownership and legal status is called Forest Cover. Though there has been lot of controversy on definition of forests, as it is not even defined properly in Forest Rights Act. Though there are many other definitions of forests, it can be closely said to be a large area of land covered with trees or other woody vegetation.

Forests are major ecosystem of earth and support tremendous amount of biodiversity. The type of forest one may encounter depends most importantly on the climate of that area.

Types of Forests

There has been multiple categorization of forests from a very simple to very complex ones which might involve 30+ forests types.

In context of India, most comprehensive categorization was given by Champion and Seth in 1968 (See picture below)

A more simplistic forest types can be adapted from what is given in India: Physical Environment (Class XI, NCERT)

1. Tropical evergreen and Semi Evergreen Forests
2. Tropical Deciduous Forests
3. Tropical Thorn Forests
4. Montane Forests
5. Littoral and Swamp Forests

Let’s see each one of them in detail

1. Tropical Evergreen and Semi Evergreen Forests
   1. Well stratified with layers close to ground are covered with shrubs and creepers, with short structured trees followed by tall variety of trees.
   2. Trees can reach height of upto 60m or above
   3. There is no definite time for trees to shed their leaves, flowering and fruition
   4. The semi evergreen forests are found in the less rainy parts of these regions. Such forests have a mixture of evergreen and moist deciduous trees

 

2. Tropical Deciduous Forests/Monsoon Forests (Moist/Dry)
   1. Moist Deciduous Forests
      1. Found in the NE states along the foothills of Himalayas, eastern slopes of the Western Ghats and Odisha
   2. Dry Deciduous Forests
      1. Found in rainier areas of the Peninsula and the plains of UP and Bihar
      2. These forests have a parkland landscape with open stretches in which teak and other trees are interspersed with patches of grass

 

3. Tropical Thorn Forests
   1. Includes semi arid areas of SW Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, MP and UP
   2. Plants remain leafless for most part of year
   3. Tussocky grass grows upto a height of 2m as the undersgrowth

 

4. Montane Forests (Northern/Southern)
   1. The decrease in temp with altitude leads to corresponding change in natural vegetation
   2. Northern/Himalayan
      1. Shows a succession of vegetation from tropical to the tundra, which change with altitude
      2. Deciduous forest are found in the foothills of the Himalayas

• Succeeded by the wet temperate type of forests (1000

1. Evergreen broad leaved trees such as Oak and Chestnut are predominant (1500m-1750m)
2. Silver Firs, Junipers, Pines, Birch and Rhododendrons etc occur between 3000-4000m

1. Southern
   1. As they are closer to tropics, and only above 1500m above MSL, vegetation is temperate in higher regions. The temperate forests are called SHOLAS in Nilgiris, Anaimalai and Palani Hills. Also found in Satpura and Maikal range.

 

5. Littoral and Swamp Forests
   1. Salt tolerant species

The table below shows some of the usual species of trees found in such forests.

Types	Tropical Evergreen	Tropical Semi Evergreen	Tropical Deciduous Forests		Tropical Thorn Forests	Montane Forests
			Moist	Dry		Northern	Southern
Conditions	> 200 cm		70 cm-200 cm	70-100 cm	<50cm	Gradual and changes with altitude
	Mean Annual Temp = 22C
Examples	Rosewood	White Cedar	Teak	Teak with grass	Babool	Deodar	Magnolia
	Mahogany	Hollock	Sal	Tendu	Ber	Chinar	Laurel
	Aini	Kail	Shisham	Palas	Palas	Walnut	Cinchona
	Ebony	Oak	Hurra	Amaltas	Neem	Blue Pine	Wattle
			mahua	Bel	Khejri	Spruce
			Amla	Khair	Khair	Silver Firs
			Semul	Axlewood	Wild Date Palm	Junipers
			Kusum			Pines
			Sandalwood			Birch
						Rohododendrons

 

Other Categorization of Forests

It may be based upon the canopy density

1. Scrubs < 10%
2. Open Forest 10-40%
3. Moderately Dense Forests 40%-70%
4. Very Dense > 70%

Forests have become really critical, considering its immense usefulness in climate control and also commitment of India in INDC, of creating additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2.

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