The peninsular region of India has the largest forest cover with around 57% of the total forest area.
According to geo-climatic conditions, forests are classified into:
a. Evergreen Forests: These forests are found in the regions of heavy rainfall and high temperature. Tall umbrella shaped trees with dense assemblage is a prominent feature of this forest. The ever green forest always looks green because various species of trees are found here and they shed leaves in different seasons.
The hardwood trees, rose wood, white cedar, toon, gurjan, chaplash, ebony, Mahogany, canes, bamboo, shisham etc. These are found in North-east India, Western Ghats, Andaman and Nicobar islands, parts of Assam and some areas of Himalayan foot hills.
b. The Deciduous forests: The deciduous forest covers a wide range of rainfall regimes. The trees of these forests seasonally shed their leaves. The Indian deciduous forest is found in a range of landscapes from the plains to the hills. These forests provide shelter to most endangered wild life in the country, such as the Tiger, ***** Elephant, Bison, Gaur etc. The deciduous forest are two types
(i) Moist Deciduous forests: The moist deciduous forests are found in wet regions, receiving annual rainfall between 100cm to 200cam and temperature of 25° C to 30° C. The trees of these forests shed their leaves during spring and early summer. They are found on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, Chota Nagpur Plateau, the siwaliksetc.
(ii) The Dry Deciduous Forests: The dry deciduous forest are found I the areas where annual rainfall is between 50cm to 150 cm and temperature of 25° C to 30° C. Sal is the most significant tree found in this forest. Varieties of acacia and bamboo are also fund here. These forests are found in areas of central Deccan plateau, South-east of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
(iii) The mountain forests: As the name indicates these forests are confined to the Himalayan region, where the temperature is less compared to other parts of the country. The trees in this forest are cone shape with needle like leaves. The important trees are oak, fir, pin e spruce, silver fir, deodhar, devdar, juniper, picea chestnut etc. They provide softwood for making country boats, packing materials and sport articles.
c. The Desert forests: These forests are found in the areas of very low rainfall. Thorny bushes, shrubs, dry grass, acacia, cacti and babul are the important vegetation found in these forests. The Indian wild date known as ‘Khejurs”, is common in the deserts. They have spine leaves, long roots and thick fleshy stems in which they store water to survive during the long drought. These vegetations are found in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana.
d. The Mangrove Forests: These forests occur along the river deltas (Ganga, Mahanadi. Godavari and Krishna) of eastern coast and also concentrated in the coastal areas of Katchch, Kathiawar, and Gulf of Khambar. The mangrove forests in the Ganga delta are called Sunder bans because, they have extensive growth of Sundari trees. The trees in these forests are hard, durable and are used in boat making and as fuel. In the recent years mangrove vegetation is being grown I the coastal areas to control effects of tidal waves and coastal erosion.
