Tropical Deciduous Forest-Types and Characteristics

 Tropical deciduous forests:-

1. Tropical Deciduous forests also known as monsoon forests are found in the belt along the equator between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn as well as in the humid subtropics
2. In India Tropical Deciduous Forests are found in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and parts of Maharastra.
3. Tropical deciduous forests experience 80 to 90% humidity throughout the year and the average temperature is around 30 degree Celsius year around.
4. The tropical deciduous forest is found in tropical areas with a dry season that still has enough moisture for tree growth.
5. One of the most defining characteristics of monsoon forest is their seasonality.
6. Deciduous forest is a beautiful biome (alarge naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, e.g. forest or tundra.) famous for season and trees that lose their leaves in winter.
7. In the Tropical Deciduous forests, the majority of species of trees and other vegetation that make up the forest drop and shed their leaves during the cold (winter) and regrow new leaves in the next spring season (Monsoon Season).
8. Forests where a majority of the trees lose their foliage at the end of the typical growing season are called deciduous forests. These forests are found in many areas worldwide and have distinctive ecosystems, understory growth, and soil dynamics.

Features of Tropical Deciduous Forests in India

• These forests are lesser in density.
• These are the most widespread forest in India
• Spread over the region receiving rainfall between 200cm & 70cm.
• Trees of this forest types shed their leaves for about six to eight week in dry summer.
• These forests exist therefore mostly in the eastern part of the country.

Classification of Deciduous Forests

The Deciduous Forests are divided into two categories.

Moist Deciduous Forests

1. Moist deciduous forests are the mixture of trees and grasses.
2. These forests are found in areas of moderate rainfall of 100 to 200 cm per annum, mean annual temperature of about 27°C and the average annual relative humidity of 60 to 75 per cent.
3. Moist Deciduous Forests grow abundantly on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, Chhotanagpur Plateau (east M.P., south Bihar, west Orissa), and on the Shivaliks.
4. They are found in the north eastern states of Jharkhand, West Orissa and Chhattisgarh, parts of West Bengal and in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
5. The main species found in these forests are teak, sal, padauk, laurel, white chuglam, badam, dhup, chikrosi, kokko, haldu, rosewood, mahua, bijasal, lendi, semul, irul, dhaman, amla, kusum, tendu, paula, jamun, bamboo, etc.
6. It is comparatively easy to exploit these forests due to their high degree of gregariousness.
7. Open grass patches are found in moist deciduous forest.

Dry Deciduous Forests

1. The Indian dry deciduous forests are actually a type of the Indian deciduous or monsoon forests and they are mainly found in both Northern India and in the south Deccan plateau in India
2. These are found where rainfall is 100 – 200 cm.
3. These are found on peninsular plateau and plains of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh
4. Teak Sal, Peepal, and Neem are the dominant species found in the dry deciduous forest.
5. Lion, tiger, pig, deer and elephant are some of the animals that make these forests their habitat.

By: ABHISHEK KUMAR GARG