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NCERT Class 9 Geography Chapter 5: Natural Vegetation & Wildlife of India

NCERT Class 9 Geography

Chapter 5: Natural Vegetation & Wildlife

India – Flora & Fauna

  • Among 12 mega bio-diversities of world
  • 47,000 plant species (10th – world, 4th – Asia)
  • 15,000 flowering plants (6% of world)
  • 89,000 animal species
  • 1,200 bird species (13% of world)
  • 2,500 fishes (12% of world)
Illustration: India – Flora & Fauna

Factors Affecting Flora & Fauna

  • Relief
  • Land – rough terrain – grassland and woodland
  • Soil – sandy for cactus; wet deltaic for mangroves
  • Climate
  • Temperature – Tropical Subtropical Alpine (with ht.)
  • Photoperiod (Sunlight) – more sunlight, faster growth as in summers
  • Precipitation – rainfall by SW monsoon & retreating NE monsoon

Importance of Forests

  • Modify climate
  • Control soil erosion
  • Regulate stream flow
  • Support industries
  • Provide livelihood
  • Recreation
  • Control wind force
  • Cause rainfall
  • Shelter to wildlife
  • 2015 – 21.34% forest cover in India (cause - degradation)

Forested Area in India – 2013 (Forest Survey of India)

Image of Forested Area in India - 2013
Top 3 States% Forested Area
Mizoram90.38%
Lakshadweep84.56%
Andaman & Nicobar Islands81.36%
Bottom 3 States
Punjab3.52%
Haryana3.59%
UP5.96%

Types of Vegetation

  • Tropical Rainforest
  • Tropical Deciduous Forest
  • Tropical Thorn Forest
  • Montane Forest
  • Mangrove Forest
Illustration: Types of Vegetation

Tropical Rainforests

  • Heavy rainfall of 200 cm
  • Western Ghats, Lakshadweep, A & N Islands, Upper Assam & T. Nadu coast
  • Short dry season
  • Tree height – upto 60 meters
  • Warm & wet – year round
  • Multi-layered structure
  • Ebony, mahogany, rosewood, rubber, cinchona
  • Elephant, monkey, lemur, rhino

Tropical Deciduous

  • Rainfall of 70 - 200 cm
  • Shed leaves for 6 - 8 weeks in summers
  • Moist (100 - 200 cm) : NE States, Himalaya, Jharkhand, W. Orissa, Chhattisgarh & eastern slop of Western Ghats – teak, bamboo, sal, shisham
  • Dry (70 - 100 cm) : Rainier peninsula, Bihar & UP – teak, sal, peepal, neem

Tropical Thorn Forest

  • Rainfall less than 70 cm
  • NW India – Raj, Gujarat, MP, Chhattisgarh, UP, Haryana
  • Acacia, palm, cacti, euphorbia
  • Long roots
  • Succulent stems – conserve water
  • Leaves – thick and small - evaporation
  • Rat, mice rabbits, fox, wolf

Montane Forests

  • Wet temperate forest (1,000 - 2,000 m) : evergreen broadleaf trees – oak & chestnut
  • Temperate forest conifers (1500 - 3000 m) : Pine, deodar, spruce, cedar – south Himalayas & NE India
  • Alpine (above 3600 m) : Silver fir, juniper, pines – at more ht. – alpine grasslands – Gujjar & Bakarwals
  • Tundra – above alpine – mosses and lichens
  • Kashmir stag, spotted deer, Tibetan antelope, snow leopard, red panda

Mangroves

  • Tidal forests
  • Silt and mud accumulated
  • Roots submerged in water – delta of Ganga, Mahanadi, and Krishna – Sundari trees for timber, coconut, agar, Royal Bengal tigers and snakes

Wildlife

  • Elephants – Assam, Karnataka, Kerala
  • One-horned Rhino – Assam & West Bengal
  • Wild Ass – Kutch – arid areas
  • Camels – Thar desert
  • Lions – Gir forest
  • Tigers – MP, Sunderbans, Himalayas
  • Yak, Wild ox, Tibetan antelope, bharal (blue sheep) , kiang (Tibetan wild ass) – Ladakh & Himalayas – in pockets – red panda, ibex, snow leopard, bear
  • Only nation to have both lion & tigers

Importance

  • Milch animals – milk, draught, meat, egg
  • Fish - nutritive food
  • Insects – pollination

Red List IUCN – for India (2012)

  • 132 species – critically endangered (18 species of amphibians, 14 fishes, 10 mammals, 15 bird species)
  • 310 species - Endangered (69 fishes, 38 mammals and 32 amphibians)
  • 2 plant species - extinct in the wild, including Euphorbia mayuranthanii of Kerala.
  • Leaf frog species as extinct
  • Saker Falcon - Endangered
  • 15 species of Indian birds (Great Indian bustard, Siberian crane and sociable lapwing - Critically Endangered) .

Conservation

  • Biosphere reserves in India – 18 (Core, Buffer & Transition zone) – Nilgiri (T. N. , Karnataka & Kerala) – oldest, then came Nanda Devi & Nokrek; by area largest is Great Rann of Kutch estb, in 2008; newest – Seshachalam (AP, 2010) & Panna (MP, 2011)
  • National Parks
  • Wildlife sanctuaries
  • Project Tiger
  • Project Rhino
  • Project Great Indian Bustard

Manishika