Geography (Chap-6) Cl-7 Natural Vegetation And Wildlife

Geography (Chap-6)            Natural Vegetation And Wildlife

Ø  Natural Vegetation is generally classified into three  broad categories; Forests, Grasslands  & Shrubs.

       (i)  Forests: Forests grow where temperature and rainfall are plentiful to support  a tree cover.                  ^                         Depending upon these factors, dense and open forests are grown.

       (ii) Grasslands: these grow in the region of moderate rain.

       (iii) Shrubs: Thorny shrubs and scrubs grow in the dry region.

Ø  The changes in the type of natural vegetation occur mainly of the changes in climatic conditions.

Ø  East and North-East margins of the continents are covered by Evergreen and  deciduous forests.

·         Tropical Evergreen Forests/ Tropical Rain Forests

Ø  The Tropical evergreen forest in Brazil is so enormous that it is like the lungs of the earth.

Ø  These thick forests found in the regions near the equator and close to the tropics. That’s why these evergreen forests are also called tropical forests.

Ø  The regions near the equator and the tropics are hot and receive heavy rainfall throughout the year. As there is no particular dry season, the trees do not shed their leaves altogether, so called evergreen.

Ø  The thick canopies of the closely spaced trees do not allow the sunlight to enter into the forest even in the day time. Hardwood trees like rosewood, ebony, mahogany are commonly found here.

·         Tropical Deciduous Forests:

Ø  Tropical deciduous forests also known as the monsoon forests found in the  larger part of India, in the northern Australia and in central America.

Ø  The regions of tropical deciduous forests experience seasonal changes. Trees shed their leaves in the dry season to conserve water. The hardwood trees found in these forests are sal, teak, neem and shisham.

Ø  Animals such as tigers, lions, elephants, langoors and monkeys are found here.

·         Temperate Evergreen Forests:

Ø  The temperate Evergreen Forests are found in the mid-latitudinal coastal region. These are commonly located along the coastal margin of the continents like, south-east USA, South China and in south-east Brazil.

Ø  In temperate evergreen forests both hard and soft wood trees like  oak, pine, eucalyptus etc. are found.

·         Temperate Deciduous Forests

Ø  When we go towards the  higher latitudes, there are more temperate deciduous forests found in the north-eastern part of USA, China, New Zealand, Chile and in the coastal regions of Western Europe.

Ø  The trees of the temperate deciduous forests shed their leaves in the dry season.

Ø  The common trees found in temperate deciduous forests are oak, ash, beech etc.

Ø  Animals like deer, foxes, wolves and birds like pheasants, monals etc. found in these forests.

·         Mediterranean Vegetation

Ø  The west and south west margins of the continents are different from the east and north-eastern part. They have Mediterranean Vegetation and are mostly found around the Mediterranean Sea in  Asia, Europe and Africa, hence got its name.

Ø  Mediterranean Vegetation is also found outside the actual Mediterranean region in California(USA), south-west of Africa, south-western part of  South America and south-west of  Australia.

Ø  These regions are marked for hot dry summers and mild rainy winters. No much wildlife found here.

Ø  Citrus fruits such as oranges, figs, olives and grapes are commonly cultivated here.

Ø  People have removed the natural vegetation in order to cultivate what they want to do.

·         Coniferous Forests

Ø  Coniferous Forests are also called as  ‘Taiga’ means pure and untouched.

Ø  In the higher latitudes (50’-70’) of Northern hemisphere the coniferous forests are found.

Ø  These are the trees which Salima found in the Himalayas in abundance. They are tall, softwood evergreen trees which are very useful for making pulp, and are used for manufacturing paper and newsprint.

Ø  Chir, pine, cedar are important trees found in coniferous forests which are used for making match boxes and packing boxes.

Ø  Animals like Silver fox, mink, polar bear etc. found here.

·         Grasslands (Tropical Grasslands)

Ø  Tropical grasslands found on either side of the equator and extended upto tropic area.

Ø  This vegetation grows in the areas of moderate to low amount of rainfall.

Ø  The grass grows very tall upto 3-4 meters in height.

Ø  Savanna grasslands of Africa are of this type. In Brazil it is called ‘Campos’ and in Venezuela it is called ‘Llanos’.

·         Temperate Grasslands

Ø  These grasslands found in the mid-latitudinal zones and in the interior part of the continents. The temperate grasslands are known  by different names to different regions like;

Argentina- Pampas

North America- Prairie

South Africa – Veld

Central Asia – Steppe

Australia – Down

Ø  Usually, grass  found in these regions are short and nutritious. Wild buffaloes, Bisons, Antilopes are the common animals found here.

·         Thorny Bushes

Ø  These thorny bushes found in dry desert like regions.

Ø  Tropical deserts are located on the western margins of the continents.

Ø  Because of scanty rain and scorching heat the vegetation cover is scare here. Thar, the great desert of India is found in these regions.

·         Tundra Vegetation

Ø  Tundra Vegetation is found in Polar areas of Asia, Europe and North America. Because of extreme cold regions the growth of natural vegetation is very limited here.

Ø  Only mosses, lichens and very small shrubs grows here during the very short summer. This is called   Tundra type of vegetation.

Ø  The animals have thick fur and thick skin to protect themselves from the extreme cold climatic conditions.

Ø  Animals like Seal, Walruses, Musk-oxen, Arctic Owl, Polar Bear and Snow Foxes are found here.