Natural Vegetation And Wild Life

Natural Vegetation And Wild Life

Natural Vegetation - The growth of vegetation depends on temperature and moisture.

- With the change in height , climate change that change the vegetation.

- Growth also depends on slope and thickness of soil.

Categories:- 1. Forests 2. Grassland 3. Shrubs

1 . Forest:- Grows where temperature and rain are plentyful

- May be open and dense forest.

# Types of forests:-

A Tropical Forests:-

a) Also called rainforests

b) Found near equator and close to tropical

c) Region are hot with heavy rainfall and trees remain green

d) Dense trees do not allow sunlight to penetrate.

e) Trees – Hardwood trees like rosewood, ebony, mahagany

f) Rainforests are populated with insects (like butterflies and beetles), arachnids (like spiders and ticks), worms, reptiles (like snakes and lizards), amphibians (like frogs and toads), birds (like parrots and toucans) and mammals (like sloths and jaguars). Different animals live in different strata of the rainforest.

g) Countris-Bolivia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ecuador, Gabon, Guyana, India, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Congo, Suriname, and Venezuela.

B Tropical Deciduous Forest:-

a) Aiso known as monsoon forest found in India, North Australia and in central America .

b) Trees shed their leaves in dry season.

c) Trees found – Sal , Teak, Neem, Sheesham

d) Wood is used for making furniture, transport and constructional material.

e) Common Animal- Tiger, Lion, Langoor and Monkeys.

C Temperate Evergreen Forest –

a) Located in mid latitudinal coastal regions

b) Commonly found along eastern margin of continents e.g. in South East USA, South China and south East Brazil

c) Trees found - Oak, Pine, eukalyptus , Maple, Beech, Birch, Elm, Hickory, Walnut

d) Common Animals - Red-crowned crane, Owls, Hawks, Squirrels, Sable, Black bears, Wolves, Leopard, Lynx, Siberian tiger, Otters, Red panda, Cougars

D Temperate Deciduous Forest-

a) Found in higher latitudes.

b) Regions- Northern Hemisphere: eastern North America, East Asia,and Europe. Smaller areas occur in Australasia and southern South America.

c) Tress shed their leaves in dry season.

d) Common Trees - Broadleaf trees (oaks, maples, beeches), shrubs, perennial herbs, and mosses

e) Common Animals – In North America, birds like broad-winged hawks, cardinals, snowy owls, and pileated woodpeckers are found in this biome. Mammals in North American temperate deciduous forests include white-tailed deer, raccoons, opossums, porcupines and red foxes.

f) Receives - 750 to 1,500 mm of rain per year

g) Trees - Broadleaf trees (oaks, maples, beeches), shrubs, perennial herbs, and mosses

E. Mediterranean –

a) Mediterranean vegetation, any scrubby, dense vegetation composed of broad-leaved evergreen

shrubs, bushes, and small trees usually less than 2.5 m (about 8 feet) tall and growing in regions

lying between 30° and 40° north and south latitudes.

b) Region - Mediterranean Basin, Chilean Matorral, California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion

of California and the Baja California Peninsula, Western Cape of South Africa, sclerophyll

forests in Australia found in the southwest, southern and southeast Australia

c) Fruits – Oranges, figs, olives, grapes,

d) Commonly known as “Orchard of the world”.

e) Trees have thick bark and wax coating to reduce transpiration.

F Coniferous Forests –

a) Temperature - Minus 40°C to 20°C, average summer temperature is 10°C

b) Receives 300 to 900 millimeters of rain per year

c) Found - Canada, Europe, Asia, and the United States

d) Coniferous forest regions have cold, long, snowy winters, and warm, humid summers; well-defined seasons, at least four to six frost-free months

e) Tress- Coniferous evergreen – Chir, pine, cedar

f) Also called as Taiga

g) Common Animals- Silver fox, mink, Polar bear

2. Grassland –

A. Tropical Grassland- a) Tropical grasslands are located near the equator, between the Tropic of

Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. They cover much of Africa as well as large areas of Australia, South America, and India.

b) Tropical grasslands are dominated by grasses, often 3 to 6 feet tall at maturity. They may have some drought-resistant, fire-resistant or browse-resistant trees, or they may have an open shrub layer. They develop in regions where the climax community should be forest, but drought and fire prevent the establishment of many trees.

c) Common Animals - giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, kangaroos, mice, moles, gophers, ground squirrels, snakes, worms, termites, beetles, lions, leopards, hyenas, and elephants

B. Temperate Grassland –

a) Temperate grasslands are located north of the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees North) and south of the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 degrees South). The major temperate grasslands include the veldts of Africa, the pampas of South America, the steppes of Eurasia, and the plains of North America.

b) Trees and large shrubs are largely absent. Seasonal drought, occasional fires and grazing by large mammals all prevent woody shrubs and trees from becoming established. A few trees such as cottonwoods, oaks and willows grow in river valleys, and a few hundred species of flowers grow among the grasses. The various species of grasses include purple needlegrass, blue grama, buffalo grass, and galleta. Flowers include asters, blazing stars, coneflowers, goldenrods, sunflowers, clovers, psoraleas, and wild indigos.

c) Common Animals - bison , pronghorn, pocket gophers , prairie dogs, wolves, coyotes, swift foxes, badgers , black-footed ferrets, grouses, meadowlarks, quails, sparrows, hawks and owls.

C. Thorny Bushes –

a) Found in Dry desert, western margin of continents.

b) Vegetation – Scarce because of scanity of rain and scarching heat.

c) Examples – Mosses, lichen small shrubs

d) Found in polar region of Europe, Asia, North America

e) Common Animals – Seal, walruses, musk oxen, Arctic owl, Polar bear and snow foxes.