India major forest types

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INDIA –MAJOR FOREST TYPES

By

Prof. A. Balasubramanian

Centre for Advanced Studies in Earth Science

University of Mysore,

India

Introduction:

India comprises four broad geographical areas, namely the Great Himalayas (East & west), the vast

Indo-gangetic plains, the Great Thar Desert, and the southern Peninsular bounded by the Western

and Eastern Ghats. Bounded by the Himalayas in the north, India stretches towards south, flanked

by the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea and tapers off into the Indian Ocean. India’s 328 Million

hectares of land mass lies within Latitudes 8.4 and 37.6 degrees north and Longitudes 68.7 and 97.2

degrees east. Physiographically and biogeographically, India is one of the most diverse countries.

Out of the total land area of India, 142.5 million ha (43.3%) is under agricultural development and

about 76.5 million ha (23.27%) of the total land is occupied by Forests.

Agricultural Urban and developmental expansion has forced the people to divert the unculturable

waste land with trees to produce fuel, fodder and timber for local use. This pressure has shifted on

forest resources.

Physiographic zones of India

India is rich in biodiversity because of its diverse physiography and climatic conditions. It falls in

the confluence of three major bio-geographic realms, as

a) The Indo-Malayan

b) The Eurasian and

c) The Afro-tropical realms

It is one of the 12 mega biodiversity countries of the world. The country is divided into many types

of biogeographic zones.

In India forests meet nearly 40% of the energy needs of the country of which more than 80% is

utilized in rural areas and about 30% of fodder needs of the cattle population. Forest products play a

very important roles in the rural and tribal economy. For landless families and marginal farmers,

forest related activities often represent the primary source of income.

1. Forest area in India.

The 1995 assessment has shown that India had 3.5 million ha of forests with over 70% crown

density, with 35 million ha with 40-70% crown density, 24-93 m ha with 10-40% crown cover and

6.08 m ha of scrub area. Thus only 11.73% of the land area has reasonable good forest cover of over

40% crown density against the 33% stipulation made by the National Forest Policies of 1952 and

1988. The constitution of India provides guidelines for protection of forests and wildlife.

The Directive Principles of State Policy have assigned duties for the states and citizens through

Articles 48-A and 51-A (g) which say that the state shall endorse to protect and improve the

environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country and the citizens are to protect

and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife.

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Forests are both a resource and a habitat. Forestry is an important part of landuse, and different types

of landuse complement each other. Landuse planning involves allocating land for different uses

based on land capability and agro-ecological conditions. Forests in India got evolved over centuries.

The land allocation for forestry has clearly earmarked the areas set apart as

a. Forestlands, primarily for production of goods and serivces and as protected areas, and

b. Non-forestlands where agro forestry, farm woodlots, wind belts, shelterbelts, avenue trees,

urban parks, homestead forests and sacred groves could develop.

Several socio-economic and environmental factors influence the relative role and importance of

forest and non-forest land. India places a great commitment on protecting, regenerating and growing

its forests.

India’s Forest Conservation Act 1980 is one of the most progressive forest conservation legislations

in the world. This Act puts severe restrictions on the diversion of forest land for non-forestry

purposes. The National Forest Policy, 1988 lays out clear directions and guidelines for forest

conservation and afforestation.

The present forest and tree cover of the country is 78.37 million ha in 2007 which is 23.84% of the

geographical areas and it includes 2.82% tree cover. This becomes 25.25%, if the areas above tree

line i.e., 4000m are excluded from the total geographical area.

The forest cover is classified into 3 canopy density classes.

1. Very Dense Forest (VDF) with canopy density more than 70%

2. Moderately Dense Forest (MDF) with Canopy density between 40-70% and

3. Open Forest (OF) with Canopy density between 10-40%

Scrub which is a degraded forest land with Canopy density less than 10% is not considered as a part

of forest cover.

The area under each of these density classes is as follows:

Class Forest cover(m ha) % of Geographical Area

(GA)

Forest Cover

Very Dense Forest 8.35 2.54

Moderately Dense Forest 31.90 9.71

Open Forest 28.84 8.77

Total Forest Cover

Tree Cover

69.09

9.28

21.02

2.82

Total Forest & Tree Cover

Non-Forest

Scrub

Non-Forest land

78.37

4.15

255.49

23.84

1.26

77.72

Total Geographical Area 328.73 100.00

The Recorded Forest Area consists of Reserved Forests (RF) and Protected Forests (PF) which have

been constituted under the Provisions of the Indian Forest Act 1927, and also an additional category

as unclassed forests.

India’s Forests Classified

A. Functional classification

The National Forest Policy of 1952 indicated the following functional classification:

a) Protection Forests-to be preserved (or) created for Physical (or) climatic consideration

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b) National Forests-to be maintained and managed to meet the needs of defense,

communication, industry and other general purposes of public importance

c) Village Forests to be maintained to provide fuel wood, small timber, fodder and other local

requirements

d) Tree lands-area which are outside the scope of forest management, but the scope of forest

management, but are essential for amelioration of physical, environmental and climatic

conditions.

The distribution is as follows.

Types of Forest Area in m ha

Protection Forests 10

Production Forests 15

Social Forests 25

Protected are Network

(National Parks, Sanctuaries, etc., )

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Total 64.0

B. Vegetation Classification

Climatic, rainfall, soil, topography and other ecological factors influence the vegetational types of

forests. Indian Forests show a great variation and range from tropical to coastal temperate forest

types.

The major forest types of India are

a) Tropical Forests

b) Sub tropical Forests

c) Temperate Forest

d) Alpine Forests

The tropical Forests have the mean annual temperature greater than 240C and the mean January

winter temperature is above 80C without any frost condition.

The subtropical Forests have the mean annual temperature between 17 and 240C with frost

conditions in January, with 10-180C mean temperature of winter.

The Temperature forests have 7 to 170C as mean annual temperature with 1 to 10

0C in January

containing frost and snow during winter.

The Alpine Forests have less than 70C as mean annual temperature and < 1

0C in January with full of

winter snow.

C. DETAILED FOREST CLASSIFICATION

Based on the vegetation including major tree species and other ecological factors, India’s forests are

classified into sixteen forests types.

They are :

D. Detailed Forest Types of India

Sl.

No. Forest Type Characteristics Major tree species

1. TROPICAL FORESTS

1. Tropical wet

evergreen forest (two

sub-groups)

Dense tall forests, 45 meters or more,

entirely evergreen or nearly so, no

specie occurs gregariously. No

individual species forms more than one

percent of the upper canopy

Dipeterocarpus,

artocarpus,

hopeadysoxylum,

mesua, cane and bamboo

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2. Semi-evergreen forest

(two sub-groups)

Dominants include deciduous species

but evergreens predominate. The

canopy is typically less dense than the

true evergreen

Dipeterocarpus,

artocarpus, terminalia,

albizzia, hopea, etc.,

cane and bamboo

3. Moist deciduous

forest (three groups)

Dominates mainly deciduous but sub

dominant and lower canopy largely

evergreen. Canopy rarely dense and

even but over 25 m high.

Tectona (teak) in south,

shorea robusta (sal) in

North, albizzia,

terminalia,

largerstroemia,

anogeissus,

peterocarpus, dalbergia

and bamboo

4. Littoral and swamp

forest (five sub

groups)

Mangroves, mainly evergreen, varying

density and height but always associated

with wetness.

Casuarina, heriteiora,

bruguiera, syzygium,

myristica, rhyzophora &

palm

II SUB TROPICAL FORESTS

5. Dry deciduous forest

(two sub groups)

Entirely deciduous or nearly so.

Top canopy rather light rarely over

25 meters high, usually 8-20 mts.

Tectona (Teak) in south,

shorea in North,

anogeissus, dalbergia,

terminalia, meadhuca,

acacia, diospyros, etc.,

and grasses.

6. Thorn forest (two Sub

groups)

Deciduous with low thorny trees.

Canopy more or less broken height

under 10 mts

Prosopia, acacia,

Zizyphus, Calotropis,

Prosopis, salvadora and

Euphorbia, etc.,

7. Dry Evergreen Forest Hardleaved evergreen trees predominant

with some deciduous emergents, often

dense, but usually under 20 meters high

Memicylon, mimusops,

maha, etc.,

8. Sub tropical

broadleaved

hill forest (two sub

group)

Broadleaved, largely evergreen high

forests.

Calophyllu,

cinnamomum,

castanopsis, ficus,

schima and michelia,

etc.

9. Subtropical

broadleaved hill forest

(two subgroup)

Pine association premominate Pinus roxburghii (in

west), P.kesiya and

pinus insularies (in east)

10. Subtropical dry

evergreen forest

Low xerophytic forest and scrub Olea cuspidate and

acacia modesta,

dodonea, etc.,

III. TEMPERATE FORESTS

11. Montane wet

temperate forest (two

subgroup)

Evergreen forest without conifers Termostroemia and

Michelia in souther hills

and Quercus (oak), acer,

alnus and machilus in

Himalayas.

12. Himalayan Moist

Temperate forest

Open coniferous mainly oak and

conifers

Cedrus deodara, abies

pindrow(fir), Quercus

(oak), Picea smithiana

(spruce), etc.

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13. Himalayan dry

temperate forest (two

subgroup)

Open coniferous forest with sparse

xerophytic under growth

Pinus wallichiana, pinus

gerardiana, ilex, quercus

harix, betula, salix spp.

Etc.

IV. ALPINE FOREST

14. Sub alpine forest Stunted deciduous or evergreen forest,

usually in close formation, with or

without conifers

Picea smithiana abies

spectabilis in west, and

abies densa and betula

utilis in east,

rhododendron spp. Etc.,

15. Moist alpine scrub Low but often dense scrub Betula utilis,

rhododendron, juniperus

and betula spp. Etc.

16. Dry alpine scrub Xerophytic scrub in open formation Juniperus communis and

juniperus wallichiana in

west and juniperus

recruva in east. Also

some salix and Hyricaria

spp.

E. Distribution of Forests:

India is one of the few countries in the world which has gone for an operational system of wall-to

wall mapping of forest cover on a regular cycle of 2 years. The forest survey of India is the

organization under the ministry of environment and Forests responsible for monitoring the forests

and tree cover of India. It has been regularly assessing the forest cover since 1987.

Based on remote sensing, interpretation of 300 satellite images, detailed ground truth verification,

proper tree cover assessment and systematic monitoring, the distribution of forests in India has been

snapped with greater accuracy by the Forest Survey of India.

The classification scheme of forest cover mapping is as follows:

a) Very Dense Forest – All lands with tree cover of canopy density of 70% and about

b) Moderately Dense Forest- All lands with tree cover of canopy density between 40% and 70%

c) Open Forest-All lands with tree cover canopy density between 10% and 40%

d) Scrub- Degraded forest lands with canopy density less than 10%

e) Non-forest- any area not included in the above classes.

Considering the high ecological significance, the Mangrove Forest cover in India has been separately

mapped in the 3 canopy density classes.

The distribution of Forests in India has been assessed by the ministry with reference to the following

divisions:

a. Distribution of Forest cover in States and Union Territory

b. Forest cover in Hilly Districts

c. Forest cover in Tribal Districts

d. Forest cover in the North-Eastern States

e. Forest cover in Different Altitude Zones

f. Area above Tree line

g. Forest cover in Different Forest Types

h. Change in Forest cover

i. Mangrove cover

j. Tree cover

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k. Growing stock

l. Trees outside forests

Tables showing state-wise forest areas:

STATE : THE THEN ANDHRA PRADESH

Sq. km %

Geographical Area 275,069

Recorded Forest Area (RFA) 63,821 23.20

Forest Cover (FC) 44,419 16.15

Forest + Tree Cover (FTC) 56,539 20.55

STATE : ARUNACHAL PRADESH

Sq. km %





STATE : ASSAM

Sq. km %





STATE : BIHAR

Sq. km %





STATE : CHHATTISGARH

Sq. km %





STATE : DELHI

Sq. km %


Recorded Forest Area (RFA) 85 5.73

Forest Cover (FC) 170 11.46

Forest + Tree Cover (FTC) 268 18.08

STATE : GOA

Sq. km %

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STATE : GUJARAT

Sq. km %





STATE : HARYANA

Sq. km %





STATE : HIMACHAL PRADESH

Sq. km %





STATE : JAMMU & KASHMIR

Sq. km %





STATE : JHARKHAND

Sq. km %





STATE : KARNATAKA

Sq. km %





STATE : KERALA

Sq. km %


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STATE : MADHYA PRADESH

Sq. km %





STATE : MAHARASHTRA

Sq. km %





STATE : MANIPUR

Sq. km %





STATE : MEGHALAYA

Sq. km %





STATE : MIZORAM

Sq. km %





STATE : NAGALAND

Sq. km %





STATE : ORISSA

Sq. km %



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STATE : RAJASTHAN

Sq. km %





STATE : SIKKIM

Sq. km %





STATE : TAMIL NADU

Sq. km %





STATE : TRIPURA

Sq. km %





STATE : UTTAR PRADESH

Sq. km %





STATE : UTTARANCHAL

Sq. km %





STATE : WEST BENGAL

Sq. km %




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STATE : ANDAMAN & NICOBAR

Sq. km %





STATE : CHANDIGARH

Sq. km %

Geographical Area 114




STATE : DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI

Sq. km %





STATE : DAMAN & DIU

Sq. km %



Forest Cover (FC) 8.34 7.45


STATE : LAKSHADWEEP

Sq. km %





STATE : PONDICHERRY

Sq. km %





E. Mangrove and Tree Cover

A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term,

Mangrove is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves occur

worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S. Mangroves are

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salt tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to live in harsh coastal conditions.

Mangroves contain a complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water

immersion and wave action. They are adapted to the low oxygen (anoxic) conditions of waterlogged

mud. Presence of Mangrove ecosystems on coastline can save lives and property during natural

hazards like cyclones, storm surges and erosion, as well.

Mangroves Forests in India:

The mangrove tidal forests are found in the coastal areas influenced by tides. Dense mangroves are

the common varieties with roots of the plants submerged under water. The deltas of the Ganga, the

Mahanadi, the Krishna, the Godavari and the Kaveri are covered with mangrove vegetation.

Mangroves in India account for about three percent of the world's mangrove vegetation. The

following table shows the presence of mangroves in the different states of India and the total area

covered by them in square kilometres.

Table: Area under Forest Types and its Percentage of Total Recorded Forest Area

Sl.

No. Forest Types

Area in

(Million

ha)

Percentage

of forest

Area

Occurrence in States/UTs of India

1. Tropical wet evergreen

forest

4.5 5.8 Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka,

Kerala, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland,

Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Andaman and

Nicobar islands and Goa

2. Tropical Semi

evergreen forest

1.9 2.5 Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra,

Nagaland, Orissa, T.N. Andaman &

Nicobar Islands and Goa

3. Tropical moist

deciduous forest

23.3 30.3 A.P., Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka,

Kerala, M.P., Maharashtra, Manipur,

Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland,

Orissa, T.N., U.P., West Bengal, Andaman

& Nicobar Islands, Goa, Dadra and Nagar

Haveli

4. Littoral and swamp

forest

0.7 0.9 A.P., Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa, T.N.,

West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

5. Tropical dry deciduous

forest

29.4 38.2 A.P., Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana, H.P.,

Karnataka, Kerala, M.P., Maharashtra, J &

K, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, T.N., U.P.,

6. Tropical Thorn forest 5.2 6.7 A.P., Gujarat, Haryana, H.P., M.P.,

Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab,

Rajasthan, T.N., U.P.,

7. Tropical dry evergreen

forest

0.1 0.1 A.P., T.N

8. Subtropical broad-

leaved hill forest

0.3 0.4 Assam, Meghalaya

9. Subtropical pine forest 3.7 5.0 A.P., H.P., J & K, Manipur, Meghalaya,

Nagaland, Sikkim, U.P., Haryana and

Punjab

10. Subtropical dry

evergreen forest

0.2 0.2 H.P., and J & K

11. Motane wet temperate 1.6 2.0 A.P., Karnataka, Manipur, Nagaland,

Sikkim, T.N.

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12. Himalayan moist

temperate forest

2.6 3.4 H.P., J & K, U.P.

13. Himalayan dry

temperate forest

0.2 0.2 J & K and H.P.

14. Sub alpine 3.3 4.3 A.P., H.P.

15. Moist alpine scrub

forest

3.3 4.3 J & K and U.P.

16. Alpine forest 3.3 4.3 J & K and U.P.

Total 77.0 100

Source: Forest survey of India (1995)

Of the 16 forest types, tropical dry deciduous forms the major forest type of India with 38.2 per cent

of the total forest area. Other predominant type is tropical moist deciduous covering 30.3 per cent of

the forest area of the country.

Environment

India major forest types