Forest Types of India
Natural vegetation means plants that have grown without human help. India has about 47,000 plant species and 89,000 animal species (approximate; verify with ZSI and BSI), which makes it one of the 17 mega-diverse countries.
Champion and Seth classification (16 types in 5 groups)
The simplified textbook (NCERT / FSI) list has five major types:
| Type | Rainfall | Key trees | Regions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen | Above 200 cm | Rosewood, mahogany, ebony, rubber, cinchona | Western Ghats, Assam, Meghalaya, Andaman and Nicobar, Arunachal |
| Tropical deciduous (monsoon) | 70-200 cm | Teak, sal, sandalwood, shisham, mahua, bamboo | Most of peninsular India, Sub-Himalayan belt, Odisha, Chhattisgarh |
| Tropical thorn and scrub | Below 70 cm | Babool, acacia, date palm, khejri, cactus | Rajasthan, Gujarat, parts of Deccan |
| Montane (mountain) | Varies with height | Chir pine, deodar, oak, rhododendron, silver fir, spruce | Himalayas, Nilgiri hills |
| Mangrove / tidal | Saline water | Sundari, rhizophora, avicennia | Sundarbans, Bhitarkanika, Godavari-Krishna deltas, Andaman |
Tropical deciduous in two parts
- Moist deciduous: 100-200 cm; teak, sal, shisham, sandalwood; eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, north-east, Odisha, Jharkhand.
- Dry deciduous: 70-100 cm; teak, sal, peepal, neem; most of the peninsular plateau and the Gangetic plain.
Himalayan vegetation by altitude
| Altitude (m) | Zone | Trees |
|---|---|---|
| Up to about 1,500 | Tropical and subtropical | Sal, bamboo, chir pine in lower zones |
| 1,500-3,000 | Temperate | Oak, chestnut, deodar, spruce, silver fir |
| 3,000-4,000 | Alpine | Silver fir, juniper, birch, rhododendron |
| Above 4,000 | Tundra | Mosses, lichens, grasses |
Mangroves
- About 4,992 sq km in 2023 (ISFR 2023 gives about 4,991.68 sq km; West Bengal has the largest share, followed by Gujarat and Andaman and Nicobar).
- Sundarbans is the world's largest mangrove forest, shared with Bangladesh.
- Mangroves protect coasts from cyclones, trap silt and breed fish.
Keep practising
Notes are only half the work. Test yourself with questions and discuss doubts with other aspirants.
Prepared for exam revision from NCERT, standard geography textbooks, the Census of India 2011, the India State of Forest Report, IMD, Ministry of Agriculture and other official sources. Maps are schematic teaching maps, not Survey of India maps, and zone boundaries are approximate. Figures such as production, capacity, counts of parks and ports, and census status change, so check the latest official source before relying on them. Found a mistake? Tell us.