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Natural Vegetation



                                                                            and Wildlife                18










             q   Natural vegetation                                 q   Forests
             q   Grasslands                                         q   Desert vegetation
             q   Tundra vegetation

            Introduction                                            more about each of these zones with their plants

            The earth has been blessed with different physical      cover and the wildlife.
            features in the form of mountains, rivers, seas,
            oceans, forests, plateaus, plains and the like. We            Info Bits
                                                                          Info Bits
            can find different physical features in different parts
            of the earth. These physical features together with      The eucalyptus tree was taken from its natural
            different conditions of altitude, moisture, wind,        habitat in Australia and transplanted in far off
            temperature, availability of water etc. have given       places such as India, California and North Africa.
            birth to a large variety of natural vegetation and
            wildlife.                                                                     FORESTS
                                                                    The forest is a complex ecosystem consisting
                           NATURAL VEGETATION                       mainly of the trees that offer the earth with many

            A major part of the earth is covered with natural       kinds of life forms. Forests are found in areas
            vegetation. It refers to the assemblage of plant        where there is high rainfall over 500 millimetres.
            species living in association with one another in a     Forests can be further divided into six subtypes.
            given environment. It is basically the plant cover
                                                                          Info Bits
            on the surface of the earth. It tends to include              Info Bits
            trees, plants, shrubs, grasses, forests, flowers etc.
            These occur in various combinations depending            Forests are like the lungs of the earth. At least 33%
            on the climate and soil.                                 of the total land surface must be covered with
                                                                     forests.
            Natural vegetation provides natural habitat to the
            animals and many precious and useful things to           Tropical Evergreen Forests
            human beings such as fruits, fuel, medicines,
                                                                    Hot and humid climate is most suited to the
            wood resin, gum etc. which are used by man to           growth of natural vegetation, and this type of
            meet his different purposes. It also provides raw       climate is found near the Equator and tropics,
            materials to industries and contributes to add
                                                                    such as South America, Africa,
            nation’s economy. Thus, human beings and                Malaysia, Myanmar etc. This
            animals are dependent upon the plants and plant         region gets a lot of rainfall
            products.
                                                                    throughout the year, so the
            We    can    identify   four   natural   vegetation     tropical evergreen forests are
            zones—forests, grasslands, deserts and tundra.          also   called    the    tropical
            Each of these zones has wildlife specific to it, but    rainforests .  This region has no
            sometimes the wildlife overlaps. Let us know            specific dry season, due to       A tropical evergreen
                                                                                                            forest
                     Contemporary Social Science-7
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