Forest ecosystem

Forests are formed by a community of plants which is predominantly structurally defined by its trees, shrubs, climbers and ground cover.

Natural vegetation looks vastly different from a group of planted trees, which are in orderly rows. The most ‘natural’ undisturbed forests are located mainly in our National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries. The landscapes that make up various types of forests look very different from each other. Their distinctive appearance is a fascinating aspect of nature. Each forest type forms a habitat for a specific community of animals that are adapted to live in it.

The forest ecosystem has two parts:

The non-living or abiotic aspects of the forest:

The type of forest depends upon the abiotic conditions at the site. Forests on mountains and hills differ from those along river valleys. Vegetation is specific to the amount of rainfall and the local temperature which varies according to latitude and altitude. Forests also vary in their plant communities in response to the type of soil.

The living or the biotic aspects of the forest:

The plants and animals form communities that are specific to each forest type. For instance coniferous trees occur in the Himalayas. Mangrove trees occur in river deltas. Thorn trees grow in arid areas. The snow leopard lives in the Himalayas while the leopard and tiger live in the forests of the rest of India. Wild sheep and goats live high up in the Himalayas. Many of the birds of the Himalayan forests are different from the rest of India. Evergreen forests of the Western Ghats and North East India are most rich in plant and animal species.

The biotic component includes both the large (macrophytes) and the microscopic plants and animals. Plants include the trees, shrubs, climbers, grasses, and herbs in the forest. These include species that flower (angiosperms), and non-flowering species (gymnosperms) such as ferns, bryophytes, fungi and algae. The animals include species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and other invertebrates and a variety of microscopic animals.

Grassland ecosystems

A wide range of landscapes in which the vegetation is mainly formed by grasses and small annual plants are adapted to India’s various climatic conditions. These form a variety of grassland ecosystems with their specific plants and animals.

Grasslands cover areas where rainfall is usually low and/or the soil depth and quality is poor. The low rainfall prevents the growth of a large number of trees and shrubs, but is sufficient to support the growth of grass cover during the monsoon. Many of the grasses and other small herbs become dry and the part above the ground dies during the summer months. In the next monsoon the grass cover grows back from the root stock and the seeds of the previous year. This change gives grasslands a highly seasonal appearance with periods of increased growth followed by a dormant phase.

A variety of grasses, herbs, and several species of insects, birds and mammals have evolved so that they are adapted to these wide-open grass covered areas. These animals are able to live in conditions where food is plentiful after the rains, so that they can store this as fat that they use during the dry period when there is very little to eat. Man began to use these grasslands as pastures to feed his livestock when he began to domesticate animals and became a pastoralist in ancient times.