In India, trees of which forest type shed their leaves for about six to eight weeks in dry summer?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

SSC CHSL Tier-I Exam 2022 Official Paper (Held On: 10 March, 2023 Shift 4)

Answer 1

The correct answer is Tropical Deciduous Forests.

Key Points

Tropical Deciduous Forests:

These are the most widespread forests out of all the types of forests in India
Also, called Monsoon Forests.
They are found in the regions having rainfall between 70-200cm.
They shed their leaves for about six to eight weeks in dry summer.
Tropical Deciduous Forests are further classified into two types of forests on the basis of rainfall- Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests and Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests.
TROPICAL MOIST DECIDUOUS FORESTS:
- Present in the areas having rainfall between 100-200cm.
- Found in eastern slopes of Western Ghats, foothills of the Himalayas in the North-eastern States and Odisha.
- Main Species of Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests: Teak, Sal, Sheshum, amla, Kusum, mahua, Sandalwood, etc.
TROPICAL DRY DECIDUOUS FORESTS.
- Found in the areas having rainfall between 70-100cm.
- Present in rainier areas of the peninsula and the plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
- During Dry seasons, Trees shed their leaves completely and the forest appears like a Grassland.
- Main species of Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests: Khair, Tendu, Palas, axlewood, bel, etc.

Additional Information

Tropical Evergreen Forests:

These forests are restricted to heavy rainfall areas of the Western Ghats and the island groups of Lakshadweep, Andaman, and Nicobar, upper parts of Assam, and Tamil Nadu coast.
They are at their best in areas having more than 200 cm of rainfall with a short dry season.
The trees reach great heights up to 60 meters or even above.
Since the region is warm and wet throughout the year, it has luxuriant vegetation of all kinds.
The trees, shrubs, and creepers give it a multilayered structure.
There is no definite time for trees to shed their leaves.
As such, these forests appear green all the year-round

Vegetation	Location
Tropical Evergreen Forests	The Western Ghats, the island groups of Lakshadweep, Andaman, and Nicobar island.
Tropical Deciduous Forests	The northeastern states, along the foothills of the Himalayas, Jharkhand, West Odisha, and Chhattisgarh, and on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats.
Tropical Thorn Forests and Scrubs	Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana.
Montane Forests	The southern slopes of the Himalayas
Mangrove Forests	The deltas of the Ganga, the Mahanadi, the Krishna, the Godavari, and the Kaveri are covered by such vegetation. Ganga-Brahmaputra delta is famous for Sundari trees.