KERALA PSC / PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY / NATURAL VEGETATION / NOTES / OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS / STUDY MATERIALS / GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

 

KERALA PSC / PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY / NATURAL VEGETATION / NOTES / OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS / STUDY MATERIALS / GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

KERALA PSC / PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY / NATURAL VEGETATION / NOTES / OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS / STUDY MATERIALS / GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

·      Natural vegetation refers to a plant community that has been left undisturbed over long time

·      Flora denotes the plants of a particular country or region

·      Fauna denotes the animal kingdom found in a particular geographical region

·      The world climate types have been classified on the world’s climatic/temperate zones

·      A biome is a major regional group of distinctive plant and animal communities best adapted to the region’s physical natural environment, latitude, altitude and terrain.

 

Equatorial Vegetation/Rainforest

·      Excessive temperature and heavy rainfall in the equitorial regions, support a luxuriant type of vegetation – the tropical rain forest

·      Mahogany, ebony, greenheart, cabinet wood and dyewood are main tropical hardwood found in this regions

·      Multiple species of plants is another most outstanding feature of tropical rainforest

·      More than half of the world’s species of plants and animals are found in the rainforest

·      The regions where equatorial forests exist abundantly are lowlands of Amazon Basin in Brazil, the Congo Basin, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Malaysia and East Indies. Generally, these areas lie between 5º and 10º north and south of the equator.

 

Tropical Monsoon Forest

·      The natural vegetation or trees of the tropical monsoon regions are normally deciduous. Trees of this regions depend on the amount of summer rainfall, and there is a marked dry period, during which they shed their leaves to withstand the drought.

·      They are best developed in the Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, parts of Vietnam and South China and Northern Australia

·      Tropical Monsoon forests are valued for their valuable timber and are prized for their durable hardwood. Among these teak is the best. Other kinds of timber comprise sal, acacia, eucalyptus, shisham etc..

 

Temperate Coniferous Forest

·      The Temperate Conifers forests thrive in the cool temperature continental climate

·      The coniferous forests are evergreen forest, which also better known as ‘taiga’

·      The strong oceanic influence reduces the severity of winter. That’s why, these forests are not found in abundance in southern hemisphere

·      The tree has a spindle (conical) type structure while the leaves are in needle-shape. It is because of to check the excessive transpiration

·      The under growth in the coniferous forests are very little.

 

Mediterranean Vegetation

·      These forest are confined to the western portion of the continental masses between 30º and 45º north and south of the equator

·      Trees are luxuriant but trees with small broad leaves are widely spaced and never tall. Plants are xerophytic

·      The important plants an; evergreen oak, sequoia, pine, firs, cedars, laurel, lavender etc… All are well adapted to the climatic condition

·      Olive, grapes and other citrus fruits are typical cultivated vegetation

·      Besides Mediterranean regions, these vegetation is found in Central Chile, California, Cape region of Africa, Southern and South-west Australia

 

Savanna Vegetation

·      This vegetation is confined within the tropics and best developed in Sudan where the dry and wet seasons are most distinct. That’s why, it is sometimes named as Sudan vegetation, too.

·      The trees are deciduous shedding their leaves in cool dry season to prevent excessive loss of water through transpiration.

·      In true savanna, the grass is tall and coarse which grows up to 6-12 feet high. The elephant grass may attain a height of even 15 feet

 

Xerophytic or Desert Vegetation

·      All deserts have some form of vegetation such as grass, scrub, herbs, weeds, roots or bulbs. The predominant vegetation is xerophytic or drought resistant scrub.

·      Most of desert plants have long roots and well-spaced out to gather moisture and search for ground water

·      Plants have few or no leaves and the foliage is either waxy, leathery, hairy and needle-shaped to reduce the loss of water through transpiration. Some of them are entirely leafless, with pricks and throns

·      Desert vegetation is found in the Great Sahara, Kalahari, Atacama, the Nubian, the Thar etc…

 

Tundra Vegetation

·      The Arctic region (mainly north of the Arctic Circle) is very adverse for plant survival due to severe cold and dryness. Precipitation is mainly in the form of snow

·      Only some license mosses and dwarf willows are found in this type of vegetation

 

Mangrove

·      Mangroves provides significant value in coastal zone as a buffer against erosion, storm surge and tsunamis

·      Rhizophora is the most specific genus of the mangrove vegetation

KERALA PSC / PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY / NATURAL VEGETATION / NOTES / OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS / STUDY MATERIALS / GENERAL KNOWLEDGE