Natural vegetation

​Tropical Evergreen Forests

Tropical Evergreen forests are also called tropical rainforests. These thick forests occur in the regions near the equator and close to the tropics. These regions are hot and receive heavy rainfall throughout the year. As there is no dry season, the trees do not shed their leaves. This is the reason they are called evergreen. The thick canopies of the closely spaced trees do not allow the sunlight to penetrate inside the forest even in the day time. Hardwood trees like rosewood, ebony, mahogany are common here.

​Temperate Evergreen Forests

The temperate evergreen forests are located in the mid latitudinal coastal region. They are commonly found along the eastern margin of the continents, e.g., In south-east USA, South China and in South-East Brazil. They comprise both hard and softwood trees like oak, pine, eucalyptus, etc.

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​Temperate Deciduous forests are found towards higher latitudes. These are found in the northeastern part of USA, China, New Zealand, Chile and also found in the coastal regions of Western Europe. They shed their leaves in the dry season. The common trees are oak, ash, beech, etc. Deer, foxes, wolves are the animals commonly found. Birds like pheasants, monals are also found here.

​The west and south-west margins of the continents are covered with Mediterranean vegetation. It is mostly found in the areas around the Mediterranean sea in Europe, Africa and Asia. This kind of vegetation is also found outside the actual Mediterranean region in California in the USA, south-west Africa, southwestern South America and Southwest Australia. Citrus fruits such as oranges, figs, olives and grapes are commonly cultivated here.

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​Tropical deciduous Forests

Tropical deciduous are the monsoon forests found in the large part of India, northern Australia and in Central America. These regions experience seasonal changes. Trees shed their leaves in the dry season to conserve water. The hardwood trees found in these forests are sal, teak, neem and shisham which are used to make furniture, transport and constructional materials. Tigers, lions, elephants, langoors and monkeys are the common animals of these regions.​