Deciduous Forest- Meaning, Location and Facts

Deciduous Forest- Deciduous forest refers to those forests which are characterized by trees that shed their leaves annually. Plants such as mosses, herbs, and ferns are found in these forests. Deciduous forests are found mostly in North America, Europe, and Asia. Different types of deciduous forests include temperate deciduous forests, the tropical and subtropical deciduous forests.

Tropical Deciduous Forests of India

What are Deciduous Forests?

The Indian vegetation is mostly consisting of tropical deciduous forests. These forests are found in regions receiving rainfall between 200 cm and 70 cm. The tropical deciduous forests shed their leaves for about 1.5 to 2 months before winter. Some evergreen trees retain their leaves throughout the year. Deciduous forests are having different varieties of trees.  

Types of Trees in Tropical Deciduous Forests

Edible fruit-bearing trees like apples, oranges, bananas, and pears and non-edible fruit-bearing trees like maple, eke, elm, beech, and birch are found in the maximum regions of tropical deciduous forests.

Location of Deciduous Forest

Deciduous forest are found mostly in the eastern half of north America and in Europe. In case of Asian countries, like northeastern China Plain, Japan are some of the important places where we can find deciduous woods and other important places include Southwest Russia, Southern Chile and Paraguay. Also, can be found in New Zealand and Australia.

Natural Vegetation in India

Natural Vegetation in India

Deciduous Forest Characteristics

The table which is given below mentions the main features of Tropical Deciduous Forests and also differentiates them from the other types of forests:

Sr. No.	Characteristics of Tropical Deciduous Forests in India
1	Tropical Deciduous Forests are also known as Monsoon Forests.
2	The rainfall in Tropical Deciduous Forests ranges from 70-200 cm.
3	These forests are found in areas where a long dry season is followed by a heavy rainfall season is one of the characteristics of the region.
4	Tropical Deciduous Forests are of two types: Moist Deciduous Forests: Mixture of trees and grasses. Dry Deciduous Forests
5	Tropical deciduous forests are found along the Equator belt between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn
6	Major States where tropical deciduous forests are found: Madhya Pradesh Uttar Pradesh Chhattisgarh Odisha Maharashtra
7	The humidity of these types of forests lies between 80-90 percent.
8	The average temperature in tropical deciduous forests is 30 degrees Celcius.
9	These forests are less dense as compared to evergreen forests.
10	Prime features include seasonality, as the leaves are shed in the dry season and the leaves are grown back in the rainy season.

Types of Deciduous Forests: Moist Deciduous and Dry Deciduous Forests

In the table given below we will understand the features and characteristics of moist and dry deciduous forests:

Features	Moist Deciduous Forests	Dry Deciduous Forests
Rainfall	100-200 cms Annual Temperature Mean: 27 degrees Celsius Humidity Annually: 60-75 percent	70-100 cm
Regions	The regions where they are found are: North-eastern states along Himalayan foothills Eastern slopes of Western Ghats Odisha	Rainy areas of Peninsular India Uttar Pradesh Bihar Vegetation is scanty in Rajasthan in Southern and Western areas.
Species	Teak Sal Hurra Kusum  Sandalwood Amla	Palas Khair Axlewood Tendu Bel
Other Features	Areas of open grass patches are found in these forests.	A moist portion of these forests transforms into moist deciduous forests; While drier areas into thorn forests. These forests have parkland landscape with open stretches in higher rainfall regions of the Peninsular. In the dry season, the trees of these forests shed their leaves completely and turn into grassland.

Distribution of Deciduous Forests- World

The distribution of tropical deciduous forests worldwide is majorly found in:

• Sri Lanka
• Coastal areas of Southwest India
• Myanmar
• Bangladesh
• Southwestern Africa
• French Guiana
• Brazil

Deciduous Forest Examples

Some important examples of deciduous forest include European Temperate Deciduous Forest, Northeast China Plan and Great Smoky Mountain in UK.

Related Links

1. Natural Vegetation in India
2. Tropical Evergreen Forests
3. Tropical Thorn Forests and Scrubs

FAQs on Tropical Deciduous Forests of India

What are deciduous forest also known as?

Deciduous forest are also known as monsoon forests.

What are the names of deciduous trees?

Deciduous trees names are oak, beech, birch, aspen, elm and maple.

Which is the most widespread forest in India?

The most widespread forest in India is Tropical Deciduous forests.

What are the characteristic feature of deciduous forest?

• The trees in these forests shed their leaves in 6 to 8 weeks.
• A particular species is found in vast area.
• They can be exploited commercially.