Here is the notes for Class 7 NCERT Geography – Chapter 6: Natural Vegetation and Wild Life

 

Natural Vegetation

      • Plant life that grows naturally without human intervention.
      • With the change in height, the climate changes and that changes natural vegetation.
      • The growth of vegetation depends on soil, temperature and moisture.
      • Natural vegetation is generally classified in to three broad categories as follows:
      1. Forests
        • forest grow where temperature and rainfall are plentiful to support a tree cover.
      2. Grasslands
        • grasslands grow in the region of moderate rain.
      3. Shrubs
        • Thorny shrurbs and scrubs grow in the dry region.

 

FORESTS

Tropical Evergreen Forests
      • These 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.
      • The trees do not shed their leaves altogether. So it is also called evergreen forests.
      • 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
      • The tropical evergreen forest in Brazil is so enormous that it is like the lungs of the earth.
      • Anaconda, one of the world’s largest snakes is found in the tropical rainforest.
Tropical Decidious 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.
      •  Hardwood Trees: sal, teak, neem and shisham
      • Animals: Tigers, lions, elephants, langoors and monkeys
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 soft wood trees like oak, pine, eucalyptus, etc.
Temperate Deciduous Forests
      • As we go towards higher latitudes, there are more temperate deciduous forests.
      • These are found in the north eastern 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.
      • Trees are oak, ash, beech
      • Animals: Deer, foxes, wolves
      • Birds: pheasants, monals
Mediterranean Vegetation
      • Most of the east and north east margins of the continents are covered by temperate evergreen and deciduous trees.
      • The west and south west margins of the continents are different.
      • They have Mediterranean vegetation.
      • It is mostly found in the areas around the Mediterranean sea in Europe, Africa and Asia, hence the name.
      • This kind of vegetation is also found outside the actual Mediterranean region in California in the USA, south west Africa, south western South America and South west Australia.
      • These regions are marked for hot dry summers and mild rainy winters.
      • Citrus fruits such as oranges, figs, olives and grapes are commonly cultivated.
      • There is no natural vegetation.
      • There isn’t much wildlife here.
      • Mediterranean trees adapt themselves to dry summers with the help of their thick barks and wax coated leaves which help them reduce transpiration.
      • Mediterranean regions are known as ‘Orchards of the world’ for their fruit cultivation.
Coniferous Forests
      • In the higher latitudes (50° – 70°) of Northern hemisphere, Coniferous forests are found
      • These are also called as Taiga. These forests are also seen in the higher altitudes.
      • These are the trees which Salima found in the Himalayas in abundance.
      • They are tall, softwood evergreen trees.
        •  making pulp, which is used for manufacturing paper and newsprint.
        • Match boxes and packing boxes are also made from softwood.
      • Trees: Chir, pine, cedar
      • Animals: Silver fox, mink, polar bear

GRASSLANDS

Tropical grasslands
      • These occur on either side of the equator and extend till the tropics.
      • This vegetation grows in the areas of moderate to low amount of rainfall.
      • The grass can grow very tall, about 3 to 4 metres in height.
      • Animals: Elephants, zebras, giraffes, deer, leopards are common in tropical grasslands
Temperate grasslands
      • These are found in the mid latitudinal zones and in the interior part of the continents
      • Grass here is short and nutritious.
      • Animals: Wild buffaloes, bisons, antilopes
Grasslands are known by different names in different regions.
        • Tropical Grasslands
          • East Africa-Savanna
          • Brazil-Campos
          • Venezuela-Llanos
        • Temperate Grasslands
          • Argentina- Pampas
          • North America- Prairie
          • South Africa- Veld
          • Central Asia- Steppe
          • Australia- Down

Thorny bushes

    • These are found in the dry desert like regions.
    • Tropical deserts are located on the western margins of the continents.
    • The vegetation cover is scarce here because of scanty rain and scorching heat.
    • Example- Desert
Cold Desert
    • The growth of natural vegetation is very limited here.
    • Only mosses, lichens and very small shrubs are found here.
    • It grows during the very short summer.
    • This is called Tundra type of vegetation.
    • This vegetation is found in the polar areas of Europe, Asia and North America.
    • The animals have thick fur and thick skin to protect themselves from the cold climatic conditions.
    • Animals: Seal, walruses, musk-oxen, Arctic owl, Polar bear, snow foxes
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