Important Questions: Natural Vegetation | Geography Class 11 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1: How many types the natural vegetation in India can be classified into?
Ans: Based on the structure, physiognomy and florists nature of the | plants, the natural vegetation in India can be divided into:

• Tropical evergreen forests
• Tropical dry deciduous and evergreen forests
• Semi-desert and desert vegetation
• Wetlands littoral and swamp forests
• Montane vegetation
• The grasses

Q2: Describe the vegetation in the central parts of the plateau.
Ans: The central parts of the plateau typically feature arid and semi-arid vegetation, characterized by thorny bushes, scrublands, and grasses adapted to dry conditions. Drought-resistant species like acacia, thorny shrubs, and hardy grasses dominate the landscape. Trees are sparse, and the flora is adapted to survive in the region's limited water supply and high temperatures.

Q3: What do you mean by biosphere reserve? Where and when was the first biosphere reserve of India developed?
Ans: The vast areas which have been reserved for the preservation and protection of flora and fauna of the country in their natural form are known as bio-reserves. In these areas, the plants and animals are kept to protect for the future generation. The first Biosphere in India was developed at Nilgiri.

Q4: Write a short note on Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve.
Ans: It is located in the swampy delta of the two great Indian rivers the Brahmaputra and the Ganga in West Bengal. It extends over a vast area of mangrove forest, swamps and forested islands, covering over 1300 sq. km. Sunderban is the home of nearly 200 Royal Bengal Tigers. Adapting themself to the saline and freshwater environment, the tigers at the park are good swimmers.

Q5: Name the various Bio-reserves in India.
Ans:

• Nilgiri (Karnataka)
• Nanda Devi (Uttranchal)
• No Krek (Meghalaya)
• Andaman Nicobar
• Valley of Flowers (Uttranchal)
• Gulf of Mannar (Tamil Nadu)
• Rann of Kutch (Gujarat)
• Kaziranga National Park (Assam)

Q6: Define reafforestation and afforestation.
Ans: Reafforestation is the saplings of two plants that are planted to replace every felled tree. It is practiced to avoid the evils of Jumping.
Afforestation is the planting of one sapling to get one tree. It is practiced to bring more area under forest.

Q7: What is natural vegetation?
Ans: Natural vegetation means a plant community that has been left undisturbed over a long period of time, so as to allow its species to adjust themselves to climate and soil conditions as fully as possible. Natural vegetation is found in mountain regions.

Q8: What is boreal?
Ans: The species which are brought from outside are known as exotic and about 40% of the plant species in India are found to be exotic. The plant species which are brought from the Sino-Tibetan area are known as ‘boreal’.

Q9: Give any three characteristic features of tropical deciduous forests.
Ans:

• They are found on the foothills of the Himalayas and many parts of the peninsular plateau.
• During the dry season, they shed their leaves. Teak, Shisham, sal, and rosewood are the main species.
• They have important economic significance.

Q10: Describe the location and characteristic features of Kaziranga National Park.
Ans: Kaziranga National Park is located in Nagaon and Golaghat districts on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra river at the foot of Mikir hills. It lies in the floodplains of the Brahmaputra River. The riverine habitat consists primarily of tall, dense grasslands interspersed with open forests. One homed rhinoceros and elephants are the main inhabitants of this park.

Q11: How can we utilize our forest resources for the future? Give three methods.
Ans:

• We have to stop the reckless cutting of forests.
• To reduce the pressure on forests, the substituent of timber should be found out.
• To fulfill the basic needs of fuel and fodder of the people, social forestry and farmer forestry should be introduced.
• More and more trees should be planted.

Q12: What are the characteristic features of the tropical evergreen forests?
Ans:

• There is a dense growth of vegetation which causes difficulty. of accessibility. The number of species is very large.
• There is a lack of pure stands.
• High temperatures and heavy rainfall make conditions unsuitable for living.

Q13: How vegetation is different from forests?
Ans: Vegetation is not limited to forests only. It is something more than the forests. Vegetation includes trees, grasses, shrubs, etc. Vegetation gives a distinct type of landscape to the region as grassland or woodland.
Forests are all types of vegetation. It refers to the society of trees in close growth. Forests are very useful for mankind.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q14: Describe the various regions of concentration of forests in varying degrees in India.
Ans:  On the basis of the percentage of the actual forest cover, the states have been grouped into four regions. They are:

• The region of the high concentration: This region includes the states where the percentage cover of the forest is more than 40%. All the eastern states except Assam fall in this category. Favorable climate, especially rainfall and temperature, is responsible for the high concentration of forests. There is variation in forest cover in the region. In the states of Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh and in the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, forests occupy more than 80% of the geographical area. Manipur Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have a percentage of forest between 40 and 80.
• The region of moderate concentration: It includes the states of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Goa, Kerala, Assam and Himachal Pradesh. Goa has the lightest (33.79)% of the actual forest followed by Orissa and Assam. The rest of the states have less than 30% of their area.
• The region of low concentration: This region is also not continuous. The states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu form the peninsular sub-region while those of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar form the northern sub-region.
• The region of very low concentration: The northwestern part of India falls in this category. The states included are Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Chandigarh and Delhi. West Bengal in the east also comes under this region. Physical and human factors have been responsible for a very low concentration of forests in these areas.

Q15: What is a Biosphere reserve? How many Biospheres are found in India? Describe in short.
Ans: A Biosphere Reserve is a unique and representative ecosystem of terrestrial and coastal areas that are internationally recognized within the framework of UNESCO’S Man and Biosphere Programme.
There are 4 biosphere reserves in India. Four biosphere reserves namely

• Nilgiri,
• Nanda Devi,
• Sunderbans,

Gulf of Mannar has been recognized by UNESCO on world network.

• Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve: It is the first of the fourteen biosphere reserves of India and was established in September 1986. The total area of the biosphere reserve is around 5520 sq. km. Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve possesses different habitat types, unspoiled areas of natural vegetation types with several dry and moist deciduous, semi-evergreen and wet evergreen forests, evergreen sholes, grasslands and swamps. It includes the largest known population of two endangered animal species, namely the Nilgiri Tahr and the Lion-tailed Macaque. About 80% of the flowering plants reported from the Western Ghats occur in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
• Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve: It is situated in Uttranchal, includes parts of Chamoli, Almora, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts. The major type of the reserve is temperate forest. A few important species are silverweed, orchids, Latifolie and rhododendrons. The biosphere reserve has a rich fauna, for example, snow leopard, black bear, brown bear, musk deer, snow-cock, golden eagle.
• Sundarban Biosphere Reserve: This reserve is located in the swampy delta of the river Ganga in West Bengal. It spreads over a vast area of 9,630 sq. km and consists of mangrove forests, swamps, and s- forested islands. It is the home of nearly 200 Royal Bengal Tigers.
• Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve: It covers an area of 1,05,000 hectares on the southeast coast of India from Sri Lanka. The biosphere reserve comprises 21 islands with estuaries, beaches, forests of the nearshore environment, seagrass, coral reefs and mangroves.

Q16: Why have certain species of animals become extinct in our country? What is being done to preserve wildlife?
Ans: Wildlife has a very important role for mankind. But we have depleted its habitat, the forests, very fast. We have hunted wild animals and poached them indiscriminately. The result is that many of these wild animals face the danger of extinction. The major animals which face extinction are antelopes, lion, tigers, blackbuck, bustard, etc. Hence, to see the future need, there is an urgent need to conserve them.
Steps to be taken to preserve wildlife:

• Hunting and poaching of wild animals have been banned.
• Strict and severe punishment is accorded to defaulters.
• National parks, zoos, sanctuaries, and biosphere reserves have been set up more and more in number all over the country.
• Maintenance of the existing trees.
• More and more birds and animals are being declared national birds and animals.
• ‘Project Tiger’ and ‘Project Elephant’ programs have been ‘ launched to preserve and conserve wildlife.

Q17: Write a short note on the strange creatures of India.
Ans: The strange creatures of India are Gangetic dolphin, Civets, Indian Pangolin, GreatlndianHorbill, Indian giant squirrel, mouse, deer and flying fox.

• Gangetic Dolphin: It lives in the Ganga river. It is born blind and lives sightless for the rest of its life.
• Civets: It is a cat I like creature, lives solitary, comes out at night to hunt small birds, mammals and reptiles. It remains hiding during the day.
• Indian pangolin: It has a scaly body. As protection against predators, it rolls itself into a ball and raises its sharp scales.
• Great Indian Hornbill: It is a large bird with strange nesting habits; the female seal herself into d hollow in a tree and the male dutifully brings her food during the entire period of incubation.
• Indian giant squirrel: It is a large nocturnal rodent that lives in the upper canopy of trees. It flaps between its body and its extremities act like parachutes and enable the large mammal to glide from tree to tree.
• Mouse deer: This is a deer of 30 cm. in height. To evade predators, it hides beneath the low bushes and vegetation.
• Flying fox: It is one of the world’s largest bats and is found all over India. Its wingspan is more than 1.5 m. and can fly over 220 km.

Q18: Describe the importance of social forestry in India.
Ans: Social forestry was used for the first time by the National Commission on Agriculture in 1976 to denote tree-raising programs to supply firewood, small hunters, and minor forest produce to the rural population. Ambitious social forestry programs have been launched by several state governments. The forest departments in most states have set up separate social forestry wings.
Social forestry programs have mainly three components viz., farm forestry, wood lots, and community wood lots. Farm forestry encourages farmers to plant trees on their own farmer; wood lots are planted by the forest departments for the needs of the community, especially along roadsides, canal banks, and other such public lands, and community wood lots are planted by the community themselves on community lands, to be shared equally by them.