Tropical Deciduous Forests

In India, tropical deciduous forests occur in the northern and southern parts.

Salient Features

A) Warm summers and cold winters with well spaced rainfall of about 75 - 100 cm/year.

B) Primary productivity is high, as is the decomposition rate in the forest floor.

C) Trees are deciduous and shed leaves.

D) Do not include a wide diversity of species.

Flora

In general the flora includes trees like sal (Shorea robusta), timber species like teak (Tectona grandis), neem (Azadirachta indica), Jamun (Ficus bengalinesis) etc.

Fauna

Some important wild animals of these forests are Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus), Sambar (Cerves unicolor), Cheetal (Axis axis), Wild buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis), Tiger (Panthera tigris), Leopard (Panthera pardus), etc.

Avian, reptilian, amphibian and fish fauna are also very rich.