Natural Vegetation and Climate
Rajasthan has a great variety of natural vegetation and it varies from scanty of vegetation in western arid to mix deciduous, Subtropical evergreen in the east part and south east of the great Aravalli.
What is the natural vegetation?
The Natural vegetation is the vegetation that grows on its own without any human interference. Thus cacti, rainforests etc. are termed as natural vegetation. It does not include crops as they are grown by humans. A forest is a large area which has various species of trees.
Why natural vegetation is important?
Vegetation serves several critical functions in the biosphere, at all possible spatial scales. First, vegetation regulates the flow of numerous biogeochemical cycles, most critically those of water, carbon and nitrogen; it is also of great importance in local and global energy balances.
Our country India and its states are much known for flora, fauna, diversity and natural vegetation. Rajasthan is also having great variety of natural resources and forest. Rajasthan Forest cover is 32828.35 sq. km. (12515 sq.km. is reserved, 18248 sq.km.is Protected Forest, 2065 is unclassified forest) which is about 9.57% of the total area of the state.
The forests of Rajasthan are spread unequally in Northern, Southern, Eastern and South Eastern parts and the western region of Rajasthan is devoid of any forest cover. Most of the forests are in hilly regions of Udaipur, Rajsamand, Kota, Baran Sawai Madhopur, Chittorgarh, Sirohi, Bundi, Alwar, Jhalawar and Banswara districts.
What is the difference between Reserved, Protected and Unclassified forest Areas?
Reserved Forest: Land rights to forests declared to be Reserved forests or Protected forests are typically acquired (if not already owned) and owned by the Government of India. Unlike national parks of India or wildlife sanctuaries of India
Protected Forest: Protected forests are of two kinds – demarcated protected forests and undemarcated protected forests, based on whether the limits of the forest have been specified by a formal notification.
Typically, protected forests are often upgraded to the status of wildlife sanctuaries which is turn, may be upgraded to the status of national parks, with each category receiving a higher degree of protection and government funding. For example: Sariska National Park was declared a reserved forest.
Unclassified forest: forests which are neither protected nor reserved and wasteland comes under this classification. They are controlled by government officials and private individuals.
Various factors that are affecting the climate of Rajasthan:-
1. The Location of vegetation
2. The distribution of vegetation
3. The Relief and Soil
4. Rainfall and Temperature
5. Human and Biotic factors like grazing, cultivation, cutting of trees for household/livelihood etc.
The forests of Rajasthan can be divided into four broad forest types:
Rajasthan is with great variety of natural resources ranging from scanty vegetation in the western arid region to mixed delicious and sub-tropical evergreen forests in the east and south east of Aravali ranges.
| Type of Forest | Regions | District/Area | Mains Species |
| Tropical Thorn Forests | arid and semi-arid regions | (Western Rajasthan) Jodhpur, Pali, Jalore, Barmer, Nagaur, Churu, Bikaner | Acacia nilotica, Acacia leucophloea, Prosopis cineraria, Capparis aphylla, Zizyphus spp., Flacourtia spp. etc. |
| Tropical Dry Deciduous (Dhol ) | Monsoon forests/dry River Bed/Small Patches | The northern and eastern slopes of Aravalli range, Alwar, Bharatpur and Dholpur and found along the dry river beds of Jalore, Nagaur, Ganganagar and Bikaner, districts. | The Main species found in this type of forests are Babul |
| Bamboo-Forests | warm and moist tropical and warm temperate | Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Kota & Abu hill regions of the state. It occurs as pure patches in depressions. | 125 indigenous and 11 exotic species of bamboo belonging to 23 genera are reportedly found in India. The principal bamboo genera occurring in India are Arundinaria, Bambusa, Chimonobambusa, Dendrocalamus, Dinochola, Gigantochloa etc. |
| Sub-tropical hill forests | Himalaya/Hilly/Semi-evergreen/Evergreen | Sirohi district of Rajasthan (Mt. Abu) | These forests have semi-evergreen and some evergreen species of trees. |
| Miscellaneous Mixed Forests | Average rainfall in these forests is more than 60 cm. | Mostly found in south-eastern and eastern part of Rajasthan including Chittorgarh, Kota, Udaipur, Sirohi, Banswara, Dungarpur, Baran and Jhalawar distrists. | These Forests mainly have Anogeissus pendula, Anogeissus latifolia, Terminalia tomentosa, Terminalia Arjuna, Terminalia chebula, Albizia lebbeck, Dalbergia paniculata etc. |
According the vegetation the forests of Rajasthan are divided into following sub-types:-
Dhol Forests: – covers about 60 % of the total forest area, mainly located in the South-eastern parts of Aravali hills between 270 m to 770 m. Major species are Dhol and babul. These provide firewood and charcoal (best quality).
Kattha Forests: – covers about 3 % of the total forest area and located in South-eastern regions of the state.
Salar Forests: – covers about 5 % of the total forest area and located in upper ridges of Aravali (Sirohi, Rajsamand, chittorgarh, Jaipur and Jodhpur). Major species are Salar, Kalayana, Gondla and Ber.
Dhak Forests: – covers badly drained clay soil forest and occupies foot hills and depressions. It occurs generally I pure patch but also sometime mixed.
Bamboo Forests:-covers about 2.5 % of the total forest area and located in Chittorgarh, Kota, Udaipur and Abu regions of the state. It occurs as pure patches in depressions.
Teak Forests: – located in Southern and South-eastern regions of the Rajasthan state. These forests provide some timber for furniture, panels for doors, fencing and roofing also.
Mixed Miscellaneous Forests: It covers about 20 % of the total forest area and located in South-eastern regions of the state in the districts of Bundi, Sirohi, Kota, Udaipur and Chittorgarh. The wood from these forests is used for small timber and charcoal.
Sub-Tropical Evergreen: These Forests located about 30 sq km around the Mt. Abu at an elevation of 1000m to 1300m where the rainfall is 150 cm. these kind of forest do not have commercial significance.
Thorn Forests: These are located in arid areas of north western regions of the state covering the districts of Nagaur, Pali, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Ajmer, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. It is also used as fuel and it produce good quality charcoal.
The flora of Mewar is greater in variety both in herbs and shrubs due to its natural environmental conditions and Physiography where plains, plateaus hills and depressions are common. That is why the succession of plant communities in the variety of their habitat bounds us to note that in Mewar, there are several kinds of Mesophytes, hydrophytes, and .xerophytes with their common species are found in the region; besides, there are several open grass lands found here and there. The land use pattern shows that near about 691,200 acres of land is under forests, which covers about 6.33 percent of “the total rural land. These figures reveal that there are deficiencies of natural vegetation. The various kinds of habitat have some specific type of varieties as described below.