The tropical rain forests are an integral part of the natural vegetation in India and they are working as a preserver of Indian flora and fauna. The Indian tropical rain forests support a diversity of plant and animal species and they are quite dense, warm and wet. They are home to millions of plants and animals and are playing an extremely important role in the ecology of India and also the Earth. These types of forests are mostly found in places where there is plenty of rainfall and sunshine throughout the year. The Indian tropical rain forests are mainly found in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Western Ghats, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as they receive heavy rainfall. All these areas are also covered with evergreen forests.
Geography of the Tropical Rain Forest
The Indian tropical rain forests have three strayed natural vegetation. The upper storey consists of tall trees that form the top canopy receiving most of the sunlight. The middle storey comprises of trees of lesser height and this thick, dense and rich environment is capable of providing food and shelter to a host of animals of all kinds like the ground dwellers and tree dwellers. Trees in the Indian tropical forests do not have any specific season of casting off leaves, because the area remains warm and wet throughout the year. Growth of the trees is usually at its best where rainfall is in surplus of 200 cm, with a short dry season. Therefore, these forests are also called as archetypal rain-forests. Trees grow very briskly in these forests and attain sublime heights of about 60 metres and above. The number of species in these forests is too vast and too assorted to utilize each one of them commercially.
Regions of Tropical Rain Forest
There are different types of Tropical Rain Forest located at different parts of India. It is especially found in three places which are Assam, Western Ghats and the Andaman Islands. However, there are few sporadic stretches too towards the land of the Naga hills, Manipur, Odisha and so on.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The lands of Andaman and Nicobar Island are home to few beautiful tropical rainforest of India. It boasts a large variety of fauna and flora species. The woods give opportunity for trekking and hiking. It makes a beautiful tourist spot visited by the nature lovers and wildlife enthusiasts from all over the globe. The unique aspect is that the area is home to many exotic and rare animal species and plants. The animals migrate from Thailand, Bangladesh, Myanmar etc. The best time to visit is from November to February.
The North East Region
The North East region is known for the tropical rain forests of India those are not affected by the human population and commercialization. However, the woods are concentrated majorly in the Northern region of Assam. Although, few patches can be traced in the adjoining areas of Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and so on. The best time to visit here are from October to April.
The Western Ghats
The Western Ghats cover an area of around 30,000 square km of tropical rain forest. It is known as one of the dense forest which starts from Southwest of Maharashtra to Karnataka in South India. It boasts of a rich and varied wildlife giving home to more than 1000 species of animals. Although the most alarming factor is the depleting forest cover caused by commercialization and high urbanization. The best time to visit is from September to March.
Fauna in the Tropical Rain Forests
The Indian tropical rain forests provide shelter to elephants, gaur and other large animals. The Vegetation and animals of the forests show affinity height with high altitude forests of Assam. The forests of Andaman and Nicobar islands come under the equatorial belt of tropical rain forests and they carry one of the most beautiful forests in the world. The Indian tropical rain forests located in Arunachal Pradesh, are gifted with enormous wealth of wildlife and forested land. On the other hand, the tropical rain forests in Sunderbans delta formed by the estuaries of Ganga and the Brahmaputra are home to the highest number of tigers. Apart from tigers, several other animals are also found in these mangrove forests and the animals include spotted deer, pigs, rhesus monkey, lizard, water monitor, crocodile, crabs and fish.
