Revision Notes on Flora and fauna for all competitive examinations in 2025

Revision Notes on Flora and fauna for all competitive examinations in 2025

Flora and Fauna

India’s Biodiversity Overview

• India has nearly 8 per cent of the total number of species in the world.
• India is one of the twelve mega biodiversity countries globally.
• India ranks tenth in the world and fourth in Asia in plant diversity.
• There are about 15,000 flowering plants in India, accounting for 6 per cent of the world’s total.
• India has approximately 90,000 species of animals.
• Flora denotes plants, and Fauna denotes animals of a specific region or period.
• An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in an area.
• A very large ecosystem on land is called a biome.
• India has about 2,000 species of birds (13% of the world’s total).
• India has 2,546 species of fish (nearly 12% of world’s stock).

Types of Natural Vegetation

• Natural vegetation is a plant community unaffected by man.
• Climate, soil, and landform are important environmental controls for natural vegetation.
• Temperature changes vegetation from tropical to subtropical, temperate, and alpine zones.
• Areas with heavy rainfall tend to have more dense vegetation.

Tropical Evergreen Forests

• Found in areas with 200 cm or more annual rainfall and annual temperature above 22°C.
• Locations: Western Ghats, Island Groups (Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar), upper Assam, Tamil Nadu coast.
• Animals: elephants, monkeys, lemur, deer, one-horned rhinoceros (Assam, West Bengal).

Tropical Deciduous Forests

• These are the most widespread forests in India.
• Found in areas with 70 to 200 cm annual rainfall.
• Also known as ‘Monsoon Forests’, where trees drop leaves during spring/early summer.
• They are divided into moist (200-100 cm rainfall) and dry (100-70 cm rainfall) deciduous types.
• Teak is a dominant tree species.

Tropical Thorn Forests and Scrubs

• Found in regions receiving less than 70 cm of rainfall.
• Locations: north-western India (Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana).
• Plant species: Acacias, palms, euphorbias, cacti.
• Animals: rats, mice, rabbits, fox, wolf, tiger, lion, wild ass, horses, camels.

Montane Forests

• Vegetation changes with increasing altitude.
• Wet temperate forests (1000-2000m) have evergreen broad-leaf trees (oaks, chestnuts).
• Temperate forests (1500-3000m) have coniferous trees (pine, deodar, silver fir).
• Alpine vegetation is found above 3600m (silver fir, junipers, pines).
• Animals: Kashmir stag, yak, snow leopard, red panda, etc..

Mangrove Forests

• Found in coastal areas influenced by tides where mud and silt accumulate.
• Located in deltas of Ganga, Mahanadi, Krishna, Godavari, and Kaveri.
• The Ganga-Brahmaputra delta has the largest tidal forest with Sundari trees.
• Famous animal: Royal Bengal Tiger.

Important Animals and Their Habitats

• Elephants are found in hot wet forests of Assam, Karnataka, and Kerala.
• The wild ass is found in the arid Rann of Kachchh.
• Camels are found in the Thar Desert.
• India is the only country with both tigers and lions.
• The natural habitat of the Indian lion is the Gir forest in Gujarat.
• Tigers are found in Madhya Pradesh, Sundarbans (West Bengal), and the Himalayan region.
• Yak and Bharal are found in Ladakh.

Medicinal Plants

• India is known for its herbs and spices.
• Sarpagandha: Used for blood pressure, found only in India.
• Jamun: Juice used for vinegar (digestive properties), seed powder for controlling diabetes.
• Neem: Has high antibiotic and antibacterial properties.
• Tulsi: Used to cure cough and cold.

Conservation Efforts

• Protected areas for conservation include Wildlife Sanctuaries, National Parks, and Biosphere Reserves.
• Wildlife Sanctuary: Animals are protected from disturbance to them and their habitat.
• National Park: Areas reserved for wildlife to freely use habitats and natural resources.
• Biosphere Reserve: Large protected areas for conservation of wildlife, plants, and traditional life of tribals.
• The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act was implemented in 1972.
• Key conservation projects include Project Tiger (1973), Project Rhino, Project Great Indian Bustard, and Project Elephant (1992).
• Eighteen biosphere reserves have been set up in India.
• Twelve of these eighteen biosphere reserves are on the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme list (e.g., Gulf of Mannar, Nandadevi, The Nilgiris, Sundarbans, Panna).
• India has 104 National Parks.
• India has 556 Wildlife sanctuaries.
• Forest and wildlife resources are classified as Reserved Forests, Protected Forests, and Unclassed Forests.
• The first National Forest Policy in independent India was in 1952, updated in 1988.
• IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) established the Red Data Book in 1964 to document rare and endangered species.
• IUCN species categories include Normal, Endangered, Vulnerable, Endemic, Extinct, and Rare.
  • Endangered examples: Black buck, Indian wild ass, Indian rhino, lion tailed macaque, sangai.
  • Vulnerable examples: Blue sheep, Asiatic elephant, Gangetic dolphin.
  • Endemic examples: Andaman teal, Nicobar pigeon, Mithun (Arunachal Pradesh).
  • Extinct examples: Asiatic cheetah, pink head duck.
  • Rare examples: Himalayan brown bear, wild Asiatic buffalo.

India State of Forest Report (ISFR), 2021 Highlights

• The ISFR 2021 is the 17th report in the series, prepared by the Forest Survey of India (FSI).
• Total forest and tree cover is 8,09,537 sq km, which is 24.62 percent of India’s geographical area.
• Total forest cover is 713,789 sq km (21.71 percent).
• Total tree cover is 95,748 sq km (2.91 percent).
• Compared to ISFR 2019, there was an increase of 0.28% in forest and tree cover.
• Forest Cover increased by 0.22%, and Tree Cover by 0.76%.
• Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover area-wise.
• Top 5 states by forest cover area: MP, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra.
• Top 3 states showing increase in forest cover: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha.
• Top 5 states by forest cover as percentage of geographical area: Mizoram (84.53%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.33%), Meghalaya (76.00%), Manipur (74.34%), Nagaland (73.90%).
• Total mangrove cover is 4,992 sq km (0.15% of area), with an increase of 17 sq km observed.
• Top 3 states showing mangrove increase: Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka.
• Tigers in India account for 70% of the world’s total Tiger population.
• Top 5 Tiger reserves by forest cover percentage: Pakke (Arunachal Pradesh) > Achanakmar (Madhya Pradesh) > Simlipal (Odisha) > Kali (Karnataka) > Dampa (Mizoram).
• Between 2011 and 2021, forest cover decreased by 22.62 sq km (0.04%).
• Total carbon stock is estimated at 7,204.0 million tonnes.
• States with Maximum Carbon Stock: Arunachal Pradesh, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
• Extent of bamboo bearing area: 15.00 million hectare.
• States with Maximum Bamboo Area: Mizoram, followed by Arunachal Pradesh.

Environmental Movements

• Environmental movements are also known as ‘green movement’ or ‘conservation movement’.
• Major movements include:
• Bishnoi Movement,
• Chipko Movement (originated in Uttarakhand in 1973),
• Silent Valley Movement,
• Appiko Movement,
• Jungle Bachao Andolan (1982),
• Narmada Bachao Movement (1985),
• Tehri Dam Conflict.