CBSE Class 7 Social Science Natural Vegetation And Wildlife Notes

NATURAL VEGATATION

1. The natural vegetation of an area means the plants that grow naturally in that area. and not due to any human activity.
2. Each natural vegetation zone of the world has wildlife unique to it. This is called a biome. The distribution of natural vegetation, its type and the thickness of belt depend on various factors like latitude, altitude, the amount of sunlight, temperature, the type of soil, terrain, the amount of precipitation, and the gradient or the slope of land. On the basis of their water requirement, plants may be classified as :
Xerophytes : Plants which require minimum moisture.
Hydrophytes : Plant which reuire maximum moisture.
Mesophytes : Plant which require moderate moisture.
Tropophytes : Plants that adjust themselves to seasonal variations in moisture.
3. Based on the type of natural vegetation found, regions are classified as forests, grasslands and deserts.

FORESTS

♦ Tropical Evergreen Forests :
(i) These forests are also called tropical rainforests.
(ii) These thick forests occur in the regions near the equator and close to the tropics.
(iii) These regions are hot and receive heavy rainfall throughout the year.
(iv) As there is no particular dry season, the trees do not shed their leaves altogether.
(v) This is the reason they are called evergreen.
(vi) The thick canopies of the closely spaced trees do not allow the sunlight to penetrate inside the forest even in the day time.
(vii) Hardwood trees like rosewood, ebony, mahogany are common here.

♦ Tropical Deciduous Forests :
(i) Tropical deciduous are the monsoon forests found in the large part of India, northern Australia and in central America.
(ii) These regions experience seasonal changes.
(iii) Trees shed their leaves in the dry season to conserve water.
(iv) The hardwood trees found in these forests are sal, teak, neem and shisham. Hardwood trees are extremely useful for making furniture, transport and constructional materials.
(v) Tigers, lions, elephants, langoors and monkeys are the common animals of these regions.

♦ Temperate Evergreen Forests :
(i) The temperate evergreen forests are located in the mid-latitudinal coastal region.
(ii) They are commonly found along the eastern margin of the continents, e.g., In south east USA, South China and in South East Brazil.
(iii) They comprise both hard and soft wood trees like oak, pine, eucalyptus, etc.

♦ Temperate Deciduous Forests :
(i) As we go towards higher latitudes, there are more temperate deciduous forests.
(ii) These are found in the north eastern part of USA, China, New Zealand, Chile and also found in the coastal regions of Western Europe.
(iii) They shed their leaves in the dry season.
(iv) The common trees are oak, ash, beech, etc.
(v) Deer, foxes, wolves are the animals commonly found.
(vi) Birds like pheasants, monals are also found here.

♦ Mediterranean Vegetation :
(i) Most of the east and north east margins of the continents are covered by temperate evergreen and deciduous trees. The west and south west margins of the continents are different. They have Mediterranean vegetation. It is mostly found in the areas around the Mediterranean sea in Europe, Africa and Asia, hence the name.
(ii) This kind of vegetation is also found outside the actual Mediterranean region in California in the USA, south west Africa, south western South America and South west Australia.
(iii) These regions are marked for hot dry summers and mild rainy winters.
(iv) Citrus fruits such as oranges, figs, olives and grapes are commonly cultivated here because people have removed the natural vegetation in order to cultivate what they want to.
(v) There isn’t much wildlife here.

♦ Coniferous Forests :
(i) In the higher latitudes (50° – 70°) of Northern hemisphere the spectacular Coniferous forests are found.
(ii) These are also called as Taiga.
(iii) These forests are also seen in the higher altitudes.
(iv) They are tall, softwood evergreen trees.
(v) These woods are very useful for making pulp, which is used for manufacturing paper and newsprint.
(vi) Match boxes and packing boxes are also made from softwood.
(vii) Chir, pine, cedar are the important variety of trees in these forests.
(viii) Silver fox, mink, polar bear are the common animals found here.

GRASSLANDS

The vegetation in areas which get small amount of rain comprises of grass as the rains are not enough for big tress to survive. Two main kinds of grasslands are - tropical and temperate.
♦ Tropical grasslands :
(i) These grow on either side of the equator and extend till the tropics
(ii) This vegetation grows in the areas of moderate to low amount of rainfall.
(iii) They can grow very tall, about 3 to 4 metres in height.
(iv) Savannah grasslands of Africa are of this type.
(v) Elephants, zebras, giraffes, deer, leopards are common in tropical grasslands

♦ Temperate grasslands :
(i) These are found in the mid-latitudinal zones and in the interior part of the continents.
(ii) Usually, grass here is short and nutritious.
(iii) Wild buffaloes, bisons, antilopes are common in the temperate region.

♦ Desert vegetation :
(i) These are found in the dry desert like regions.
(ii) Tropical deserts are located in the western margins of the continents.
(iii) The vegetation cover is scarce here because of scanty rain and scorching heat.
(iv) Due to scarcity of water only these plants which can adapt themselves to the hot & dry climate
are found here. (e.g. Xerophytic plants).
(v) In the hot deserts. thorny bushes and shrubs are common. Cactus and acacia are the main species.
(vi) Near the oasis, date palms are found
(vii) Camel is the most important among the animals found in the deserts. Desert wildlife consists of gazelles, antelopes, wild asses, desert foxes, hares, rodents, hyenas, snakes, lizards. Yak is found in the cold Tibetan Desert.
Important deserts of the world are - Sahara desert (northern Africa), Kalahari desert (Southern Africa). Atacama Desert (Chile in south America), Sonoran desert (North America), Great Australian desert, Arabian desert and Indian Thar desert. Cool deserts are found in Asia and South America. They include the Gobi Desert and the Tibetan Plateau in Asia and the Patagonian Plateau in South America.

TUNDRA VEGETATION

(i) The growth of natural vegetation is very limited here.
(ii) Only mosses, lichens and very small shrubs are found here.
(iii) It grows during the very short summer.
(iv) This is called Tundra type of vegetation.
(v) This vegetation is found in the polar areas of Europe, Asia and North America.
(vi) The animals have thick fur and thick skin to protect themselves from the cold climatic conditions
(vii) Seal, walruses, musk-oxen, Arctic owl, Polar bear and snow foxes are some of the animals found here.

EXPLORE SOME MORE

1. India has about 45000 species of plants of which about 5,000 are unique in india.
2. There is a strong movement worldwide to protect natural resources and stop degradation of the environment.
3. The most important occupation in the coniferous forest is lumbering. Lumbering means the harvesting of the forests and utilising the forest products for commercial products for commercial purpose.
4. Wild life protection Act was introduced in 1972.
5. India has 104 National Parks, 514 Wildlife Sancturies and 18 Biosphere Reserves.

Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

Question. How do you define natural vegetation?
Answer: The vegetation that grows on its own without any reference of human beings is called natural vegetation.

Question. List the factors that influence the growth of natural vegetation.
Answer: The factors that influence the growth of natural vegetation are:

1. Height of land.

2. Temperature and moisture.

3. Slope and thickness of soil.

The type and thickness of vegetation varied from place to place because of variation of these factors.

Question. Into how many categories can the natural vegetation be classified? Explain the categories in brief.
Answer: Natural vegetation is generally classified in to three broad categories as follows:

1. Forests: Which grow where temperature and rainfall are plentiful to support a tree cover.

2. Grasslands: Which grow in the region of moderate rain.

3. Shrubs: Thorny shrubs are scrubs grow in the dry region.

Question. What are the different types of forests found on Earth?
Answer: Following are the different types of forests found on Earth:

1. Tropical evergreen forests.

2. Tropical deciduous forests.

3. Temperate evergreen forests.

4. Temperate deciduous forests.

5. Mediterranean forest.

6. Coniferous forest.

Question. Name the different types of grasslands found on Earth?
Answer: Two types of grasslands found on Earth are:

1. Tropical grasslands

2. Temperate grasslands

Question. What is the other name of tropical evergreen forests?
Answer: Tropical rain forests.

Question. What is the other name of Tropical deciduous forests?
Answer: Monsoon Forests.

Question. How are Mediterranean Forests known to the world?
Answer: They are known as the ‘orchards of the world’ for their fruit cultivation.

Question. Which vegetation in known as Taiga Vegetation?
Answer: Coniferous vegetation is known as Taiga vegetation.

Question. Why is the vegetation in tropical desert scare?
Answer: Tropical deserts are located in the western margins of the continents. The vegetation cover is scarce here because of scanty rain and scorching heat.

Question. What are the characteristics of Tropical Evergreen forests?
Answer: Following are the characteristics of Tropical Evergreen forests:

1. These thick forests occur in the regions near the equator and close to the tropics.

2. These regions are hot and receive heavy rainfall throughout the year.

3. As there is no particular dry season, the trees do not shed their leaves altogether. This is the reason they are called evergreen.

4. The thick canopies of the closely spaced trees do not allow the sunlight to penetrate inside the forest even in the day time.

Question. Which forests are commonly found in tropical evergreen forests?
Answer: Hardwood trees like rosewood, ebony, mahogany are common here.

Question. Why do trees in tropical deciduous shed their leaves in climatic dry season?
Answer: These regions experience seasonal changes. Trees shed their leaves in the dry season to conserve water.

Question. Which trees are commonly found in Tropical deciduous forests? How are these trees useful to us?
Answer: Hardwood trees found in these forests are teak, sal, neem and sheesham. These hardwood trees are extremely useful for making furniture, transport and constructional materials.

Question. In which parts of the world are the Temperate Evergreen forests found?
Answer: These forests are located in mid-latitudinal coastal regions. They are commonly found along the eastern margins of the continents.

Question. In which forests do we find both softwood and hardwood trees?
Answer: Temperate Evergreen forests.

Question. Name any two animals found in temperate deciduous forests?
Answer: Deer, Foxes.

Question. Name any three countries in which temperate deciduous forests are found.
Answer: China, New Zealand and Chile.

Question. Which vegetation is famous for its citrus fruits cultivation?
Answer: Mediterranean vegetation is famous for citrus fruit cultivation. Here fruits like figs, olives, grapes and oranges are grown.

Question. What type of climatic conditions is found in Mediterranean forests?
Answer: These regions are marked for hot dry summers and mild rainy winters.

Question. How do Mediterranean trees survive in dry summer?
Answer: Mediterranean trees adapt themselves to dry summers with the help of thick barks and wax coated leaves which help them to reduce the water loss by the process of transpiration.

Question. Which type of vegetation is found in the higher altitudes of the Northern Hemisphere?
Answer: Coniferous forests.

Question. What are the features of Coniferous forests?
Answer: Following are the features of Coniferous forests:

1. These trees are tall and conical.

2. The leaves are generally needle like.

3. These trees are softwood trees.

Question. How are coniferous trees useful to us?
Answer: Coniferous trees are very useful for making pulp, which is used for manufacturing paper and newsprint, match boxes and packing boxes are also made from this softwood.

Question. Name any three common trees and common animals found in the coniferous forests.
Answer: Common Trees: Chir, Pine and Cedar.
Common Animals: Silver fox, mink and polar bear.

Question. What are the characteristics of Tropical grasslands?
Answer: Following are the characteristics of Tropical grasslands:

1. These grow on either side of the equator and extend till the tropics.

2. This vegetation grows in the areas of moderate to low amount of rainfa

3. They can grow very tall, about 3 to 4 meters in heigh

4. Elephants, zebras, giraffes, deer, leapords are common in tropical grasslands.

Question. Give any one example of Tropical Grasslands.
Answer: Savannah Grasslands of Africa.

Question. What are the characteristics of Temperate Grasslands?
Answer: Following are the characteristics of Temperate Grasslands:

1. These are found in the mid-latitudinal zones in the interior part of the continents.

2. Usually grass here is short and nutritious.

3. Wild buffaloes, bison, antelopes are common in the temperate region.

Question. Give an example of Temperate Grasslands.
Answer: Velds of South Africa.

Question. In which climatic conditions are thorny bushes found?
Answer: Thorny bushes are found in the dry desert like regions which receive scanty rainfall and experience scorching heat.

Question. Write a short note on Tundra type of vegetation.
Answer: Tundra type of vegetation:

1. It is found in Polar Regions where the climate is extremely cold.

2. The growth of natural vegetation is very limited.

3. This vegetation grows only during the very short summer.

4. Only mosses, lichens and very small shrubs are found here.

Question. Why do animals in Polar Regions have thick fur?
Answer: The animals have thick fur and thick skin to protect themselves from the cold climatic conditions. Seal, walruses, musk-oxen, Arctic owl, Polar bear and snow foxes are some of the animals found here.

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