NATURAL VEGETATION OF THE WORLD

NATURAL VEGETATION OF THE WORLD

NATURAL REGIONS	DISTRIBUTION		VEGETATION CHARACTERISTICS	VEGETATION SPECIES
Equatorial Rain forest (10˚ N and S latitude).	Equatorial regions like Amazon lowlands, Congo basin, etc., and tropical coastal regions having maximum rainfall.		Evergreen forest with luxuriant growth of variety of vegetation – a distinct layer arrangement with multiple species.	Hard wood trees like mahogany, ebony, cabinet woods, rosewood, orchids, forms and lalangs.
Tropical Monsoon forest (Between 10˚- 30˚N and s latitude).	Coastal region with a tropical marine climate lime eastern Brazil, parts of Central eastern Africa but the major regions are Peninsular India, southern Myanmar, countries of South East Asia, and northern Australia.		Forests are more open and less dense than the equatorial forests, normally deciduous trees with marked dry seasons.	Forests have fewer species like teak, sale, anal wood, bamboo of which teak is a valuable hardwood.
Tropical Grassland or Savanna (Interior of continents between the   equatorial forests and the trade wind hot deserts)	Parts of Brazilian Plateau (Campos), Venezuela (Llanos), on either side of equatorial region of Africa and northern Australia.		Tall grass and scattered short trees, called ‘Parkland’ or ‘Bushveld’’ landscape. The trees are deciduous and have broad trunks with water – storing devices.	Baobabs and bottle trees acacias, etc. In Australia mallee, mulga are the main species.
Desert Vegetation (Western coasts of continents t\between latitude 15˚ -30˚ N and S)	The Sahara, Kalahari and Namib desert in Africa, Mohave (California), Atacama (Chile), Great Australian Desert and other regions are Arabian, Iranian and Thar.		Very sparse xerophytes or drought resistant scrubs and bushes.	Bulbous cacti, thorny bushes, scattered dwarf acacias and date palms.
Mediterranean Forests (Western margin of the continents between   latitude 30˚ - 45˚ N and S)	Area around the Mediterranean sea, California (USA), central Chile, the south – western tip of South African (around Cape Town), southern and south  western Australia.		Transitional type of vegetation evergreen forests, evergreen coniferous, Mediterranean bushes, shrubs and wiry an bushy grasses.	Evergreen trees are cork, oak (Mediterranean Europe), giant sequoia (California) ,and eucalyptus trees like jarrah and Kari (Australia). Bushes and shrubs like laurel, myrtle, rosemary, and etc. degenerate scrub vegetation are marquis (southern Frances), macchia (Italy), Chapppparal (California) and Mallee (Australia).
Temperate Grassland or steppe (Interior of the continents in the temperate regions)	North America (prairies), Eurasia (Steppes), Hungry (Pustaz), Manchuria, Argentina and Uruguay (pampas), South Africa (Veldt) and in Australia (Downs).		Treeless grassland, vary in appearance and quality of grass also varies with change in season.	Rolling plain with tall grasses in Prairies and short grasses in Steppes are soft and nutritive.
Temperate mixed Forests. (Eastern margin of continents in the warm temperate latitudes)	S.E.U.S.A., south China, South Brazil, Eastern coast of South Africa, and South East Australia.		Hard wood, broad leaved deciduous trees on lowlands are quite similar to monsoon forests and coniferous forests on mountains.	Evergreen conifers such as pines, cypresses, oak, camphor, camellia, and magnolia. Parana pine, quebracho (axe breaker), wattle trees are also some valuable species.
Temperate Deciduous Forests (coastal regions of cool climate)		North – eastern US, western Europe, north – eastern China, southern Chile, and New Zealand.	Hardwood deciduous trees shed their leaves in winters to protect themselves against the winter snow and frost. They occur in Pure strands, which are excellent for lumbering.		Valuable temperate hardwood species are lack, elm, poplar, beech, and willow, aspen alder grows in wetter regions. They are excellent for both fuel and industrial purposes.
Coniferous forest (from 55˚ N latitude to the Arctic circle and   also the region of mountainous Uplands)		Stretches in continuous belt across North America and Eurasia and is also found on the High mountains of other regions.	Almost all trees are evergreen and conical in shape with small, thick needle – shaped leaves.		The richest source of softwood occurs impure strands with a few species.
Tundra Vegetation		Northern most barren lands of Cannas, coastal region of Greenland, and the Arctic seaboard of Eurasia,	Heat deficient region covered with little vegetation of moss, lichens and stunted trees. Ground is frozen most of the time and also the region has very short summer.		Mosses, lichens, slogs, and wild flowering shrubs occur in patches.