Nature has gifted our country with a large variety of natural resources. Natural vegetation is an important natural resource. It refers to a plant community which has grown naturally without human aid and has been left undisturbed by humans for a long time. The natural vegetation adapts to the constraints of natural environment in size, structure and requirements.
A great variety of natural vegetation is found in India due to unequal distribution of rainfall and temperature. With about 46000 plant species, India is tenth largest in the world and fourth largest in Asia in plant diversity. Actually the natural vegetation in India ranges from the one found in the tropical region to that of the Arctic region.
The natural vegetation is the first form of life that appeared on the earth, followed by animals and human beings. The original vegetation in our country consisted of forests, grasslands and scrubs. A major part of the original vegetation has been destroyed by man to meet his various needs. Even today, about 20 per cent area is under the forests in India.
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Factors Affecting Natural Vegetation:
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The geographical factors which influence the growth and development of natural vegetation in India are climate (temperature and precipitation), topography and soil.
i. Rainfall is more important than temperature except in the Himalaya Mountains.
ii. Areas of heavy rainfall have more dense vegetation as compared to the areas with less rainfall.
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iii. The fall in temperature affects the type of vegetation and its growth. The vegetation cover changes from tropical to sub-tropical, temperate and alpine.
iv. The level land is generally devoted to agriculture, while the undulating and rough terrains have grasslands and woodlands.
v. The sandy soils in the deserts support cactus and thorny bushes, while wet marshy deltaic soils support mangroves and swamp forests.
vi. The hill slopes with some depth of soils have coniferous or deciduous trees.