Podar International School, Rajkot
CLASS – VII
CHAPTER – 17
Forest : Our Lifeline
Forest and its structure
Forests can be defined as large uncultivated areas of land.
Layres:-
Canopy
Understorey
Forest floor
Canopy:-
• It is the topmost layer of the forest.
• This layer is so dense that very little sunlight penetrates it to
reach the lower layers of the forest.
• A large variety of birds, bats, monkeys and insects live here.
• Understorey:- It mainly has large leafed plants and small trees
that are able to survive in much less sunlight.
• Plants such as orchids, palms and ferns grow in this region.
Forest floor:- A layer of dead and decaying leaves,
fruit, seeds, twigs and small worms.
• A large variety of insects, ants, beetles
are found on the forest floor.
Importance of forests
• Underlining in Textbook page no. 276 to 278
• Medicines
• Purify air and maintain balance of gases
• Maintain the water cycle
• Reduce atmospheric temperature
• Prevent soil erosion
• Flood control
• Recycling nutrients
• Provide means for tourism and recreation
• Wildlife reserves
• Source of food
Forest as an ecosystem
• Scavengers:- The animals that feed on dead and decaying animal
matter are called scavengers.
• Ex. crow, hyena, jackal and vulture.
• Decomposers:- The micro-organisms that decompose and destroy
the dead remains of plants and animals are called decomposers.
• Ex. bacteria and fungi.
Food chain
➢A food chain is a linear sequence of organisms that
feed on each other.
Food web
• A food web is a complex feeding system of interlocking and
interdependent food chains.
Energy Flow in a Food chain
Interdependence of plants and animals
in forest
• Heterotrophs need plants to satisfy their need of food
• Exchange of gases between plants and animals.
• Animal excreta and dead bodies provide humus(minerals) that
is useful for plants
• Plants help in replenishing groundwater that is useful for
animals
• Insects help to pollinate flowers in the forest.
• Dispersal of plant seeds through animals
Types of forests in India
• Types of forests depending on the soil type, topography,
elevation and the type of climate in which they thrive.
Tropical rainforests
• Heavy rainfall and are also known as lowland equatorial
evergreen rain forests.
• Receive rain around 60 to 160 inches
• South-western coast of Kerala. Assam, West Bengal,
Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Tripura, Western
Ghats and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• ‘Jewel of the Earth’ and ‘World’s largest pharmacy’
• Banana tree, mango tree, papaya tree all originally came from
tropical rainforests.
Tropical deciduous forests
• Seasonally shed all their leaves for about six to eight weeks.
• Dry season and regrow in rainy season.
• Large and broad leaves.
• Found on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, Kerala,
Chotta Nagpur plateau, East Madhya Pradesh, South Bihar and
West Odisha.
• Trees found in these forests include teak, sandalwood, mahua,
sal, mango, bamboo, banyan, jackfruit etc. The animal species
found here are tiger, sloth bear, wild dog and chousingha.
Thorn forests and desert vegetation
• Dry places where the annual rainfall is very less.
• Thar Desert of Rajasthan and the North western region of India,
from Saurashtra to Punjab.
• Long roots, broadness and radial pattern.
• Thorny bushes and scrubs. Kikar, babul, and coarse grasses.
• Chinkara and Black buck.
Mangrove forests
• Largest mangrove forests in the world.
• Gangetic Delta and in the coastal plains of West Bengal called
the Sunderbans.
• Wildlife present in the Sunderbans is the Royal Bengal Tiger.
• Grey mongoose, flying fox, wild boar, jungle cat, spotted deer,
crocodiles, snakes.
Mountain vegetation
• Located at a high altitude in the mountains.
• The Himalayas
• Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West
Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya,
Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
• The Sino-Himalayan mountain forests region forms a big
portion of the mountain forests in India.
• Sal, teak, bamboo and cane
• Temperate conifer trees such as pine, fir, maple, oak, spruce etc.
• Musk deer, wild goats, sheep, wolves and the Indian snow
leopard.
Threats to forests
• Deforestation:- The permanent destruction of forests in order to
make the land available for other purposes is known as deforestation.
Causes of deforestation:
• Land available for housing and urbanisation
• Agricultural land as the demand of food is increasing due to an
increase in population
• Increased mining activities
• Overgrazing
• For constructing dams
• Construction of infrastructure
Causes of deforestation and pollution
• To make highly prized items such as essential oils
• Furniture, paper and construction etc.
Pollution –Air, water and soil cause great damage to the forests.
The polluted water damages the natural flora of the forest and
over a period of time the forest cover is lost.
• Harmful gases present in the polluted air.
• Polluted soil causes maximum damage as the plants depend on
soil for anchoring as well as nutrients and water.
• Forest fire.
Effects of deforestation
• Increased soil erosion – The roots of trees hold the soil particles
together.
• Trees are important for the water cycle.
• Rain fall may affect
• Overall temperature
• Unpredictable changes in weather and climate.
• More and more wildlife species are losing their habitats.
• Extinction of the affected species in near future.
• Loss of biodiversity
Conservation and management of forests
• Conservation means judicious use of resources without wasting
them.
• Large scale cutting of trees must be stopped.
• ‘Tree for a tree’
• Excessive cutting down of forest trees should not be allowed by
the Government.
• Paper products such as old newspapers, magazines, books and
notebooks should be recycled to conserve forests.
• Using wood as a fuel should not be encouraged.
• Encouraged to use biogas in place of wood as a fuel.
• Waste lands should be utilised for producing fodder, timber and
firewood.
• Pollution to be controlled so that forests can survive.
Conservation of forests aims at
• Increasing forest cover by planting more trees
• Increasing forest productivity
• Avoiding exploitation of forest resources.
Afforestation
• Large scale planting of trees is called afforestation.
• For example, Vanmahotsav,
• Utilise our forest resources in a judicious manner to ensure
conservation of the environment.
