Question

What are the main characteristics of the tropical deciduous forest?

Answer 1

Hint:
Characteristics are the features or a quality belonging to a place, person or thing (a place in this case).
The word ‘deciduous’ means ‘tending to fall off’ and refers to the shedding off of leaves and flowers.
Tropical Deciduous Forests are found in areas with dry weather, but with enough moisture to support plant growth.

Complete answer:
The word ‘deciduous’ means ‘tending to fall off’ and refers to the shedding off of leaves and flowers of the trees and shrubs in a particular region. This region is called a ‘deciduous forest’. Most of the trees lose their leaves and flowers by the end of one season. Two types of deciduous forests can be found around the world.
Tropical Deciduous Forest
They are monsoon forests found in a large part of India, Northern Australia and in Central America. They are found in areas with dry weather, but with enough moisture to support plant growth. They are located in the tropical and subtropical latitudes. The trees shed their leaves in the dry season to conserve water. Some trees growing in moist regions tend to remain evergreen. The common trees found in these forests are Sal, teak, neem and shisham.

Additional Information:
Temperate Deciduous Forest: They are found in the temperate regions i.e. higher latitude. They are found in the north eastern part of the USA, China, New Zealand, Chile and coastal regions of western Europe. They shed their leaves in the dry season. These forests are found in the temperate region where there is less rainfall. Oak, ash and beech are common trees found here.

Note
Points to remember -
Deciduous Forest has a less biological diversity as compared to that of a rainforest.
Deciduous forests can be easily differentiated from a rainforest because of the drastically reduced diversity in both plants and animals.
The Tropical Deciduous Forest covers the maximum area in terms of forests in India.