Question

‘Sal’ is a very important tree of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
A. Tropical dry deciduous forest
B. Tropical rainforest
C. Thorn forest
D. Alpine forest

Answer 1

Hint: Sal grows in moderate to slow speed and can reach a height of 30 to 35 m and a diameter of up to 2-2.5 m in the trunk. The leaves have a length of 10 to 25 cm and a width of 5 to 15 cm. It is an evergreen tree but when grown in drier areas, it shed its leaves in between February to April.

Complete Answer:
A. Tropical dry deciduous Forest: these are the forests where the rainfall ranges between 70-100 centimetres. Trees in tropical deciduous attain a good height and have big and broad leaves. Much of this type is the degraded forest. At the beginning of the dry season, the trees shed their leaves completely and the forest appears like a vast grassland with the naked trees all around. But in the wet summer season, they become dense and filled with greenery. The important trees of this region are sal, teak, Khair etc.

B. Tropical Rainforests: these forests are found near the equator and within the tropical zone. Here the annual rainfall is over 200 centimetres and the annual humidity exceeds 70 percent. The temperature of the year ranges from 25 degrees Celsius to 27 degrees Celsius on an average. These forests are very dense, with the trees reaching a great height of 260 metres and above. A large variety of Flora and fauna lived in such forests. The predominant species of trees include mahogany, rosewood, ebony, aini etc.

C. Thorn forest: these forests generally are in the area of low rainfall i.e less than 50 centimetres and high temperature. Here plants remain leafless for most of the year and give an expression of scrub vegetation. Plants present here are xerophytic. The prominent species of Flora found here include babool, neem, khejri etc.

D. Alpine Forests: At an altitude between 2800m to 4000m, alpine forests are found. Some important tree species are silver fir, pine, juniper and birch. Nevertheless, their growth is stunted at even higher altitudes.

So the correct answer is option A.

Note: - The Amazon forest, located in South America, is a very important forest not only for that particular continent on which it is located but also for the whole world. Largest rainforest of the world, referred to as ‘Lungs of Earth’, provides about 20% of the total oxygen to the earth. In 2020 it was in the news due to a large spread of fire in a large part of this forest.
- In India, according to the 2019 report of India State of Forest Report working under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, forest cover in Madhya Pradesh was the highest.