Question

Which are the three broad categories of natural vegetation?

Answer 1

Hint:Natural vegetation refers to assemblage of plants that occurs naturally. They can be classified according to the difference in their growth structure, type of soil they require for nourishment, weather patterns, physical features etc.

Complete answer:
Natural vegetation is a community of plants that are grown without any human aid. They are classified into 3 broad categories: Forests, Grasslands, Shrubs.
Forest: It is a large area of land that supports a complex ecosystem comprising dense growth of trees and numerous life forms. Forests are further classified according to the type of trees it has - Tropical Evergreen Forest ,Tropical Deciduous Forest, Temperate Evergreen Forest, Temperate Deciduous forest, Mediterranean vegetation, Coniferous forest.
- Grasslands: These are vast land thickly covered with grasses and can grow very tall, about 3 to 4 meters in height. They grow in regions of moderate rainfall. These are classified as : Tropical grasslands and Temperate grasslands. Grasslands have different names in different regions.
- Shrubs: These are small, woody plants with widely scattered stems, often referred as bushes. These can be dense, thorny shrubs and scrubs in arid areas with average rainfall upto 250 to 500.
Two other types of natural vegetation can be Tundra and ice sheet.
Tundra- These grow in cold temperatures, during short summers. They are generally small vegetation like tiny shrubs, mosses, lichens. These are found in polar regions of Asia, Europe and North America. These areas are too cold for plants to survive and thus few animal species with thick coats of fur and thick skin are present here.
Ice Sheet- These are gigantic glaciers that cover a vast land without any vegetation at all. Currently, these are present only in Greenland and Antarctica.

Note:Natural vegetation is plants that grow naturally, that can also be referred to as wild plants. These have three broad categories : Forest, grasslands and Shrubs. These vary greatly with climatic conditions of the regions.