Question

Which one of the following types of vegetation is referred to as monsoon forest?
        a) Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests
       b) Tropical Semi-evergreen forests
       c) Tropical Dry-deciduous forests:
       d) Tropical Moist-deciduous forests

Answer 1

Hint:
Tropical humid deciduous forests are called monsoon forests. Tropical deciduous forests are called monsoon forests because the trees in these forests fall off during the dry season and re-grow during the monsoon.

Complete solution:
Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests: The Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests (TDEF) appear in patches along the Coromandel Coast of the Indian Peninsula. The plant biodiversity, biological resource value and protection status of 75 TDEF sites were investigated.

 A total of 149 woody plants are listed, representing 102 trees, 47 vines and 3 local herbs. In the 75 sites studied, the species richness of woody plants ranged from 10 to 69 species. On the surface, evergreen species dominate. The forest growth range determined by perimeter increments ranges from 0.37 to 1.08 cm yr-1 for trees and 0.39 to 0.41 cm yr-1 for vines.

Tropical Semi-evergreen forests: The Semi-evergreen forests are found in the Western Ghats, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the eastern Himalayas. This forest is a mixture of wet evergreen trees and wet deciduous trees. The forest is dense, with a wide variety of trees on both sides.

Tropical Dry-deciduous forests: It is characterized by tall trees that drop leaves during dry winter and spring. Due to overuse, many forests have degraded, and thorn forests and bushes are common. In the north and east, dry deciduous forests transition to dry Deccan thorn bushes.

Tropical Moist-deciduous forests: They are also called monsoon forests and are distributed in the area with rainfall between 200 cm and 70 cm. Trees of this type of forest shed their leaves for about six to eight weeks in the dry summer. The former occurs in areas with rainfall between 200 and 100 cm.

Hence, the correct answer is option D.

Note:
Monsoon forest is a dry forest or tropical deciduous forest is open woodland in tropical areas to have a long dry season followed by a season of heavy rainfall. The trees are the monsoon forest usually shed their leaves during the dry season and come into leaf at the start of the rainy season.