Vegetation of Himachal Pradesh

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Vegetation of Himachal Pradesh

  • The Forests of Himachal Pradesh known for their grandeur and majesty are like a green pearl in the Himalayan crown.
  • This life supporting systems are presently under great stress due to impact of modern civilization, economic development and growth in human and cattle population.
  • According to National Forest Policy, 1988, at least two third of the geographical area should be under forest in the hilly states like Himachal Pradesh.
  • However, keeping in view that about 20 % of the area is inaccessible and beyond the tree limit, the State Government aims to bring 50% of the geographical area under forest cover.
  • The forests of the State have been classified on an ecological basis as laid down by Champion and Seth, and can be broadly classified into Coniferous Forests and broad-leaved Forests.
  • Distribution of various species follows fairly regular altitudinal stratification.
  • The vegetation varies from Dry Scrub Forests at lower altitudes to Alpine Pastures at higher altitudes.
  • In between these two extremes, distinct vegetational zones of Mixed Deciduous Forests, Bamboo, Chil, Oaks, Deodar, Kail, Fir and Spruce, are found.
  • The richness and diversity of our flora can be gauged from the fact that, out of total 45,000 species found in the country as many as 3,295 species (7.32%) are reported in the State.
  • More than 95% of the species are endemic to Himachal Pradesh and characteristic of Western Himalayan flora, while about 5% (150 species) are exotic, introduced over the last 150 years.
  • The forests of Himachal Pradesh are rich in vascular flora, which forms the conspicuous vegetation cover.
  • Out of total 45,000 species of plants found in the country as many as 3,295 species (7.32%) are reported in the State.
  • More than 95% of species are endemic to Himachal and characteristic of Western Himalayan flora, while about 5% (150 species) are exotic introduced over the last 150 years.
  • Forest Cover As we move from lower to higher altitude in the state, variation in vegetation pattern can be noticed easily.
  • Dry scrub vegetations are prominent at lower altitude, alpine meadows at higher altitude.
  • Dry deciduous forest, moist deciduous forest, pine, oak, and deodar mixed coniferous and temperate broadleaved forest zones are found in between these two extremes.
  • Altogether, 20 different vegetation zones can be identified in the state. Generally, these vegetation zones are synchronous to altitudinal stratification.
  • Micro-climatic changes, due to the effect of slope and aspect, break the continuity in vegetation zones in some part of the state.

Types of Forest

  • The forest of Himachal Pradesh are characterized by temperate conifer, mixed forest (moist and dry temperate forest), subalpine forest, tropical forest (moist deciduous, swamp, and subtropical pine forest) and broad-leaved forest (tropical dry deciduous and subtropical dry evergreen forest). The forests of Himachal can be classified into nine forest types

Dry Alpine Forests:

  • These are found in the Lahaul, Spiti, Kinnaur, and Pangi region of Chamba district. Extensive alpine pastures are the characteristic feature of this forest Vegetation of Himachal Pradeshtype.
  • These alpine pastures are generally devoid of trees. Some junipers and birches can be found along the river margins, or in watery patches of rocks, due to scarcity of precipitation.
  • The pastures support large herds of sheep and goats during the summer months and remain snow-covered during winter.

Moist Alpine Scrub Forests:

  • These are found above the tree line and consist of evergreen scrub growth forming a dense cover in patches, and broken by grasses in-between.
  • The flora is fairly rich, and medicinal plants grow in a narrow zone at the margin of melting glaciers.

Subalpine Forests:

  • These are found above the altitude of 3,500 m and below the alpine scrub forest. These types of forests are covered with rhododendrons and junipers.
  • The lower linings are marked with blue pine forest and deciduous scrub.
  • Parkland, which is characterized by grasslands scattered with misshapen, stunted trees of kharsu oaks, maples, etc., are used as grazing grounds by the migratory herds of sheep and goats.

Himalayan Temperate Forests of Vegetation of Himachal Pradesh:

  • These are occupy a large area of the state between 1,500 and 3,000 m. These forests are further sub-grouped into
  1. Himalayan moist temperate forests,
  2. Dry temperate forests,
  3. Temperate coniferous forests, and
  4. Temperate deciduous forests.
  • The moist temperate forests are the most valuable timber forests of the state.
  • The area contains scattered trees and bushes such as chilgoza pine, willow, robinia, poplars and alpine pastures.
  • Deodar is the dominant species of the temperate coniferous forest.

Wet Temperate Forests of Vegetation of Himachal Pradesh:

  • These are confined to the wet slopes of the Dhauladhar ranges of the Kangra district.
  • These include various temperate species and have some major pasture lands.
  • The annual rainfall varies from 100 to 250 cm, with snowfall during the winters.
  • The maximum temperature during summers ranges between 15 and 20 C, and during winters temperature falls to minus 10 C.

Subtropical Pine Forests of Vegetation of Himachal Pradesh:

  • These are occurring in the lower Himalaya between 1,000 and 2,200 m. Chir pine is the most dominant species of this zone.
  • Subtropical Broad-leaved Hill Forests: are found around Mandi town along the Beas river below the 1,200 m altitude.

Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests of Vegetation of Himachal Pradesh:

  • These are occurs up to 1,200 m in the lower hills, extending into the interior valleys along the rivers.
  • Sal is the dominant species and is primarily found in the Nahan region of Sirmaur district.

Tropical Thorny Forests of Vegetation of Himachal Pradesh:

  • These are occur in small pockets, especially in Nalagarh region of Solan district, and in some parts of Sirmaur district.
  • They are found in areas where the summer temperature goes up to 40 C and rainfall varies between 50 and 75 cm.
  • This zone is characterized with thorny forests mostly of xerophytic species.

Geographical Distribution of Forest (As per FSI Report 2015)

   
 S. No.  Topics/ Subject AREA KM2 % OF GEOGRAPHICAL AREA % OF FOREST AREA
1 Geographical Area 55673 100 ………
2 Forest area Legally Classified 37033 66.52 100
3 Area under Tree Cover 14696 26.4 39.68
 4 i) Very Dense Forest 3224 5.79 8.7
 5 ii) Moderate Dense Forest 6381 11.46 17.23
 6 iii) Open Forest 5091 9.14 13.74

Legal Classification of Forest

   
 Forests Area( Km² ) Percentage
1. Reserved Forests 1896 5.12
2. Demarcated protected Forests 11387 30.75
3. Un-demarcated Protected Forests 21656 58.48
4. Unclassed Forests 976 2.63
5. Others(managed by Forest Department 370 1.00
6. Not managed by Forest Department. 748 2.02
Total 37033 100.00

 

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