Which one of the following groups of forest is spread over larger area in India?
- (a)Tropical Wet Evergreen
- (b)Tropical Dry Deciduous
- (c)Tropical Moist Deciduous
- (d)Tropical Semi-Evergreen
Correct — C, Tropical Moist Deciduous.
On the classical shares — the older Forest Survey table reproduced in standard geography texts — tropical moist deciduous forest holds about 37 per cent of India's forest area, ahead of tropical dry deciduous at 28.6 per cent, with wet evergreen near 8 and semi-evergreen near 4 per cent.
Deciduous forest is the monsoon forest of India, and within it the moist sub-type, the sal and teak country of the 100 to 200 cm belt, is the larger.
The idea to carry away: on the classical shares, tropical moist deciduous is the largest single forest type group in India, and the two deciduous groups together hold well over half of the forest area.
- (a)Tropical Wet Evergreen — Wet evergreen forest is the rainforest of the Western Ghats, the north-eastern hills and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where rainfall exceeds about 200 cm and there is no marked dry season. On the classical shares it is about 8 per cent of forest area.
It is the right answer to the forest group with a continuous evergreen canopy and hardwoods such as rosewood, mahogany and ebony, not to the group covering the larger area.
- (b)Tropical Dry Deciduous — Dry deciduous forest is the 70 to 100 cm rainfall belt of the peninsular interior and the plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with tendu, palas, khair and amaltas. The key follows the classical shares, on which it ranks second at 28.6 per cent, behind moist deciduous.
It is the right answer to the largest type group in FSI's own satellite forest-type mapping, first published in ISFR 2011, which reverses the classical ranking. That is a real disagreement between two sources, not a trick: on the classical table the key's (c) is right, and a candidate who recalls only FSI's mapping is led here.
- (d)Tropical Semi-Evergreen — Semi-evergreen forest is the transition belt between wet evergreen and moist deciduous: the lower storey stays evergreen while the top canopy sheds leaves for a short dry spell. On the classical shares it is about 4 per cent of forest area.
It is the right answer to the forest group that mixes evergreen and deciduous trees, with white cedar, hollock and kail, not to the group covering the larger area.
Champion and Seth (1968) sorted India's forests into 16 type groups by climate, chiefly rainfall and temperature, running from tropical wet evergreen through the deciduous and thorn groups to the subtropical, temperate and alpine forests of the mountains.
Among the tropical groups the rainfall bands do the sorting: wet evergreen above about 200 cm, moist deciduous between 100 and 200 cm, dry deciduous between 70 and 100 cm, and thorn forest below about 70 cm. Semi-evergreen sits as a transition between the first two.
This question sits in the natural-vegetation section of Indian physical geography, where the deciduous or monsoon forest is taught as the most widespread forest of the country and then split into its moist and dry sub-types.
Type-group shares have been published more than once, with different numbers. The classical textbook shares rank moist deciduous first; FSI's 2011 satellite type mapping in ISFR 2011 ranks dry deciduous first. The keyed answer holds on the first two.
- Champion and Seth (1968) grouped India's forests into 16 type groups, from tropical wet evergreen (Group 1) to sub-alpine and alpine forest (Groups 14 to 16).
- Classical shares from older Forest Survey tables, reproduced in standard geography texts: moist deciduous about 37 per cent, dry deciduous 28.6, wet evergreen 8, semi-evergreen 4.1.
- Rainfall bands: wet evergreen above about 200 cm, moist deciduous 100 to 200 cm, dry deciduous 70 to 100 cm, thorn forest below about 70 cm.
- Sal and teak are the leading moist deciduous timbers; tendu, palas, khair and amaltas mark dry deciduous forest; rosewood, mahogany and ebony mark wet evergreen forest.
- FSI's own satellite forest-type mapping, first published in ISFR 2011, ranks tropical dry deciduous ahead of tropical moist deciduous — the opposite of the classical table, which is why the two sources disagree on this question.
- In Uttarakhand, the Terai-Bhabar and Shivalik belt that holds Corbett and Rajaji carries largely sal-dominated moist deciduous forest.
Shares are the classical textbook figures from older Forest Survey tables; FSI's satellite type mapping, first published in ISFR 2011, ranks dry deciduous first instead.
- More than one figure-set exists for forest type shares. The classical textbook shares (moist deciduous about 37 per cent) rank moist deciduous first; FSI's satellite type mapping, first published in ISFR 2011, puts dry deciduous first, so recalling only the FSI mapping points to (b).
- Reading 'larger area' as a state ranking pulls in Madhya Pradesh-type answers; the stem asks about groups of forest across India, not about states.
- Treating tropical deciduous as one block: the paper splits it into moist and dry, and the mark rests on which sub-type is larger, not on the deciduous group as a whole.
- Mixing up forest cover density classes (very dense, moderately dense, open) with forest type groups; both come from FSI but answer different questions.
The idea appears as a ranking item, asking which type group covers the largest or the smallest share of India's forest, or as a matching item pairing a forest group with its rainfall band, region or characteristic tree.
It also surfaces as a statement-check on ISFR figures, where the report year decides which figure-set applies.
CDS_GK_2024_II_Q802024Same source family, FSI's India State of Forest Report, and the same which-is-largest framing. It differs in unit: that item ranks states by area under forest as per ISFR 2021, this one ranks forest type groups across India.
UKPSC_2024_PRE_GSI_Q262024Same paper and the same FSI reporting base. It differs in scale and measure: that item asks which Uttarakhand district has the highest forest-cover percentage under the 2021 report, this one asks which forest type group covers the larger area nationally.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In the Champion and Seth classification, tropical moist deciduous forests of India typically occur in areas receiving annual rainfall in which one of the following ranges?
- (a)Below 70 cm
- (b)70 to 100 cm
- (c)100 to 200 cm
- (d)More than 200 cm
Answerc — Moist deciduous forest lies in the 100 to 200 cm belt. Below 70 cm is thorn forest (a), 70 to 100 cm is dry deciduous forest (b), and more than 200 cm supports wet evergreen forest (d). - practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following pairs of forest group and characteristic tree is correctly matched?
- (a)Tropical wet evergreen – Tendu
- (b)Tropical dry deciduous – Rubber
- (c)Tropical moist deciduous – Sal
- (d)Tropical thorn – Mahogany
Answerc — Sal is the leading timber of moist deciduous forest. Tendu belongs to dry deciduous forest, not wet evergreen (a); rubber is an evergreen-region tree, not dry deciduous (b); mahogany is a wet evergreen hardwood, not a thorn-forest species (d). - practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following forest type groups of India forms a transition between wet evergreen and moist deciduous forests, with an evergreen lower storey and an upper canopy that sheds leaves for a short dry period?
- (a)Tropical dry evergreen
- (b)Tropical semi-evergreen
- (c)Subtropical broadleaved hill
- (d)Littoral and swamp
Answerb — Semi-evergreen forest is the transition belt between wet evergreen and moist deciduous forest. Tropical dry evergreen is a small coastal group of the Tamil Nadu coast, not a transition to moist deciduous (a); subtropical broadleaved hill forest is a hill-altitude group (c); littoral and swamp forest is the tidal and mangrove group (d).