Consider the following statements regarding the tropical dry deciduous forest in India: (1) It is found in the regions, where rainfall is between 25 and 75 cm. (2) They occur in an irregular wide strip running from the foot of the Himalayas. Select the correct answer from the code given below:
- (a)(1) only
- (b)(2) only
- (c)Both (1) and (2)
- (d)Neither (1) nor (2)
Correct — B, (2) only.
The key is (2) only. Statement (2) is the standard description of the type's range. Champion and Seth's type-group description has it running from Kanyakumari to the foothills of the Himalaya in irregular wide strips; the textbook phrasing runs the same strip the other way, from the foot of the Himalayas to Kanniyakumari.
Statement (1) fails on the number. NCERT Class 11 puts dry deciduous forest where rainfall is 70–100 cm; Champion and Seth put it at 750–1250 mm. A 25–75 cm band is far drier than either.
That band is not random. Champion and Seth give tropical thorn forest a rainfall of about 250–750 mm, so statement (1) has attached the thorn-forest figure to the dry deciduous type. The idea to carry away: dry deciduous forest begins roughly where thorn forest ends, at about 70–75 cm of rain.
- (a)(1) only — Statement (1) is the one that fails. Its 25–75 cm band matches Champion and Seth's figure for tropical thorn forest (about 250–750 mm), the type on the drier margin of dry deciduous forest. Dry deciduous forest itself sits at 70–100 cm in NCERT and 750–1250 mm in Champion and Seth.
Choosing (a) also means rejecting statement (2), which is close to the published wording of the type's distribution.
- (c)Both (1) and (2) — The distribution statement survives; the rainfall statement does not. This option would be right if statement (1) read 70–100 cm, the NCERT band for dry deciduous forest, instead of 25–75 cm. As printed, the band is too dry by a whole forest type.
- (d)Neither (1) nor (2) — Statement (2) is right, so this fails. 'An irregular wide strip running from the foot of the Himalayas' to Kanniyakumari is the textbook sentence for the range of tropical dry deciduous forest, and Champion and Seth describe the same north–south strips. The item has one wrong statement, not two.
India's tropical forests are ranked by annual rainfall. Above 200 cm the forest is evergreen. Between 70 and 200 cm lies the tropical deciduous or monsoon forest, which NCERT splits into moist deciduous (100–200 cm) and dry deciduous (70–100 cm). Below 50 cm comes thorn forest.
Dry deciduous forest is a transition type: moist deciduous forest on its wetter margin, thorn forest on its drier margin. Its trees shed their leaves completely as the dry season begins, and in the higher-rainfall parts of the Peninsula and the northern plain it forms a parkland of teak with open grassy stretches.
Two classifications feed exam statements, and their numbers differ. NCERT Class 11 gives 70–100 cm for dry deciduous forest; Champion and Seth (1968), the sixteen-group scheme, give 750–1250 mm; some textbooks give 100–150 cm. The distribution sentence is steadier: irregular wide strips from the Himalayan foothills to Kanyakumari.
The Uttarakhand angle sits in the same NCERT chapter: the oak forests of Garhwal and Kumaon were replaced by chir pine under British forestry, which needed the timber for railway lines.
- NCERT Class 11: tropical deciduous (monsoon) forests are India's most widespread forests and occur where rainfall is 70–200 cm.
- NCERT Class 11: moist deciduous forests are pronounced at 100–200 cm, dry deciduous at 70–100 cm, tropical thorn forests below 50 cm.
- Champion and Seth (1968): tropical dry deciduous forest occurs from Kanyakumari to the foothills of the Himalaya in irregular wide strips, rainfall 750–1250 mm.
- Champion and Seth (1968): tropical thorn forest has rainfall of about 250–750 mm, covering southern Punjab, Haryana, northern Gujarat and almost the entire Rajasthan.
- NCERT: dry deciduous forests are found in the rainier areas of the Peninsula and the plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
- NCERT names tendu, palas, amaltas, bel, khair and axlewood as common trees of the dry deciduous forest; teak marks its parkland stretches.
- Champion and Seth: dry teak communities predominate in the southern form of the type and dry sal in the northern form.
- NCERT: in the western and southern parts of Rajasthan, vegetation cover is very scanty because of low rainfall and overgrazing.
- The NBSAP summary of Champion and Seth gives tropical dry deciduous forest about 29.7 million ha, against about 22.4 million ha for moist deciduous.
Statement (1)'s 25–75 cm band is Champion and Seth's thorn-forest rung, one step below dry deciduous forest.
- A rainfall band borrowed from the next-drier type: 25–75 cm is Champion and Seth's thorn-forest figure, and it reads plausibly 'dry' when attached to dry deciduous forest.
- Two sources, two numbers: NCERT's 70–100 cm and Champion and Seth's 750–1250 mm are both accepted for dry deciduous forest; a band starting at 25 cm matches neither.
- Reading 'foot of the Himalayas' as a moist-deciduous cue: the sal foothill belt is moist deciduous, but the dry deciduous strip also starts at the foothills and runs to Kanyakumari.
- Treating the exclusions in the textbook sentence (Rajasthan, Western Ghats, West Bengal) as settled: Champion and Seth list Rajasthan among the states where the type is concentrated.
The type is tested through its numbers and its map. A rainfall band is quoted and you must place it on the ladder, evergreen to moist deciduous to dry deciduous to thorn, or a distribution sentence is lifted from the textbook and offered for confirmation.
Two-statement items pair the two, so a true sentence sits beside one carrying a transplanted figure. The species list (tendu, palas, khair, axlewood) and the parkland landscape are the other handles.
GEO_GS_2024_Q412024Same NCERT passage, one level up: it asks about tropical deciduous forests as a whole (most widespread, 70–200 cm). The UKPSC item drops to the dry sub-type, whose NCERT band is 70–100 cm, and tests whether a thorn-forest figure is spotted.
GEO_GS_2026_Q162026Tests the next rung down: tropical thorn forests, which NCERT places below 50 cm of rainfall. The UKPSC item's wrong statement uses 25–75 cm, the thorn band in Champion and Seth, so the two questions guard the same boundary from either side.
- practice — not a real PYQ
According to NCERT (India: Physical Environment), tropical dry deciduous forests in India occur in regions where annual rainfall is:
- (a)less than 50 cm
- (b)between 70 and 100 cm
- (c)between 100 and 200 cm
- (d)more than 200 cm
Answerb — NCERT gives 70–100 cm for dry deciduous forest. Below 50 cm (a) is the NCERT band for tropical thorn forests; 100–200 cm (c) is the moist deciduous band; over 200 cm (d) is the tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen band. - practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is NOT a feature of India's tropical dry deciduous forests?
- (a)Trees shed their leaves completely as the dry season begins
- (b)A parkland landscape of teak and other trees interspersed with patches of grass
- (c)A dense, multi-layered canopy through which little light reaches the ground
- (d)A transition to thorn forest on the drier margin
Answerc — a dense, well-stratified, multi-layered canopy describes tropical evergreen forest, not dry deciduous forest. NCERT gives dry deciduous forest complete leaf-shedding at the start of the dry season (a), a parkland landscape with open grassy stretches (b), and a transition to thorn forest on its drier margin (d). - practice — not a real PYQ
Consider the following statements regarding tropical dry deciduous forests in India: 1. They form a transition between moist deciduous forests on the wetter side and thorn forests on the drier side. 2. NCERT locates them in the rainier areas of the Peninsula and the plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. 3. The western and southern parts of Rajasthan carry a dense, continuous belt of dry deciduous forest. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a)1 and 2 only
- (b)2 and 3 only
- (c)1 and 3 only
- (d)1, 2 and 3
Answera — statements 1 and 2 are NCERT's own description of the type. Statement 3 is wrong: NCERT says vegetation cover in the western and southern parts of Rajasthan is very scanty because of low rainfall and overgrazing. Options (b), (c) and (d) each include statement 3.