| Forest
The natural vegetation of the state is restricted to
areas which receive adequate rainfall and are at the same time agriculturally
unproductive. Ruggedness of terrain and rocky thin soils have made some
parts of the state unsuitable for cultivation. Such areas, when occurring
in the zone of heavy rainfall support the growth of forests in which the
plants like crops do not have to reach maturity and bear fruits in less
than a year.
 The
essential criteria for the growth of forests are suitable conditions of
temperature and a heavy rainfall but their distribution is governed by
the human selection of cultivated land. In Gujarat, where the rainfall
has been essentially guided by orographic features, high rugged areas
receive a higher rainfall than the plains. The rainfall in the state increases
from the plains to the mountains and from north to south. The forests
are therefore concentrated in the hilly parts of the state in the south-east
and in the hills of Saurashtra. The hills of Kutch are bare because of
low rainfall ascribed to their northern most location and the absence
of any orographic features that could come in the way of the monsoon and
cause precipitation. South, south-east and east Gujarat are the only areas
which have a considerable forest cover.
Gujarat has about 19.66 lakh hectares of land under forest.
A large part of the forest cover which is economically exploitable is
distributed in the districts of Dangs, Panchmahals, Broach, Surat, Bulsar,
Junagadh, Sabarkantha and Banaskantha. Dangs, Surat and Broach, which
are the three southern districts of the state have a sizable area under
forest. The districts of Panchmahals and Sabarkantha in north-east Gujarat
and Junagadh in Saurashtra are other important areas of forest cover.
The south and south-eastern parts of the state support the growth of a
tropical deciduous forest typified by teak, shorea robusta for which the
district of Bulsar is well known. The forest of the state can be divided
into the following broad categories, depending upon their environmental
adjustments and the general morphological character of the representative
species.
MoistT Deciduous Forests
Moist Deciduous Forests occur in Dangs and parts of Vyara
in Surat division. These forests are not evergreen and shed their leaves
during March and April, through the under-wood and shrub cover are fairly
green. Teak is an important species which drops its leaves only in the
cold weather in localities which are relatively dry or cold, but is almost
evergreen in the moistest parts of its distribution. Teak needs a moderately
good rainfall and a well-drained terrain. The associates of teak in the
moist deciduous forests are Terminalia tomestosa and Anogeissus latifolia.
Dry Deciduous Forests
There are a mixed growth of trees which are deciduous
during the dry season. The lower canopy in these forests is also deciduous
with occasional evergreen or sub greens being present in the moister area.
There is an undergrowth of shrubs, but the light reaches the surface allowing
the growth of grass which occasionally develops into a savanna-type grass
field. Bamboos are not luxuriant. Other trees of the dry deciduous forests
are teak, Boswellia serrata, Anogeissus latifolia and Diospyros malanoxylon.
Dry deciduous forests with teak occur in north-east Gujarat, particularly
in Sabarkantha district. The forests of Junagadh are valuable for their
yield of timber and of grass growing on their outer margin.
Thorny Forests
With the decreasing rainfall in the drier north the forests
turn thorny and tend to assume a
xerophytic character. Such forests occurring either in Kutch or north
Saurashtra and Banaskantha district are characterised by Acacia arabica,
Acacia leucophloea, Capparis ophylla, Zizyphus mauratiana etc. The thorny
forests of north Gujarat are sparse and provide sites for cattle-grazing.
There are bamboo plantations but there are virtually no trees that
can yield timber.
The most common variety of Bamboo is Dendorocalamus.
The most luxuriant bamboo occur in the interior of the Dangs forests.
The density is guided essentially by rainfall. There are larges stands
of bamboo in South Gujarat than in the North. |
