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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.
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