Discuss about the “Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests” of Assam .

Ans :  “Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests” :-
“Tropical Moist Deciduous forests” receives an average rainfall of about 100-200cm annually with a mean annual temperature of about 27 degree Celsius.

“Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests” can be divided into :–
1. “Sal Forests” and ,
2. “Mixed Deciduous Forests”.
“Sal Forests” occupy considerable forest area in the Central and Lower parts of the State in the Districts of Nagaon, Morigaon, Kamrup, parts of Nalbari and Barpeta, Darrang, Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Goalpara.In these forests, Sal (shorea robusta) grows in association with Lagerstroemia species(Jarul, Ajar), Schima Wallichii(Ghugra), Stereospermum personatum (Paruli), Adina cordifolia (Haldu), Artocarpus species (Sam), Ficus species(Bor, Dimoru, Dhupbor, Bot, Athabor, tengabor, Lotadioru, Khongaldimoru), Bischofia javanica (Uriam), Gmelina arborea (Gomari), Michelia champaca(Teeta champa), Terminalia species (Hilikha, Bhomora, Bohera) , Toona ciliate (Poma) etc.
“Moist Deciduous Mixed Forests” occur at the foot-hills in Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Karbi-Angong and Dima Hasao districts. Trees are mostly deciduous with Sprinkling of few evergreen and semievergreen species. Important plant species growing in these forests include Adina cordifolia (Haldu), Albizia species(Siris, Kolasiris, Koroi, Sau) , Alstonia scholaris(Satiana), Artocarpus chama (Sam), Careya arborea(Kumbhi), Dalbergia species(Sissoo, Medelua), Ficus species (Bot, Bor, Dimoru), Lagerstroemia species (Jarul, Ajar), Mallotu species (Senduri, Joral, Dudhloti) etc. These forest harbour rich diversity of shrubby and herbaceous ground vegetation. Some of the Reserve Forests also have teak plantations.

Conclusion :- Favourable geographical location, diversified topography and ideal climatic conditions have made Assam very rich in biodiversity . Assam presents the transitional zone between the Indian, Indo-Malayan and Indo-Chinese bio-geographical region. According to a state department forest journal, vegetation in Assam is primarily of tropical type covering areas of evergreeen, semi-green and deciduous forests and grasslands. The large scale exploitation of forests both in legal and illegal way and due to the encroachment of forest land for human settlement, agricultural use , industrial use etc has reduced the productivity , output as well as the area under forest at an alarming rate in the state.