Forest and Woodland’s Ecosystem in the World

Forest ecosystem covers 53 million square kilometers or 40 percent of the Earth’s land surface. They exist in an extraordinary variety of forms according to the climate, the soil, the lie of the land and the ways they have been used and modified by people. In some, trees are naturally spaced out forming open woodland or savannah; in others the trees crowd densely to create a closed canopy over the ground. Closed forest now cover approximately 29 million square kilometers, four fifth of their extent 300 years ago. Most of the cultivated and inhabited land of today was once clothed in forest.

The world’s largest stock of trees lies in the great northern forest belt of Eurasia and North America, the taiga. The taiga, or boreal forest, is a relatively simple, species-poor ecosystem, dominated by conifers that can survive long, cold winters.

The temperate forests to the south of the taiga contain a greater variety of plants and animals, in various associations, including coniferous, broadleaf and mixed forests and the mixed shrub lands that are characteristic of Mediterranean regions. Much of the area that they formerly covered has long been cleared for human occupation, and is now devoted to settlements, crops and pastures, with only patches of woodland remaining, and even fever areas of old-growth forest. Temperate forests also grow in areas that have similar climates in the southern hemisphere.

Tropical forest ecosystems, particularly the rain forests, are the most species rich of all. Forming an evergreen girdle on the land around the Equator, they support not only an immense variety of trees and other plants, but also abundant animal life.

In less well-watered areas of the tropics there are dry forests, less dense and luxurious, but characterized by thicker undergrowth. The savannahs, where scattered trees and shrubs are interspersed with patches of grass and herbaceous plants, are home to large herds of grazing mammals and their predators. 

Amazing Western Ghats

                        The Western Ghats or the Sahyādri constitute a mountain range along the western side of India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight "hottest hotspots" of biological diversity in the world. It is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of India. The range runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain, along the Arabian Sea.Their positioning makes the Western Ghats biologically rich and biogeographically unique - a veritable treasure house of biodiversity. Though covering an area of 180,000 square kilometres, or just under 6% of the land area of India, the Western Ghats contain more than 30% of all plant, fish, herpeto-fauna, bird, and mammal species found in India. Many species are endemic, in fact 50% of India’s amphibians and 67% of fish species are endemic to this region.The region has a spectacular assemblage of large mammals - around 30% of the world’s Asian elephant(Elephas maximus ) population and 17% of the world’s existing tigers (Panthera tigris) call this area their home. Protection for these is extended through several nationally significant wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves, and national parks. The area has over 5000 species of flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species and 179 amphibian species; it is likely that many undiscovered species live in the Western Ghats. At least 325 globally threatened species occur in the Western Ghats.

The Western Ghats include a diversity of ecosystems ranging from tropical wet evergreen forests to mountain grasslands and containing numerous medicinal plants and important genetic resources such as the wild relatives of grains, fruit and spices. They also include the unique shola ecosystem which consists of mountain grasslands interspersed with evergreen forest patches.