Kathiarbar-Gir dry deciduous forests
Encyclopedia
The Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest
ecoregion
of western India
which is home to the last remaining populations of the Asiatic Lion
in Gir Forest National Park
in Gujarat.
, the high point of which is the 1,721m Mount Abu, and the eastern half of Rajasthan
state, extending into eastern Gujarat and the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh
. A small enclave of the ecoregion covers the peak of Girnar
on the Kathiawar
peninsula of western Gujarat.
The drier Northwestern thorn scrub forests
ecoregion lies to the west, covering the remainder of the Kathiawar Peninsula and the strip of western Rajasthan between the Aravalli Range and the Thar Desert
. To the northwest the Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests transition to the Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests
. To the southeast lies the Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests
of the Vindhya Range
and the Narmada River
valley. The ecoregion also borders on the North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests
in southeastern Gujarat.
The ecoregion has tropical monsoon
climate, with most of its 550 to 700 mm average annual rainfall during the June–September southwest monsoon and little for the remaining months of the year, while temperatures often exceed 40 °C. Higher elevations of the Aravallis stay cooler, and the windward slopes (generally southeast-facing) receive higher rainfall. This results in a dry landscape of thorny scrub, bare trees and rocks.
(Tectona grandis) forest with Agele marmelos, Boswellia serrata
, Ougeinia oojeinensis, Diospyros
spp., Bombax ceiba
, Sterculia urens, Emblica officinalis, Dalbergia paniculata, and Terminalia tomentosa. These forests have a three-storied structure, with the top story reaching from 15 to 25 meters. Anogeissus pendula, growing in almost pure stands or in association with Acacia catechu
is predominant in drier areas, especially on the quartzite
ridges and gneiss
hillocks of the Aravalli Range while Mount Abu is covered with dry deciduous forest with conifers at the highest elevations. Thorn scrub forests, characterized by Euphorbia caducifolia, Maytenus emarginata, Acacia Senegal, Commiphora mukul, Wrightia tinctoria, Securinega leucopyrus, Grewia tenax, and Grewia villosa, occur on rocky Aravalli hillsides and in degraded areas. The endemic species Dicliptera
abuensis, Strobilanthes
halbergii, and Veronica
anagallis occur in these thorny areas. Finally the rivers and streams of the hills are lined with Phoenix sylvestris
date palms and Ficus racemosa fig trees.
(Panthera pardus), and Indian Wolf
(canis lupus pallipes) and Hyena
(Hyena hyena) while the plentiful prey that sustains all these carnivores includes Chousingha (Tetracerus quadricornis), Blackbuck
, (Antilope cervicapra), and Chinkara
(Gazella bennettii), all of which are globally threatened species, and other grazing animals. Bird species include the endangered Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), and Lesser Florican
(Eupodotis indica), and the near-endemic
White-naped tit which inhabits the thorny scrub areas of the ecoregion.
and Sariska Tiger Reserve
, which are important Project Tiger
sanctuaries and more wildlife sanctuaries the largest of which are Balaram Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary and Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary
while others include Jaisamand, Kumbhalgarh
, and Mount Abu.
Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimeters of rain per year, they have long dry seasons...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
of western India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
which is home to the last remaining populations of the Asiatic Lion
Asiatic Lion
The Asiatic lion also known as the Indian lion, Persian lion and Eurasian Lion is a subspecies of lion. The only place in the wild where the lion is found is in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, India...
in Gir Forest National Park
Gir Forest National Park
The Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is a forest and wildlife sanctuary in Gujarat, India...
in Gujarat.
Setting
The Kathiawar-Gir forests have a disjunct distribution. The main part of the ecoregion comprises the Aravalli RangeAravalli Range
The Aravalli Range literally meaning 'line of peaks', is a range of mountains in western India and eastern Pakistan running approximately 800 km from northeast to southwest across states of Rajasthan, Haryana, and Gujarat and Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh...
, the high point of which is the 1,721m Mount Abu, and the eastern half of Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
state, extending into eastern Gujarat and the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
. A small enclave of the ecoregion covers the peak of Girnar
Girnar
Girnar is a collection of mountains in the Junagadh District of Gujarat, India, situated near Junagadh at a distance of 327 km from Ahmedabad. It is a holy place and an important pilgrimage for both Hindus and Jains. There are a number of temples located here. Amidst the lush green Gir...
on the Kathiawar
Kathiawar
Kathiawar or Kathiawad is a peninsula in western India, which is part of the Saurashtra region on the Arabian Sea coast of Gujarat state. It is bounded on the north by the great wetland of the Rann of Kutch, on the northwest by the Gulf of Kutch, on the west and south by the Arabian Sea, and on...
peninsula of western Gujarat.
The drier Northwestern thorn scrub forests
Northwestern thorn scrub forests
The Northwestern thorn scrub forests are a xeric shrubland ecoregion of Pakistan and northwestern India, a region of extreme temperatures and a very climate that was once covered in deciduous forest.-Location and description:...
ecoregion lies to the west, covering the remainder of the Kathiawar Peninsula and the strip of western Rajasthan between the Aravalli Range and the Thar Desert
Thar Desert
The Thar Desert |Punjab]] province. The Cholistan Desert adjoins the Thar desert spreading into Pakistani Punjab province.-Location and description:...
. To the northwest the Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests transition to the Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests
Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests
The Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of northern India. It lies on the alluvial plain of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, with an area of , covering most of the state of Uttar Pradesh and adjacent portions of Uttarakhand, Haryana, Madhya...
. To the southeast lies the Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests
Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests
The Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests are a tropical dry forest ecoregion of central India. The ecoregion lies mostly in Madhya Pradesh state, but extends into portions of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh states.-Setting:...
of the Vindhya Range
Vindhya Range
The Vindhya Range is a range of older rounded mountains and hills in the west-central Indian subcontinent, which geographically separates the Indian subcontinent into northern India and Southern India.- Introduction :...
and the Narmada River
Narmada River
The Narmada , also called Rewa is a river in central India and the fifth largest river in the Indian subcontinent. It is the third largest river that completely flows within India after Ganges and Godavari...
valley. The ecoregion also borders on the North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests
North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests
The North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southwestern India. It lies between 250 and 1000 meters elevation in the northern portion of the Western Ghats range, from their northern end in Maharashtra state, through Karnataka to the transitional...
in southeastern Gujarat.
The ecoregion has tropical monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
climate, with most of its 550 to 700 mm average annual rainfall during the June–September southwest monsoon and little for the remaining months of the year, while temperatures often exceed 40 °C. Higher elevations of the Aravallis stay cooler, and the windward slopes (generally southeast-facing) receive higher rainfall. This results in a dry landscape of thorny scrub, bare trees and rocks.
Flora
The composition of the ecoregion's forests varies with moisture and soils. Wetter areas are dominated by teakTeak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
(Tectona grandis) forest with Agele marmelos, Boswellia serrata
Boswellia serrata
Boswellia serrata is Indian frankincense or Salai. It is found in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh & Andhara Pradesh in India.- Medical usage :...
, Ougeinia oojeinensis, Diospyros
Diospyros
Diospyros is a genus of about 450–500 species of deciduous and evergreen trees. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. They are commonly known as ebony or persimmon trees...
spp., Bombax ceiba
Bombax ceiba
Bombax ceiba, like other trees of the genus Bombax, is commonly known as cotton tree or tree cotton. This tropical tree has a straight tall trunk and its leaves are deciduous in winter. Red flowers with 5 petals appear in the spring before the new foliage. It produces a capsule which, when ripe,...
, Sterculia urens, Emblica officinalis, Dalbergia paniculata, and Terminalia tomentosa. These forests have a three-storied structure, with the top story reaching from 15 to 25 meters. Anogeissus pendula, growing in almost pure stands or in association with Acacia catechu
Acacia catechu
Acacia catechu also commonly called Mimosa catechu, is a deciduous, thorny tree which grows up to in height. The plant is called khair in Hindi, and kachu in Malay, hence the name was Latinized to "catechu" in Linnaean taxonomy, as the type-species from which the extracts cutch and catechu are...
is predominant in drier areas, especially on the quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...
ridges and gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
hillocks of the Aravalli Range while Mount Abu is covered with dry deciduous forest with conifers at the highest elevations. Thorn scrub forests, characterized by Euphorbia caducifolia, Maytenus emarginata, Acacia Senegal, Commiphora mukul, Wrightia tinctoria, Securinega leucopyrus, Grewia tenax, and Grewia villosa, occur on rocky Aravalli hillsides and in degraded areas. The endemic species Dicliptera
Dicliptera
Dicliptera is a genus of flowering plants in the bear's breeches family, Acanthaceae. Dactylostegium is sometimes included herein.-Selected species:* Dicliptera aripoensis Leonard* Dicliptera armata...
abuensis, Strobilanthes
Strobilanthes
Strobilanthes is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, mostly native to tropical Asia, but with a few species extending north into temperate regions of Asia.Selected species...
halbergii, and Veronica
Veronica (plant)
Veronica is the largest genus in the flowering plant family Plantaginaceae, with about 500 species; it was formerly classified in the family Scrophulariaceae...
anagallis occur in these thorny areas. Finally the rivers and streams of the hills are lined with Phoenix sylvestris
Phoenix sylvestris
Phoenix sylvestris also known as Silver Date Palm or Sugar Date Palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family native to southern Pakistan,most of India and Bangladesh. Growing in plains and scrubland to 1300 m, the fruit from this palm species is used to make wine and jelly...
date palms and Ficus racemosa fig trees.
Fauna
The protected areas of this dry region are home to 80 species of mammal of which predators include the endemic Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) along with LeopardLeopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
(Panthera pardus), and Indian Wolf
Gray Wolf
The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...
(canis lupus pallipes) and Hyena
Hyena
Hyenas or Hyaenas are the animals of the family Hyaenidae of suborder feliforms of the Carnivora. It is the fourth smallest biological family in the Carnivora , and one of the smallest in the mammalia...
(Hyena hyena) while the plentiful prey that sustains all these carnivores includes Chousingha (Tetracerus quadricornis), Blackbuck
Blackbuck
Blackbuck is a species of antelope native to the Indian subcontinent. Their range decreased sharply during the 20th century. Since 2003, the IUCN lists the species as near threatened....
, (Antilope cervicapra), and Chinkara
Chinkara
The Chinkara is a species of gazelle found in south Asia.-Habitat and Distribution:It lives in grasslands and desert areas in India, Bangladesh and parts of Iran and Pakistan...
(Gazella bennettii), all of which are globally threatened species, and other grazing animals. Bird species include the endangered Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), and Lesser Florican
Lesser Florican
The Lesser Florican , also known as the Likh, is a large bird in the bustard family and the only member of the genus Sypheotides. It is endemic to the Indian Subcontinent where it is found in tall grasslands and is best known for the leaping breeding displays made by the males during the Monsoon...
(Eupodotis indica), and the near-endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
White-naped tit which inhabits the thorny scrub areas of the ecoregion.
Conservation
The population of the area is growing and habitats have mostly been removed or degraded for firewood, timber and grazing land. As well as the Gir Forest National Park lion reserve other protected areas in the ecoregion include Ranthambore National ParkRanthambore National Park
Ranthambore National Park or Ranthambhore National Park or simply Ranthambhore is one of the largest national parks in northern India. It is situated in Sawai Madhopur district of southeastern Rajasthan, about 180 km south east of Jaipur, which is also the nearest airport...
and Sariska Tiger Reserve
Sariska Tiger Reserve
The Sariska Tiger Reserve is a national park in India located in the Alwar district of the state of Rajasthan. The topography of Sariska supports scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, rocks and grasses. This area was a hunting preserve of the erstwhile Alwar state and it was declared a...
, which are important Project Tiger
Project Tiger
Project Tiger was launched in 1972 in India. The project aims at ensuring a viable population of tigers in their natural habitats and preserving areas of biological importance as a natural heritage for the people. The selection of areas for the reserves represented as close as possible the...
sanctuaries and more wildlife sanctuaries the largest of which are Balaram Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary and Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary
Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary
Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary is wildlife sanctuary situated on the northern boundary of Mandsaur and Nimach districts in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is spread over an area of 368.62 km squire adjoining Rajasthan state in India. It was notified in 1974 and more area was added in 1983. The Chambal...
while others include Jaisamand, Kumbhalgarh
Kumbhalgarh
Kumbhalgarh is a Mewar fortress in the Rajsamand District of Rajasthan state in western India. Built during the course of the 15th century by Rana Kumbha, and enlarged through the 19th century, Kumbhalgarh is also a birthplace of Maharana Pratap, the great king and warrior of Mewar...
, and Mount Abu.