RAS question
The 'Shola Forests' are found in which part of India?
Correct answer: (C) Western Ghats (Nilgiri, Anamalai, Palni Hills).
Shola forests are tropical montane evergreen forests found in the upper reaches of the Western Ghats, especially in the Nilgiri, Anamalai and Palni hills.
Explanation
Shola forests belong to the high-altitude ecology of the Western Ghats, not to the plains or the Himalayas. They are tropical montane evergreen forests occurring above 1,500 m in the upper Western Ghats, especially the Nilgiri, Anamalai and Palni hills, where they occur in a distinctive mosaic with grasslands. The MoEF High Level Working Group report treats the Western Ghats as a biologically and ecologically unique landscape and specifically names Sholas among its distinctive repositories of diversity. That is why the option pointing to the Western Ghats hill systems is the precise match.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Central India is not the location for Shola forests; they occur in high-altitude Western Ghats hill systems above 1,500 m.
- (B) The Eastern Himalayas are a separate mountain region, while Sholas are linked to the Western Ghats landscape by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India report.
- (D) Northeast India is not the identified Shola setting; Sholas occur in the Western Ghats, especially Nilgiri, Anamalai and Palni hills.
Concept
This tests India’s natural vegetation and montane ecosystems, especially the link between forest type, altitude and physiographic region. RAS often repeats such location-based ecology questions because they connect geography, environment and biodiversity conservation.