RAS question
Tropical Evergreen forests in India are found in regions with:
Correct answer: (D) More than 200 cm rainfall with short dry season.
Tropical evergreen forests in India are found in warm, humid regions receiving more than 200 cm of annual rainfall, with only a short or no dry season.
Explanation
Tropical evergreen forests need constantly humid conditions, so the key climatic marker is annual rainfall above 200 cm along with a short or absent dry season. NCERT places these forests in warm and humid areas with annual precipitation over 200 cm and identifies their Indian locations as the western slope of the Western Ghats, the hills of the northeastern region, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This also explains why they remain green through the year: different trees shed leaves, flower and fruit at different times rather than all at once. Hence, the option with more than 200 cm rainfall and a short dry season matches both the climate requirement and the mapped distribution.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Rainfall between 100 and 150 cm falls within the moist deciduous range, not the wetter climatic zone required for tropical evergreen forests.
- (B) Less than 100 cm rainfall is too low for evergreen forests and is associated with drier deciduous conditions rather than year-round humid vegetation.
- (C) Very low rainfall areas support thorny bushes and scrub, so they cannot sustain the dense, humid tropical evergreen forest type.
Concept
This tests the link between Indian natural vegetation and climate, especially rainfall thresholds. RAS repeats this concept because forest types are a standard way to connect physical geography, monsoon distribution and regional location patterns.