wht are montane forests ??? plzz i wnt the answer juzz now !

Montane grasslands and shrublands is a biome defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The biome includes high altitude (montane, subalpine, and alpine) grasslands and shrublands around the world.

Montane grasslands and shrublands located above the tree line are commonly known as alpine tundra, which occurs in mountain regions around the world. Below the tree line are subalpine and montane grasslands and shrublands. Stunted subalpine forests are known as krummholz, and occur just below the tree line, where harsh, windy conditions and poor soils create dwarfed and twisted forests of slow-growing trees.

Montane grasslands and shrublands, particularly in subtropical and tropical regions, often evolved as virtual islands, separated from other montane regions by warmer, lower elevation regions, and are frequently home to many distinctive and endemic plants which evolved in response to the cool, wet climate and abundant tropical sunlight. Characteristic plants of these habitats display adaptations such as rosette structures, waxy surfaces, and hairy leaves. A unique feature of many wet tropical montane regions is the presence of giant rosette plants from a variety of plant families, such as Lobelia (Afrotropic), Puya (Neotropic), Cyathea (New Guinea), and Argyroxiphium (Hawaii).

The most extensive montane grasslands and shrublands occur in the Neotropic Paramo of the Andes Mountains. This biome also occurs in the mountains of east and central Africa, Mount Kinabalu of Borneo, highest elevations of the Western Ghats in South India and the Central Highlands of New Guinea.

Where conditions are drier, one finds montane grasslands, savannas, and woodlands, like the Ethiopian Highlands, and montane steppes, like the steppes of the Tibetan Plateau.

View Full Answer

Montane sub tropical forests

Broad-leaved forests
Broad-leaved forests are found in the Eastern Himalayas and the Western Ghats, along the Silent Valley. There is a marked difference in the form of the vegetation in the two areas. In the Silent Valley, the poonspar, cinnamon, rhododendron, and fragrant grass are predominant. In the Eastern Himalayas, the flora has been badly affected by the shifting cultivation and forest fires. These wet forests consist mainly of evergreen trees with a sprinkling of deciduous here and there. There are oak, alder, chestnut, birch, and cherry trees. There are a large variety of orchids, bamboo and creepers.

Pine
Pine forests are found in the steep dry slopes of the Shivalik Hills, Western and Central Himalayas, Khasi, Naga, and Manipur Hills. The trees predominantly found in these areas are the chir, oak, rhododendron, and pine. In the lower regions sal, sandan, amla, and laburnum are found.

Dry evergreen
Dry evergreen forests normally have a prolonged hot and dry season and a cold winter. It generally has evergreen trees with shining leaves that have a varnished look. Some of the more common ones are the pomegranate, olive, and oleander. These forests are found in the Shivalik Hills and foothills of the Himalayas up to a height of 1000 metres.

Montane temperate forests

Wet
Wet montane temperate forests occur in the North and the South. In the North, it is found in the region to the east of Nepal into Arunachal Pradesh, at a height of 1800–3000 metres, receiving a minimum rainfall of 2000 mm. In the South, it is found in parts of the Niligiri Hills, the higher reaches of Kerala. The forests in the northern region are denser than in the South. This is because over time the original trees have been replaced by fast-growing varieties such as the eucalyptus. Rhododendrons and a variety of ground flora can be found here.

In the North, there are three layers of forests: the higher layer has mainly coniferous, the middle layer has deciduous trees such as the oak and the lowest layer is covered by rhododendron and champa.

Moist
This type spreads from the Western Himalayas to the Eastern Himalayas. The trees found in the western section are broad-leaved oak, brown oak, walnut, rhododendron, etc. In the Eastern Himalayas, the rainfall is much heavier and therefore the vegetation is also more lush and dense. There are a large variety of broad-leaved trees, ferns, and bamboo. Coniferous trees are also found here, some of the varieties being different from the ones found in the South.

Dry
This type is found mainly in Lahul, Kinnaur, Sikkim, and other parts of the Himalayas. There are predominantly coniferous trees that are not too tall, along with broad-leaved trees such as the oak, maple, and ash. At higher elevation, fir, juniper, deodar, and chilgoza can be found.

Sub alpine

Sub alpine forests extends from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh between 2900 to 3500 metres. In the Western Himalayas, the vegetation consists mainly of juniper, rhododendron, willow, and black currant. In the eastern parts, red fir, black juniper, birch, and larch are the common trees. Due to heavy rainfall and high humidity the timberline in this part is higher than that in the West. Rhododendron of many species covers the hills in these parts.

Alpine

Moist
Moist alpines are found all along the Himalayas and on the higher hills near the Myanmar border. It has a low scrub, dense evergreen forest, consisting mainly of rhododendron and birch. Mosses and ferns cover the ground in patches. This region receives heavy snowfall.

Dry
Dry alpines are found from about 3000 metres to about 4900 metres. Dwarf plants predominate, mainly the black juniper, the drooping juniper, honeysuckle, and willow.

Tropical Montane Forests:

The broad class of tropical montane forests are found in the American, African and Asian continents. Plants are adapted to low temperature and high radiation levels.

In India, these fall into three categories; the montane wet temperate forests, Himalayan moist temperate forests and Himalayan dry temperate forests.

The montane wet temperate forests include shola forests classified as southern wet temperate forests. This as well as the northern wet temperate forests are characterised by the absence of conifers.

Kerala's shola forests:

Southern wet temperate forests are found in Kerala along the crest of Western Ghats in Palakkad, Wayanad, Idukki and Thiruvananthapuram districts. They occur at an altitude of about 1800 metres above the sea level or higher. Best examples of this type of forests are found in the Eravikulam National Park and Silent Valley National Park. The biodiversity hotspot, Agastyakoodam and its environs, has some sholas (picture on the left) from where new species have been discovered in the eighties.

The shola grassland ecosystem is characterised by dense growth of trees in the depressions and folds of the Ghats surrounded by extensive areas of grasslands. Grasslands constitute about 80 per cent of such forests. (See picture of sholas at the top of this page).

Trees show stunted growth (owing to wind action) with spreading canopy, twiggy branchlets and foliage of different colours. Many endemic flora and fauna occur in these forests with extreme microclimatic conditions. Plants of lower groups such as ferns and lichens proliferate. At Eravikulam National Park, one would not fail to notice the shrub kurinji (neelakurinji) during its flowering season.