Question

In India, temperate evergreen vegetation occurs mostly in
(a)Rajasthan and South Punjab.
(b)Eastern and Western Himalayas less than 3500m
(c)Western Himalayas above 3500m
(d)Western Ghats and Assam

Answer 1

Hint: A temperate forest is a forest found between the tropical and boreal regions. It is located in the temperate zone. These forests are the second-largest biomes on the planet which cover 25% of the world’s forest area.


Complete answer:
A temperate forest is classified into two types: Evergreen forests and Deciduous forests.
The temperate evergreen forests are found in the Eastern and Western Himalayas. They have distributed over 1700 - 3000 m altitudes in the Himalayas. The annual rainfall is 50 - 170cm/year. The average winter temperature is 6o C and the average summer temperature is 20o C.
These forests are evergreen because the needle-shaped leaves of the coniferous plants remain for 2 - 7 years.
This forest is also known as Taiga or North wood.
The vegetation includes Pines, Silver fir, Maple, Hemolock, Spruce, Deodar, Cypress, etc.

Additional information:
-The other type of temperate forest is the deciduous forest.
-Deciduous forests are found in the foothills of the Himalayas. They are distributed between an altitude of 1500 - 2400 m.
-These forests receive an annual rainfall of about 100 - 250 cm.
-The vegetation includes Oak (Quercus), Birch, Hickory beech, etc.
-These trees shed their leaves in autumn and bear them again in spring.

So, the correct answer is ‘Eastern and Western Himalayas less than 3500m’.

Note:
Temperate evergreen forests should not be confused with tropical evergreen forests. Tropical evergreen forests are found in the eastern and western slopes of the western ghats. These forests receive more than 200 cm of rainfall and the temperature ranges between 15OC- 30OC. These forests are dense.