Silviculture of Dry Deciduous Forests, India

Abstract

The dry deciduous forest is the most extensive forest type of India and exhibits a wide range in structural and functional attributes in response to marked spatial variation in soil and climatic conditions. Two subgroups, southern and northern, are clearly distinguished. The climax types under the southern subgroup are teak (Tectona grandis) forests, red sander (Pterocarpus santalinus) forests, and mixed forests without teak, and those in the northern subgroup are sal (Shorea robusta)-bearing forests, and mixed forests without sal. The most common species in the southern types are Tectona grandis, Anogeissus latifolia, Diospyros melanoxylon, Boswellia serrata, Emblica officinalis, Acacia leucophloea, Bridelia retusa, Wrightia tinctoria, Pterocarpus marsupium, etc. In the northern subgroup, main associates of sal are Anogeissus latifolia, Buchanania lanzan, Terminalia tomentosa, Emblica officinalis, and Lannea coromandelica. These forests are under-stocked and lack natural regeneration on account of excessive grazing, trampling, firewood removals and recurrent fire.