Forest Ecosystem

The tropical forest ecosystems are one of the most diverse and rich in biological diversity on earth. The tropical rainforests of India are found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Western Ghats, and North-eastern India. India is exceptionally rich in biodiversity, and considered as one of the 17 mega-biodiversity countries in the world. Of the 34 biodiversity hotspots identified in the world, India cover four biodiversity hotspots namely, the Himalaya, Indo-Burma, Western Ghats and Sri Lanka and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. India occupies about 2.4 per cent of the world’s land area and supports about 8 per cent of the world’s total species, including 47,000 species of flowering plants, 4833 vertebrates and 68,389 arthropods. In 16 chapters, reputed experts in their field describe the various aspects in the tropical forest ecosystem of India. Key aspects on the floristic diversity of tropical evergreen forests of various ecosystems are discussed. This book will be of great help to researchers and field scientists as it is a document of this unique habitat of India