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Meher-Homji, V. M.
- The Bioclimates of India in Relation to the Vegetational Criteria
Authors
1 Institute-Francais, Pondichery, IN
Source
Nelumbo - The Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India, Vol 4, No 1-4 (1962), Pagination: 105-112Abstract
The purpose of a climatic classification is to characterise the climatic regions in terms of meteorological elements like temperature and precipitation which are the most decisive factors in determining the landscape of the earth. The plant-climate relation is so close that it is possible to differentiate the types of climates such as equatorial, tropical, mediterranean, with their different shades such as humid, sub-humid, arid using the characters of the plant-cover. In a physical classification of the climate, an arid or a humid region is defined on the basis of annual precipitation, the number of dry days or dry months in the year or by means of several climatic formulae.In the present work emphasis is laid on the term "bioclimate". It is defined as the climate in relation to the life and is expressed by an index of aridity-humidity. This index is proposed on the basis of combining three essential ecological factors viz. temperature, precipitation and dry period. Correlations are obtained between the above index of aridity-humidity and four distinct criteria of the plant-kingdom : (1) Floristic criteria, (2) Vegetational criteria, (3) Morpho-ecological criteria and (4) Agronomic criteria.
Full Text
- Biodiversity and Conservation
Authors
1 lnstitut Francais, Pondicherry, IN
Source
Nelumbo - The Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India, Vol 36, No 1-4 (1994), Pagination: 30-40Abstract
Whereas a well-maintained herbarium is a safe repository of plant specimens, of extreme utility for research in taxonomy, phytogeography, evolution, conservation and even archaeology, in nature the plant diversity is threatened by several factors, mainly anthropic.The variety of climatic and soil types available in Peninsular India are briefly reviewed to understand the basis of biodiversity in the region.
The vegetation types provide the basic framework to appreciate the biodiversity. The maps prepared by ICAR-French Institute depicting the "series of vegetation" have been planimetrically analysed to note ihe potential area under each series, the percentage of it under forest and under degraded vegetation. The forest- cover in Peninsular India comes out only 7 to 8 per cent according to different sources with degraded vegetation like thickets, savanna, scattered shrubs covering another 2 to 3 per cent ofthe land area. The "series of vegetation" whose forest-cover is fast depleting deserve prime protection measures.
National Remote Sensing Agency (1983) has presented statistics of forest-cover state-wise according to the administrative divisions. The assessment according to the vegetation types or "series" has the advantage of identifying those series having negligible area under forests so that urgent steps could be provided for their conservation and restoration.
Keywords
Biodiversity, Conservation, Vegetation, Types, Forest, Percentages, Climatic, Complexities, Peninsular, India.Full Text