Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A thorn forest is a dense scrubland with vegetation characteristic of dry subtropical and warm temperate areas with a seasonal rainfall averaging 250 to 500 mm (9.8 to 19.7 in). Regions [ edit ]
Today the remaining forest is mostly southern tropical thorn scrub, [3] and also includes patches of the original vegetation, tropical dry deciduous forests. [1]Southern tropical thorn scrub forests consist of open, low vegetation with thorny trees with short trunks and low, branching crowns that rarely meet to form a closed canopy.
The thorn scrub forests are thought to be tropical dry forests that have been degraded through intensive agriculture and grazing into stunted and open thorn scrub, dominated by trees such as Senegalia senegal and Acacia leucophloea, as well as Prosopis cineraria, Capparis zeylanica, Ziziphus spina-christi, Olea europaea, Balanites aegyptiaca, Cupressus sempervirens, Vachellia tortilis, Phoenix ...
The name "Caatinga" comes from the Tupi word ka'atinga, meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" (ka'a = forest, vegetation, tinga = white). The Caatinga is a xeric shrubland and thorn forest , which consists primarily of small, thorny trees that shed their leaves seasonally.
The xeric Deccan thorn scrub forests lie to the west, south, and southeast, covering the drier portions of the plateau in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats. The more humid Eastern Highlands moist deciduous forests lie to the northeast and east, while the Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests lie across the Satpuras to the northwest.
The Wayanad forests at the southern end of the ecoregion mark the transition to the South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests further the south. To the east, in the dry rain shadow of the Ghats, are the Deccan thorn scrub forests and the South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests ecoregions, which cover the Ghats' eastern foothills and the ...
The Aravalli Range is part of this ecoregion. The Khathiar–Gir dry deciduous forests include the Aravalli Range, the high point of which is Mount Abu with an elevation of 1,721 m (5,646 feet), and a small part of the Northwestern thorn scrub forests in the west.
Xeric shrublands can experience woody plant encroachment, which is the thickening of bushes and shrubs at the expense of grasses. [5] This process is often caused by unsustainable land management practices, such as overgrazing and fire suppression, but can also be a consequence of climate change.