Chapter 2: Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Resources

1. Introduction to Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Resources:

These notes of  Chapter 2: Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Resources cover the entire chapter in a structured manner. Revise with maps and diagrams to score full marks in exams. All the best!

• Land, soil, water, natural vegetation and wildlife are the major natural resources of the Earth.
• These resources are unevenly distributed and are interdependent.
• Human beings use these resources for survival, agriculture, settlement, industry and transport.
• Overuse and misuse of resources lead to land degradation, water scarcity, deforestation and loss of biodiversity.

2. Land

• Land covers about 30 % of the Earth’s surface (the rest 70 % is water).
• 90 % of the world population lives on only 30 % land area.

Land Uses

1. Forests
2. Agriculture (cultivable land)
3. Pastures and grazing land
4. Human settlements, roads, industries
5. Barren land (mountains, deserts)

Types of Land

• Private land: Owned by individuals.
• Community land: Used by local community (grazing, collecting firewood, etc.).

Factors Affecting Land Use

• Physical: Topography, soil type, climate, minerals.
• Human: Population density, technology, culture.

Problems of Land

• Land degradation, landslides, desertification, soil erosion.
• Causes: Deforestation, overgrazing, mining, over-irrigation, industrial waste.

Conservation of Land

• Afforestation, controlled grazing, shelter belts, checking over-irrigation, proper disposal of industrial waste, mulching, contour ploughing, terrace farming, strip cropping.

3. Soil

• The thin upper layer of the Earth’s crust made of loose rock material mixed with humus is called soil.
• It takes thousands of years to form even 1 cm of soil.

Factors of Soil Formation

1. Parent rock
2. Climate (temperature and rainfall)
3. Relief (slope)
4. Flora, fauna and micro-organisms
5. Time

Soil Profile (Layers/Horizons)

• Topsoil (A-horizon): Rich in humus, dark, supports plants.
• Subsoil (B-horizon): Less humus, more minerals.
• Substratum (C-horizon): Weathered parent rock.
• Bedrock: Unweathered hard rock.

Degradation of Soil Causes:

• Deforestation → loss of topsoil.
• Overgrazing → removes vegetation cover.
• Overuse of chemical fertilisers.
• Faulty methods of farming.

Methods of Soil Conservation

1. Contour ploughing
2. Terrace farming (on slopes)
3. Strip cropping
4. Shelter belts (rows of trees to check wind erosion)
5. Mulching
6. Crop rotation and inter-cropping
7. Rock dams
8. Afforestation and reforestation

4. Water

• About 71 % of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, but 97 % is saline (oceans).
• Only 3 % is fresh water → out of which 2 % is frozen in glaciers and ice caps.
• Only 1 % of fresh water is available for human use (rivers, lakes, groundwater).

Problems Related to Water

• Water scarcity in many regions.
• Pollution of water bodies.
• Unequal distribution.
• Over-exploitation of groundwater.

Causes of Water Scarcity

• Increasing population and industries.
• Unequal distribution of rainfall.
• Overuse in agriculture.
• Pollution.

Conservation of Water

1. Rainwater harvesting
2. Drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation
3. Reusing and recycling water
4. Afforestation (increases groundwater recharge)
5. Building bawris, johads, check dams
6. Treating industrial and sewage water before releasing

5. Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

• Natural vegetation and wildlife exist only in the narrow zone of contact between lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere → called Biosphere.
• Plants that grow naturally without human help are called natural vegetation.
• Animals living in natural conditions are called wildlife.

Types of Natural Vegetation

1. Forests
   • Tropical Evergreen
   • Tropical Deciduous
   • Temperate Evergreen
   • Temperate Deciduous
   • Mediterranean
   • Coniferous (Taiga)
2. Grasslands
   • Tropical (Savanna, Llanos)
   • Temperate (Steppes, Prairies, Pampas)
3. Shrubs and Thorny bushes (in deserts and semi-arid regions)

Distribution of Natural Vegetation Depends on:

• Climate (temperature, rainfall, sunlight
• Relief (altitude and slope)
• Soil type

Major Ecosystems/Biomes

• Tropical rainforests → Amazon basin, Congo basin, South-east Asia
• Grasslands → Africa (Savanna), North America (Prairies)
• Deserts → Sahara, Thar, Kalahari
• Tundra → Near poles, very less vegetation
• Taiga → Coniferous forests of Canada, Russia

Wildlife

• Found in forests, grasslands, deserts, water bodies.
• Examples: Elephant, tiger, lion, deer, monkey, one-horned rhinoceros (India), kangaroo (Australia), penguin (Antarctica).

Threats to Wildlife

• Deforestation and habitat loss
• Poaching and hunting
• Pollution
• Climate change

Conservation of Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

1. National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Biosphere Reserves
2. Project Tiger, Project Rhino, Project Elephant
3. CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species)
4. Banning hunting and trade of wildlife products
5. Afforestation and reforestation
6. Awareness programmes

6. Important Terms

• Land degradation: Decline in quality of land.
• Desertification: Expansion of desert due to human activities and climate change.
• Soil erosion: Removal of topsoil by wind or water.
• Contour barriers: Stones or grass placed along contours to stop runoff.
• Biosphere reserve: Large protected area for conserving biodiversity (e.g., Nilgiri, Sunderbans).
• Endangered species: Species at risk of extinction (e.g., tiger, rhino).
• Extinct species: No longer existing (e.g., dodo, passenger pigeon).

7. Key Points for Exams

1. Percentage of land and water on Earth.
2. Difference between private and community land.
3. Methods of soil conservation with examples.
4. Causes and conservation of water.
5. Factors affecting natural vegetation.
6. Difference between national park and biosphere reserve.
7. Importance of forests and wildlife.
8. Rainwater harvesting and its advantages.

Diagrams to Draw

• Layers of soil profile
• Terrace farming
• Shelter belts
• Rainwater harvesting structure
• Major biomes of the world (map)

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Chapter 3: Agriculture

 

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