Natural vegetation
Topic: Natural Vegetation and Forests of India · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Natural Vegetation"
Meaning
Natural vegetation is a group of plants that people have left alone for a long time. Over that time, each species fully adjusts to the local climate and soil. Planted vegetation is different, because people grow it on purpose, as in orchards, parks and gardens. What counts is how the plant grew, not which species it is. The same mango or guava tree can be wild in one place and planted in another.
Example
The evergreen forest of Silent Valley in Kerala is natural vegetation. A mango orchard in Uttar Pradesh is planted vegetation, even though the mango tree also grows wild in forests.
Don't confuse with
- Forest cover: this is any land under tree canopy as seen by satellite. It includes orchards and plantations, so it counts planted vegetation as well as natural vegetation.