Types

Forest Ecosystem

Tropical Rain forests
Tropical Seasonal forests (monsoon)
Sub-tropical Rain forests
Temperate Rain forests
Temperate Evergreen forests
Temperate deciduous forests
Coniferous forests (boreal/Taiga)

Grassland Ecosystem

Savanna
Steppe
Prairies

Tundra Ecosystem

Arctic
Alpine

Desert Ecosystem

Warm
Cold

COLD
BOREAL FOREST
COLD
TROP.
GRASS-
DESERT
DRY
DECIDUOUS
SAVANNA
FOREST
TROP.
DECD.
FOREST
TROP.
FOREST

North
merica
ain forest
temperate forest
desert
Greenland
South
America
urope
Africa
Australia

Important limiting factors of terrestrial ecosystem are moisture and temperature while for aquatic, it is sunlight and oxygen

Forest Ecosystem

Major types

Tropical
Temperate
Coniferous/Boreal/Taiga

Coniferous/Boreal/Taiga

Boreal forest soils are characterized by thin podozols and are rather poor

Podozols/Podzols - Infertile acidic soil characterized by a white/grey subsurface layer from which minerals are leached into lower dark substratum

Also, slow weathering of rocks and slow decomposition of litter leads to soils poor in nutrients
Soils are acidic and mineral deficient

Besides, water only moves downwards into ground and nutrients always leaches and also because of cold climates, no evaporation implies no upward movement and hence no nutrients brought upwards

Productivity lower than that of any other forest eco system

Tropical rain forests

Diversity is highest
Vertically stratified vegetation
Tropical rain forest soils are red latosols and are very thick

Latosols are high content of iron and aluminium oxides

High rate of leaching because of heavy rainfall make these soils useless for agricultural purposes
But because of rapid decomposition of litter over the soil surface provides the nutrients compensates the nutrient deficiency through leaching

Deforestation results in immediate lowering of ground water and in long term, reduction of precipitation

Forest cover

Forest Cover refers to all lands more than one hectare in area, with a tree canopy density of more than 10% irrespective of ownership and legal status

These lands may or may not be recorded forest area

It also includes bamboo, orchids, palm

Tree cover

Tree patches outside recorded forest areas which are exclusive of forest cover and less than the minimum mappable area of one hectare.

Recorded Forest Areas

It refers to all the geographic areas recorded as 'Forests' in government records.
It consists of Reserved Forests and Protected Forests which have been constituted under the provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1927

In India, three strategies for conservation and development of forest

National Afforestation Programme - for restoration of degraded lands
National Mission for a Green India - for increasing quality cover of forests
Forest Fire Prevention & Management Scheme (FFPM) - preventing existing forests from fire

Miyawaki style afforestation

Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki
Raising indigenous and native trees in dense plantations mimicking forest setting
It ensures that plant growth is 10 times faster and the resulting plantation is 30 times denser than usual

Grasslands

Savanna

South American Savanna	Ilanos and Compos
African Savanna	Veldts
Australian Savanna

Steppe

Prairies	North America
Pampas	Argentina and Uruguay
Pustaz	Hungary
Bush-veld (more tropical)	Northern South Africa
High Veld (more temperate)	Southern South Africa
Downs	Australia
Canterbury	New Zealand

Savanna are closer to equator than Steppe
Forage in Steppe is available only during the brief wet season while forage in Savanna is available not only during wet season but also during dry season because of small amount of regrowth in dry season

Tundra

Also Barren land because of severe environmental conditions
Types

Arctic Tundra -Continuous belt extending from above tree line and below polar ice caps in Northern Hemisphere

Alpine Tundra- High mountains above tree line

Vegetation

Cotton grass, sedges, dwarf heath willows, birches, lichens

Animals

Musk ox, arctic hare, lemmings, squirrels, reindeer, caribous

Deserts

Animals and birds usually have long legs to keep the body away from the ground
Vegetation

Dependent on rain

Ephernerals

No xerophilous adaptations
Appear almost immediately after rain, develop flowers, fruits in less time and dies as soon as surface dries up

Rain Perennials

Visible above ground only during rainy season but have a perennial underground stem

Dependent on subterranean water

Xerophilous adaptations such as reduced leaves, thick hairy growth, wax coating, thick cuticle, protected stomata
Deep well developed root system

Animals

Great Indian Bustard, Blackbuck, Wild Ass, Chinkara, Sandgrouse, Desert Fox
Migratory flamingos and cranes

Cold Desert/ Temperate Desert

Distribution in India

Kargil, Leh, Ladakh of J&K
Spiti Valley of HP
Some parts of Uttarakhand, Sikkim

Vegetation

Oak, Pine, Deodar, Birch, Rhododendron

Animals

Goat, Asiatic Ibex, Tibetan Antelope, Tibetan Gazelle, Wild Yak, Snow Leopard, Brown Bear, Tibetan Wolf, Wild Dog, Tibetan Wild Ass, Black Necked Crane

Desertification

Sea buckthorn plants (controls soil erosion and desertification)

Kubuqi Desert in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, became the first desert in the world to achieve large-scale desertification control

Status of Indian desertification

Desertification is destruction of biological potential of land which can ultimately lead to desert like conditions
Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, 2007, 32 percent of total inland area is undergoing land degradation

Permafrost

Permafrost is the soil or rock that contains ice and frozen organic material
Permafrost is defined as ground that remains at or below Zero degrees Celsius for at least two consecutive years
Northern hemisphere has permafrost thrice than that of Antarctica's
Carbon present in permafrost is twice than that of present in Atmosphere

Terrestrial Ecosystem