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Q78 (IAS/2015) Geography › Indian Physical Geography › Indian forest types Official Key

In India, in which one of the following types of forests is teak a dominant tree species?

Result
Your answer: —  ·  Correct: A
Explanation

Tropical Moist Deciduous forests are typical monsoon forests with teak (Tectona grandis) and sal (Shorea robusta) as the dominant species.[1] They form the natural vegetation all over the country where the average annual rainfall ranges between 100–200 cm.[1] These forests are dominated by sal and teak, along with mango, bamboo, and rosewood.[2] Additionally, Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests are the largest forest type of India covering about 40% of the forest area of the country, with dry teak and dry sal forests predominating in the southern and northern regions of India, respectively.[3] Teak is not a dominant species in tropical rain forests, tropical thorn scrub forests, or temperate forests with grasslands. Therefore, option A is the correct answer.

Sources
  1. [1] Geography of India ,Majid Husain, (McGrawHill 9th ed.) > Chapter 5: Natural Vegetation and National Parks > Table 5.5 > p. 15
  2. [2] Environment, Shankar IAS Acedemy .(ed 10th) > Chapter 10: Indian Forest > 10.1.3. Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests > p. 161
  3. [3] https://www.ceeindia.org/CEE-Academy-resouce/PDF/Forest%20ecosystem%20Forest%20Types%20of%20India.pdf
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Don’t just practise – reverse-engineer the question. This panel shows where this PYQ came from (books / web), how the examiner broke it into hidden statements, and which nearby micro-concepts you were supposed to learn from it. Treat it like an autopsy of the question: what might have triggered it, which exact lines in the book matter, and what linked ideas you should carry forward to future questions.
Q. In India, in which one of the following types of forests is teak a dominant tree species? [A] Tropical moist deciduous forest [B] Tropi…
At a glance
Origin: Books + Current Affairs Fairness: Low / Borderline fairness Books / CA: 2.5/10 · 7.5/10
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This is a non-negotiable 'sitter' directly from NCERT Class IX and XI. If you get this wrong, you are statistically out of the competition. The strategy is simple: memorize the 'Top 3 Signature Trees' for every Indian forest type found in the NCERT tables.

How this question is built

This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.

Statement 1
Is teak (Tectona grandis) a dominant tree species in India's tropical moist deciduous forests?
Origin: Direct from books Fairness: Straightforward Book-answerable
From standard books
Geography of India ,Majid Husain, (McGrawHill 9th ed.) > Chapter 5: Natural Vegetation and National Parks > Table 5.5 > p. 15
Presence: 5/5
“Due to poor accessibility these forests have not been properly exploited. In areas where rainfall varies between 200 to 250 cm and the mean monthly temperature varies between 20oC to 27oC , the evergreen forests degenerate into semi-evergreen forests. These forests are found along the Western Ghats, upper Assam, slopes of the Himalayas, and Odisha. The important varieties include aini, semul, gutel, mundane, hopea, kadam, irul, rosewood, laurel, haldu, kanju, holloch, champa, and mesua. 2. The Tropical Moist Deciduous: These are typical monsoon forests with teak (Tectona grandis) and sal (Shorea robusta) as the dominant species. They form the natural vegetation all over the country where the average annual rainfall ranges between 100–200 cm.”
Why this source?
  • Explicitly states tropical moist deciduous (monsoon) forests have teak and sal as the dominant species.
  • Directly links teak (Tectona grandis) to the forest type named in the statement.
Environment, Shankar IAS Acedemy .(ed 10th) > Chapter 10: Indian Forest > 10.1.3. Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests > p. 161
Presence: 5/5
“Moist deciduous forests are found throughout India except in the western and the north-western regions. The trees are tall, have broad trunks, branching trunks and roots to hold them firmly to the ground. Some of the tailer trees shed their leaves in the dry season. There is a layer of shorter trees and evergreen shrubs in the undergrowth. These forests are dominated by sal and teak, along with mango, bamboo, and rosewood.”
Why this source?
  • Says moist deciduous forests are dominated by sal and teak.
  • Describes typical vegetation structure for these forests, reinforcing teak's dominance.
CONTEMPORARY INDIA-I ,Geography, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 5: Natural Vegetation and Wildlife > Tropical Deciduous Forests > p. 40
Presence: 5/5
“Teak is the most dominant species of this forest. Bamboos, sal, shisham, sandalwood, khair, kusum, arjun and mulberry are other commercially important species. The dry deciduous forests are found in areas having rainfall between 100 cm and 70 cm. These forests are found in the rainier parts of the Peninsular plateau and the plains of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. There are open stretches, in which teak, sal, peepal and neem grow. A large part of this region has been cleared for cultivation and some parts are used for grazing. In these forests, the common animals found are lion, tiger, pig, deer and elephant.”
Why this source?
  • States 'Teak is the most dominant species of this forest' (referring to tropical deciduous forests).
  • Lists other species but singles out teak as the primary dominant species.
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