Consider the following statements : (a) Oaks and Chestnuts are found in wet…
2023
Consider the following statements : (a) Oaks and Chestnuts are found in wet temperate type of forests. (b) Wet temperate type of forests are found at high altitude of about 3600 metres above the sea level. (c) Wet temperate type of forests are a kind of montane forests in India. Choose the correct answer from the codes below :
- A.
only (a)
- B.
only (a) and (b)
- C.
only (a) and (c)
- D.
only (b) and (c)
Attempted by 49 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
India's forests are classified largely by altitude and rainfall (the Champion & Seth scheme). Moving up in elevation, natural vegetation grades from tropical forests in the lowlands, through sub-tropical forests, into montane temperate forests, and finally alpine vegetation near the highest elevations. Montane wet temperate forests are the moist, evergreen broad-leaved forests of this temperate belt, occurring roughly between 1000 and 2000 metres, and dominated by species such as oak and chestnut.
Statement (a): Oak and chestnut are indeed the characteristic, dominant tree species of wet temperate forests, so (a) is TRUE.
Statement (b): Wet temperate forests occur around 1000–2000 m, not near 3600 m — that much higher elevation corresponds to the alpine / sub-alpine zone, so (b) is FALSE.
Statement (c): Because wet temperate forest is one of the altitude-defined categories within India's montane forest belt (alongside montane sub-tropical, dry temperate, and alpine), it is indeed a kind of montane forest, so (c) is TRUE.
Cross-checking against the vegetation zonation: near 3600 m, tree cover gives way to alpine scrub and grassland (birch, rhododendron, junipers), not oak–chestnut broadleaf forest — confirming that statement (b)'s altitude claim belongs to a different, higher zone. With (a) and (c) true and (b) false, the correct code is "only (a) and (c)".