Forest Types of Nagaland
Nagaland is endowed with a wide variety of forest types. This is due to the variation in elevation which ranges from a few hundred meters up to about four thousand meters.
The following are the forest types found in Nagaland:
(i) Northern Tropical Wet Evergreen Forests
- It is found only in Mon District.
- These forests were once found abundant in Namsa- Tizit area but now only a small vestige is found in the Zankam area.
- The dominant species found in this forest are Hollong (Dipterocarpus macrocarpus), Makai ( Shorea assamica), Nahor ( Mesua ferae ) etc.
(ii) Northern Tropical Semi Evergreen Forests
- This type of forests are found in the foothills of Assam-Nagaland border in Mokokchung, Wokha and Kohima Districts.
- Deciduous species like Bhelu, Paroli, Jutuli etc. dominate this type of forest.
- In this type of forest, the species found in Northern Tropical Wet Evergreen Forests area also found but deciduous species are more dominant.
(iii) Northern Sub-tropical Broad Leaved Wet Hill Forests
- This type of forests are found in the hill areas with elevation between 500 m – 1800 m in all the districts of Nagaland.
- Dominant species are mostly semi-deciduous. Some of the important timber species in this type are – Koroi, Pomas, Sopas, Gamari, Gogra, Khokan, Hollok, Sam, Am, Badam, Betula etc.
(iv) Northern Sub-tropical Pine Forests
- This types of forests are found in hill elevation of 1000 meters to 1500 meters in parts of Phek and Tuensang Districts of Nagaland.
- Pine is the dominant species along with other species such as Quercus, Schima, Prunus, Betula and Rhododendron.
(v) Northern Montane Wet- temperate Forests
- This type of forests are found on the higher reaches of the tallest mountains in Nagaland above 2000 meters in – Japfu, Saramati, Satoi, Chentang ranges.
- The species are typically evergreen with Quercus, Michelia, Magnolia, Prunus, Schima, Alnus and Betula.
(vi) Temperate Forests
- This type of forests are found in peaks of the tallest mountains above 2500 meters like Saramati and Dzukou area.
- The species that dominate are Rhododendron, Patches of Juniperus coxie and Birch.