How do you differentiate between tropical evergreen and deciduous forests in an exam?

Write a two-column table and compare five points: rainfall, leaf fall, structure, main trees and location. Evergreen forests get over 200 cm of rain, stay green, have many layers and grow rosewood and ebony. Deciduous forests get 70-200 cm, shed leaves in the dry season, are more open and grow teak and sal.

Which type covers more area in India, evergreen or deciduous forest?

Deciduous forest covers far more. NCERT calls tropical deciduous forests the most widespread forests in India. In ISFR 2023, the tropical dry deciduous group alone covers 2,80,580 km², while the tropical wet evergreen group covers only 23,888 km². Moist deciduous forests add another 1,33,187 km².

Is a monsoon forest evergreen or deciduous?

A monsoon forest is deciduous. The name comes from the monsoon rains that bring most of the year's water. Once the rains end and the long dry season sets in, teak, sal and other monsoon trees drop their leaves. They grow fresh leaves again shortly before or during the next rainy season.

Do evergreen trees never shed their leaves?

Evergreen trees do shed leaves, but not all at once. Old leaves fall a few at a time, and new ones keep growing, so the crown is never bare. NCERT notes that trees in India's evergreen forests have no fixed season for leaf fall, flowering or fruiting, which keeps the forest green.

Difference Between Tropical Evergreen and Deciduous Forests

Q: What is the main difference between tropical evergreen and deciduous forests?

The main difference is how much rain falls. In India, tropical evergreen forests grow in warm, humid places with over 200 cm of rain a year, and their trees stay green. Tropical deciduous forests get 70-200 cm, and their trees drop their leaves to save water once the dry season begins.

The difference between evergreen and deciduous forest in the tropics comes down to water. In India, evergreen forests grow where the yearly rain total is very high, over 200 cm, and the air stays warm and humid. Deciduous forests get less rain, and their trees drop their leaves to save water once the dry season begins.

Both are tropical forests, so they share a warm climate. They sit side by side in the leaf-type grouping explained in our main guide to the types of forests. This page gives the head-to-head comparison, with Indian examples, figures and exam advice.

Difference between tropical evergreen and deciduous forest: comparison table

Indian figures come from NCERT’s Class 11 chapters on natural vegetation and climate; area figures come from the Forest Survey of India’s ISFR 2023.

Feature	Tropical evergreen forest	Tropical deciduous forest
Other name	Tropical rainforest	Monsoon forest
Annual rainfall in India (NCERT)	Over 200 cm	70-200 cm (moist 100-200 cm; dry 70-100 cm)
Main rain season	Mostly the south-west monsoon; windward slopes of the Western Ghats get 250-400 cm	Mostly the monsoon months, followed by a dry season
Climate	Warm and humid; mean annual temperature above 22 °C	Warm, with a marked dry season
Leaf fall	No fixed season; leaves drop a few at a time	Nearly all leaves drop as the dry season begins
Structure	Dense and well layered: shrubs, creepers, short trees and tall trees	More open; dry deciduous forest can look like grassland dotted with trees
Tree height	Some trees reach 60 m or more	Generally shorter, more widely spaced trees
Typical Indian trees	Rosewood, mahogany, aini, ebony	Teak, sal, shisham, mahua, sandalwood; tendu, palas, khair
Where in India	Western slope of the Western Ghats, north-eastern hills, Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Himalayan foothills in the north-east, eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, Odisha, much of the Peninsula, plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
Spread in India	Small, scattered patches	The most widespread forests in India
Area in India (ISFR 2023)	Wet evergreen 23,888 km²; semi-evergreen 63,886 km²	Moist deciduous 1,33,187 km²; dry deciduous 2,80,580 km²

Almost every row follows from the rainfall row: more water allows more leaves, more layers and taller trees.

What is a tropical evergreen forest?

A tropical evergreen forest is a dense forest of broad-leaved trees that keeps its green cover in every month. “Evergreen” does not mean the trees never lose leaves. Old leaves fall a few at a time while new ones keep appearing.

Climate of evergreen forests

NCERT places India’s evergreen forests in warm, humid areas with over 200 cm of rain and a mean annual temperature above 22 °C. Its climate chapter explains where that rain comes from. Most of India gets its rain in June-September, the south-west monsoon season. On the windward side of the Western Ghats, the monsoon winds rise, cool and drop 250-400 cm. In the north-east, a Bay of Bengal branch of the monsoon brings heavy rain to the hills of Meghalaya.

Worldwide, National Geographic describes tropical rainforests as tall evergreen trees, usually near the Equator, that get more than 203 cm (80 inches) of rain a year.

Features of evergreen forests

Many layers. NCERT calls these forests well stratified, with shrubs and creepers below, shorter trees in the middle and tall trees on top.
Great height. Some trees grow to 60 m or more.
No fixed calendar. Trees shed leaves, flower and fruit at different times, so the forest never looks bare.
Huge variety of life. Tropical rainforests contain more than half of the world’s biodiversity.

Read more in our guides to the evergreen forest, the tropical rainforest and tropical evergreen forests in India.

Semi-evergreen forests: the in-between type

NCERT groups semi-evergreen forests, found in the less rainy parts of the same regions, with evergreen ones. They mix evergreen and moist deciduous trees, with white cedar, hollock and kail as main species. In most Indian usage, though, “kail” means blue pine, a Himalayan conifer that ISFR 2023 lists as “Blue pine (Kail)”; see our guide to the coniferous forest in India.

What is a tropical deciduous forest?

A tropical deciduous forest is a forest whose trees lose their leaves during the dry part of the year. In India it is called the monsoon forest. NCERT names these as the most widespread forests in India, growing where rainfall lies between 70 and 200 cm. A bare tree loses far less water, so shedding leaves helps it survive drought.

NCERT divides these forests into two kinds.

Moist deciduous forests

Moist deciduous forests grow where rainfall is 100-200 cm: along the Himalayan foothills in the north-eastern states, on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats and in Odisha. Teak, sal, shisham, hurra, mahua, amla, semul, kusum and sandalwood are the main trees.

Dry deciduous forests

Dry deciduous forests cover huge areas where rainfall is 70-100 cm, in the rainier parts of the Peninsula and on the plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. NCERT says the trees lose every leaf when the dry season begins, and the forest then looks like a wide grassland dotted with bare trees. Tendu, palas, amaltas, bel, khair and axlewood are common.

Our full guide to the tropical deciduous forest covers both kinds in more depth.

Why are evergreen and deciduous forests different?

The amount of water explains nearly everything. Where the yearly total is very high and the air stays humid, trees can keep their leaves and keep growing, so the forest becomes tall, thick and layered.

Where rain is lower and a dry season follows, trees drop their leaves and rest until the next rains. Light then reaches the ground, so grasses and shrubs fill open patches.

NCERT shows how one type passes into the other. Semi-evergreen forest bridges evergreen and moist deciduous forest. Dry deciduous forest grades into moist deciduous forest on its wetter side and into thorn forest on its drier side. India’s forests change step by step with rainfall, not in sudden jumps.

How are evergreen and deciduous forests similar?

Both are tropical. They grow in warm lands where frost is rare.
Both are mostly broad-leaved. Their trees have wide, flat leaves, unlike the needles of conifers.
Both are rich in wildlife, though evergreen forests hold more species.

Leaf shedding also happens outside the tropics. National Geographic describes temperate deciduous trees such as oak and maple, which drop their leaves in winter; there the trigger is cold, not drought. Compare the temperate deciduous forest, or see deciduous vs coniferous forest.

Which forest covers more area in India?

Deciduous forest wins by a wide margin. According to ISFR 2023, the tropical dry deciduous group covers 2,80,580 km², the largest of India’s 16 forest type groups. The tropical moist deciduous group is second with 1,33,187 km². The same report gives just 63,886 km² for semi-evergreen and 23,888 km² for wet evergreen forest.

For every Indian forest group, see the forest types of India.