Post by Chibiabos on Sept 2, 2010 17:59:35 GMT -7
India is pretty much an exotic place for me. I've never been there, never really aspired to go there, so I've been doing what research I have to help me desc from the seat of my pants. Thought I'd share what I have found and been working from.
The primary "tall" trees I've found for the high (two-level) canopy layers are sal and teak trees, but both of them are deciduous -- that is, they lose almost all of their leaves every year. India being so tropical, though, they are only leaf-less for a couple months per year (primarily January/February). I was pointed to Indian rosewood (though not true rosewood) as well, but that too is deciduous, so not really appropriate for areas where a permanent year-round canopy is needed. Mahogany and eucalyptus are present (the former being introduced, but seems to have worked its way in to thrive and dominate even in protected wildlife parks) and both of those are evergreen, and at least as tall as the sal, teak, etc. trees.
Between sal and teak trees, teaks should probably be more prevalant in the upper rainforest, as sal trees prefer wetter environments. From the pics I've seen, sal trees have more lower branches, teaks tend to just have straight trunks until you get to their very upper layers, so a leopard would have to climb higher to find a resting spot with a teak than a Sal. I haven't gotten as much research done with Eucs or Mahoganies, but Mahoganies seem to be in-between Teak and Sal trees in terms of branches (they seem to have lower branches, but all their branches seem to go up steeply) with Eucalyptus being more leopard-branch-friendly.
I did find a tree, called a banyan, that has lots of horizontal branches and just screams 'leopard lounge!' to me, but it does not grow very tall and seems to need open sky above it (it doesn't seem to favor being under the shade of other trees), so its probably not too appropriate for any areas that need to have a solid, uninterrupted canopy ... especially given it tends to grow out in the -tens of meters- range. There is a huge famous one, The Great Banyan, that -- itself -- takes up 4 acres. 4 acres for one tree!
The primary "tall" trees I've found for the high (two-level) canopy layers are sal and teak trees, but both of them are deciduous -- that is, they lose almost all of their leaves every year. India being so tropical, though, they are only leaf-less for a couple months per year (primarily January/February). I was pointed to Indian rosewood (though not true rosewood) as well, but that too is deciduous, so not really appropriate for areas where a permanent year-round canopy is needed. Mahogany and eucalyptus are present (the former being introduced, but seems to have worked its way in to thrive and dominate even in protected wildlife parks) and both of those are evergreen, and at least as tall as the sal, teak, etc. trees.
Between sal and teak trees, teaks should probably be more prevalant in the upper rainforest, as sal trees prefer wetter environments. From the pics I've seen, sal trees have more lower branches, teaks tend to just have straight trunks until you get to their very upper layers, so a leopard would have to climb higher to find a resting spot with a teak than a Sal. I haven't gotten as much research done with Eucs or Mahoganies, but Mahoganies seem to be in-between Teak and Sal trees in terms of branches (they seem to have lower branches, but all their branches seem to go up steeply) with Eucalyptus being more leopard-branch-friendly.
I did find a tree, called a banyan, that has lots of horizontal branches and just screams 'leopard lounge!' to me, but it does not grow very tall and seems to need open sky above it (it doesn't seem to favor being under the shade of other trees), so its probably not too appropriate for any areas that need to have a solid, uninterrupted canopy ... especially given it tends to grow out in the -tens of meters- range. There is a huge famous one, The Great Banyan, that -- itself -- takes up 4 acres. 4 acres for one tree!