This ecoregion in the fertile alluvial plains of the River Ganga is densely populated, extensively cleared, and cultivated. The Ganges flows east to join the Brahmaputra with hardly any topographic relief, except for sloping banks and ravines carved by the river. The substrate consists of deep alluvial soils and deposited on the floodplain. The remaining scattered forest fragments suggest that the forests were once dominated by Sal Shorea robusta, in association with Terminalia, Lagerstroemia, Adina, Dillenia, and Ficus, as in ‘typical’ deciduous forests in this sub-Himalayan region. Patches of grasslands dominated by tall Saccharum grasses, wild sugar cane, could be found where the floodwaters prevented trees from taking hold. Natural forest remains in the Rajaji, Corbett, and Dudwa national parks.
Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests
Source: Modified from One Earth CC BY-NC