Why does India have such a Rich Heritage in Flora and Fauna

Question: Why does India have such a rich heritage in Flora and Fauna?

Answer: India is well-known for its rich heritage of flora and fauna. India possesses this because of its climatic and topographic diversity. India is so diverse in terms of its landscape, natural vegetation, climate, and soil types and has so many lakes, rivers, plateaus, and mountains that a wide variety of plant and animal species can be seen in this country. The different climatic zones in the country support different types of natural environments and those unique environments have unique plant and animal species. 

According to the latest estimates, the total species of flora that can be found in India is about 47,000 and about 90,000 different species of animals can be found too. Among the 47,000 plants, about 15,000 species of flowering plants are native to India (indigenous species) and among the 90,000 animal species, 2000 different species of birds, 2546 species of fishes, and also have about 5-8% of the total mammal, reptile and amphibian species of the entire world. 

India can be divided into six main physiographic zones:

1. The Northern and North-eastern mountains
2. The Northern Plains
3. The Peninsular Plateau
4. The Indian Desert
5. The Coastal Plains and 
6. The Islands

To go with this, India is also extremely diverse in terms of forest types. India has the following forests;

1. Moist tropical forests
2. Dry tropical forests
3. Montane temperate forests
4. Montane subtropical forests
5. Alpine forests

All these different forests and physiographic zones of India plus the different climatic conditions in those areas are responsible for providing India with a vast and rich collection of flora and fauna.