In India, in which one of the following types of forests is teak a dominant tree species?

Answer: (a) Tropical moist deciduous forest

Teak (with sal) dominates tropical moist deciduous forest — 100–200 cm rain with a dry season.

The idea

Teak needs a monsoon: plenty of rain for a few months, then a clear dry season in which it sheds its leaves. That is the tropical moist deciduous forest, also called the monsoon forest.

More than 200 cm: evergreen forest → 100–200 cm with a dry season: moist deciduous → teak, sal → 70–100 cm: dry deciduous → Below 70 cm: thorn forest

Why the others are wrong

(b) Rainforests are evergreen: rosewood, mahogany, ebony.

(c) Thorn forests have acacia, babul, khejri.

(d) Temperate forests have oak, deodar, pine.

The trap

Teak is a valuable tropical timber, so “rainforest” tempts.

Also know

Teak dominates in the south and west of this belt (Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala); sal dominates in the north and east (Uttarakhand foothills, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha).