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The 'Tarai' ("moist land") is a belt of marshy grasslands, savannas, and forests at the base of the Himalaya range in India, Nepal, and Bhutan, from the Yamuna River in the west to the Brahmaputra River in the east. Above the Terai belt lies the Bhabhar, a forested belt of rock, gravel, and soil eroded from the Himalayas, where the water table lies from 5 to 37 meters deep. The Terai zone lies below the Bhabhar, and is composed of alternate layers of clay and sand, with a high water table that creates many springs and wetlands. The Terai zone is inundated yearly by the monsoon-swollen rivers of the Himalaya. Below the Terai lies the great alluvial plain of the Yamuna, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and their tributaries.

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Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands

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Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands

The 'Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands' is an ecoregion that stretches across the middle of the Terai belt, from Uttarakhand state through southern Nepal to northern West Bengal. The Terai-Duar savanna and wetlands are a mosaic of tall grasslands, savannas and evergreen and deciduous forests. The grasslands are among the tallest in the world, and are maintained by silt deposited by the yearly monsoon floods. Important grasses include Kans grass ''(Saccharum spontaneum)'' and Baruwa grass ''(Saccharum benghalensis)''. The ecoregion is home to the endangered Indian Rhinoceros ''(Rhinoceros unicornis)'', as well as elephants, tigers, bears, leopards and other wild animals. Much of the ecoregion has been converted to farmland, although Royal Chitwan National Park and Royal Bardia National Park preserve significant sections of habitat, and are home to some of the greatest concentrations of rhinoceros and tiger remaining in South Asia.

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★ Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands (World Wildlife Fund)