natural habitat which are among the few remaining refuges left in India for large populations of tiger and Asian elephants. Forests range from dry to wet and reach up to tall. The plateau is also swampy in some places and in other parts is covered with bamboo grasslands and shrubs such as Holarrhena and Dodonaea. The flora of the plateau is distinct from the wetter parts of India that surround it and includes a number of endemic plants such as Aglaia haslettiana and endangered plant species including Madhuca longifolia and Butea monosperma. Tigers, Asian elephants, four-horned antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis), blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), chinkara (Gazella bennettii), dhole wild dog (Cuon alpinus) and sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) are some of the animals found here while birds include the threatened lesser florican (Eupodotis indica), Indian grey hornbill and other hornbills. More than half of the natural forest on the plateau has been cleared for grazing land and the scale of the mining operations on the plateau is disturbing to the movement and therefore the survival of wildlife including elephants and tigers. Protected areas About 6 percent of the ecoregion's area is within protected areas, comprising in 1997. The largest are Palamau Tiger Reserve and Sanjay National Park. Bhimbandh Wildlife Sanctuary, Bihar (680 km2) Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, Jharkhand (630 km2) Gautam Buddha Wildlife Sanctuary, Bihar (110 km2) Hazaribag Wildlife Sanctuary, Jharkhand (450 km2) Koderma Wildlife Sanctuary, Jharkhand (180 km2) Lawalong Wildlife Sanctuary, Jharkhand (410 km2) Palamau Tiger Reserve, Jharkhand (1,330 km2) Ramnabagan Wildlife Sanctuary, West Bengal (150 km2) Sanjay National Park, Madhya Pradesh (1,020 km2, a portion of which is in the Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests ecoregion) Semarsot Wildlife Sanctuary, Chhattisgarh (470 km2) Simlipal National Park, Odisha (420 km2) Saptasajya Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha (20 km2) Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary, Chhattisgarh (600 km2) Topchanchi Wildlife Sanctuary, Jharkhand (40 km2) Mineral resources Chota Nagpur plateau is a store house of mineral resources such as mica, bauxite, copper, limestone, iron ore and coal. The Damodar valley is rich in coal and it is considered as the prime centre of coking coal in the country. Massive coal deposits are found in the central basin spreading over . The important coalfields in the basin are Jharia, Raniganj, West Bokaro, East Bokaro, Ramgarh, South Karanpura and North Karanpura. See also Chota Nagpur Division Ecoregions of India References Further reading Gupta, Satya Prakash. Tribes of Chotanagpur Plateau: An Ethno-Nutritional &