Groundwater is impossible to see but it plays an important role as abiotic factor for plants. Even more so for wetlands where the groundwater table is shallow. These wetlands play an important role in the conservation of the tiger in the nature reserves in the Nepalese and Indian Terai. More than a quarter of all the wild tigers are found in nature reserves along the Terai which is the zone at the foot of the Himalaya mountain range. Here, wetlands are found in the floodplains of rivers and usually covered by grass. This is where the tiger preferentially hunts for deer as their prey. Other grasslands may be further away from the river where they are usually the succession of abandoned agricultural fields.
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