Clearing of forests over vast areas, the practice of shifting cultivation in certain parts of India, heavy soil erosion, overgrazing by pastoral groups, extraction of timber for fuel, all consequences of human occupancy of the land are the major contributors to the shrinking forest cover in India. Since there is a lot of sunlight, there is a lot of energy in the rainforest. This energy is stored in plant vegetation, which is eaten by animals. The abundance of energy supports an abundance of plant and animal species.