The South Western Ghats montane rain forests is an

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union terr ...

, covering the southern portion of the Western Ghats in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

at elevations from . Annual rainfall in this ecoregion exceeds .

Setting

The ecoregion is the most species rich in peninsular

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, and is home to numerous

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

species. It covers an area of . It is estimated that two-thirds of the original forests have been cleared, and only 3,200 square kilometers, or 15% of the intact area, is protected. The southern portion of the Western Ghats contains the highest peaks in the range, notably Anamudi in Kerala, at 2695 meters elevation. The Ghats intercept the moisture-laden

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

winds off the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channe ...

, and the average annual precipitation exceeds 2,800 mm. The northeast monsoon from October to November supplements the June to September southwest monsoon. The South Western Ghats are the wettest portion of peninsular India, and are surrounded by drier ecoregions to the east and north.

Protected areas

As of 1997, this ecoregion encompassed the following 16 protected areas with an area of : *in Karnataka:

Talakaveri Wildlife Sanctuary Talakaveri Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary in Karnataka state of South India. It is located in Kodagu district and is spread over 105 km². It borders with Ranipuram hills and Kottencheri hills in Kasaragod district of Kera ...

with ,

Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary The Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Kodagu District, Karnataka State, India, within the Western Ghats and about 250 km from Bangalore. The sanctuary covers an area of about 181 km and derives its name from the highest poi ...

with ,

Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the 21 Wildlife Sanctuaries in Karnataka, India. This sanctuary is located in Somwarpet taluk of the Kodagu district. It is home to rare and endangered birdlife. The Kadamakkal reserve forest is a part ...

with *in Kerala: Periyar National Park with , Shenduruny Wildlife Sanctuary with , Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary with ,

Karimpuzha National Park Karimpuzha National Park (Malayalam: കരിമ്പുഴ നാഷണൽ പാർക്ക്‌ , Tamil: கரிம்புழா தேசியப் பூங்கா) is a 230 km² proposed National Park located at in the Nilg ...

with , Silent Valley National Park with ,

Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary is Wildlife Sanctuary located in Idukki district of Kerala, India. Situated around the catchment area of Idukki Dam, the Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary is rich in biodiversity and rich flora and fauna. Description Idukki ...

with , Eravikulam National Park with ,

Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary is the northernmost wildlife sanctuary A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protecte ...

with , Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary with *in Tamil Nadu:

Anamalai Tiger Reserve Anaimalai Tiger Reserve, earlier known as Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park and as Anaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary, is a protected area in the Anaimalai Hills of Pollachi and Valparai taluks of Coimbatore District and Udumalaipett ...

with ,

Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) located in the South Western Ghats montane rain forests in Tirunelveli district and Kanyakumari district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is the second-largest protected area in Tamil Nadu. I ...

with , Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary with and Mukurthi National Park with As of 2017, the total size of protected areas within this ecoregion amounted to , equivalent to 27% of the ecoregion's extent. Another 62% is forested but outside protected areas. Several of the protected areas in the northern portion are included within the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, and the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve covers the southern portion.

Flora

Satyrium nepalense-Silent Valley-2016-08-13-001

The cool and moist climate, high rainfall, and variety of microclimates brought about by differences in elevation and exposure supports lush and diverse forests; 35% of the plant species are endemic to the ecoregion. Moist evergreen montane forests are the predominant

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

type. The montane evergreen forests support a great diversity of species ( Animals and plants ). The trees generally form a canopy at 15 to 20 m, and the forests are multistoried and rich in

epiphytes An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

, especially

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of floweri ...

s. Characteristic canopy trees are ''

Cullenia exarillata ''Cullenia exarillata'' is a flowering plant evergreen tree species in the family Malvaceae endemic to the rainforests of the southern Western Ghats in India. It is one of the characteristic trees of the mid-elevation tropical wet evergree ...

'', ''

Mesua ferrea ''Mesua ferrea'', the Ceylon ironwood, or cobra saffron, is a species in the family Calophyllaceae. This slow-growing tree is named after the heaviness and hardness of its timber. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental due to its graceful sh ...

'', '' Palaquium ellipticum'', '' Gluta travancorica'', and ''

Nageia wallichiana ''Nageia wallichiana'' is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a tree 10–54 m high, found in Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. ''Nageia wallichiana'' is the m ...

''. ''Nageia'' is a podocarp

conifer Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All ext ...

with origins in the ancient supercontinent of

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final sta ...

, of which India was formerly part, and a number of other plants in the ecoregion have Gondwana origins. Other evergreen tree species of the montane forest include ''

Calophyllum ''Calophyllum'' is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Calophyllaceae. They are mainly distributed in Asia, with some species in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, and the Pacific Islands. History Members of the genus ''Calophyllu ...

austroindicum'', '' Garcinia rubro-echinata'', '' Garcinia travancorica'', '' Diospyros barberi'', '' Memecylon subramanii'', ''Memecylon gracile'', '' Goniothalamus rhynchantherus'', and ''

Vernonia ''Vernonia'' is a genus of about 350 species of forbs and shrubs in the Daisy family Asteraceae. Some species are known as ironweed. Some species are edible and of economic value. They are known for having intense purple flowers. There have been ...

travancorica''. The other major habitat type in this ecoregion is the

shola Sholas are the local name for patches of stunted tropical montane forest found in valleys amid rolling grassland in the higher montane regions of South India, largely in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu. These patches of shola forest are foun ...

-grassland complex at elevations of . Shola is a stunted forest with small trees including '' Pygeum gardneri'', '' Schefflera racemosa'', '' Linociera ramiflora'', ''

Syzygium ''Syzygium'' () is a genus of flowering plants that belongs to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The genus comprises about 1200 species, and has a native range that extends from Africa and Madagascar through southern Asia east through the Pacific. ...

'', ''

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

nilgiricum'', '' Mahonia napaulensis'', '' Elaeocarpus recurvatus'', '' Ilex denticulata'', '' Michelia nilagirica'', '' Actinodaphne bourdillonii'' and '' Litsea wightiana''. The understorey consists of dense shrubs. These shola forest patches are interspersed with montane grasslands characterized by frost- and fire-resistant

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

species like ''

Chrysopogon ''Chrysopogon'' is a genus of tropical and subtropical plants in the grass family. They are widespread across Eurasia, Africa, Australia, southeastern North America, and various islands. Species Source: Formerly included Source: Resea ...

zeylanicus'', ''

Cymbopogon flexuosus ''Cymbopogon flexuosus'', also called Cochin grass, East-Indian lemon grass or Malabar grass, is a perennial grass native to India, Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. It is placed in the genus ''Cymbopogon'' (lemongrasses). Its essential oil is pr ...

'', '' Arundinella ciliata'', ''Arundinella mesophylla'', ''Arundinella tuberculata'', '' Themeda tremula'', and '' Sehima nervosum''.

Fauna

Endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is '' flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. ...

in this ecoregion include Nilgiri tahr (''Nilgiritragus hylocrius''), Nilgiri pipit (''Anthus nilghiriensis''),

Nilgiri laughingthrush The Nilgiri laughingthrush (''Montecincla cachinnans'') is a species of laughingthrush endemic to the high elevation areas of the Nilgiris and adjoining hill ranges in Peninsular India. The mostly rufous underparts, olive brown upperparts, a p ...

(''Montecincla cachinnans''), broad-tailed grassbird (''Schoenicola platyurus''),

Nilgiri long-tailed tree mouse Nilgiri vandeleuria (''Vandeleuria nilagirica''), also known as the Nilgiri long-tailed tree mouse and the Indian long-tailed tree mouse, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. There has been some dispute as to whether this specimen is a ...

(''Vandeleuria nilagirica''), eight endemic

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates ( lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalia ...

genera encompassing '' Brachyophidium'', '' Dravidogecko'', '' Melanophidium'', '' Plectrurus'', Ristella, Salea, '' Teretrurus'' and '' Xylophis'' with 90 species, and the six

amphibia Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbo ...

n genera '' Indotyphlus'', '' Melanobatrachus'', '' Nannobatrachus'', ''

Nyctibatrachus ''Nyctibatrachus'' is a genus of frogs endemic to the Western Ghats of southwestern India. Their common name is night frogs. Their scientific name also means "night frog", in reference to their habits and dark color. They are the only ext ...

'', '' Ranixalus'' and ''

Uraeotyphlus ''Uraeotyphlus'' is a genus of caecilians in the family Ichthyophiidae. There are seven species in this genus, all of which are endemic to the Western Ghats of southwestern India. Previously, the genus has also been placed in its own monotypic ...

''. The ecoregion also hosts Nilgiri langur (''Semnopithecus johnii''),

Malabar large-spotted civet The Malabar large-spotted civet (''Viverra civettina''), also known as the Malabar civet, is a viverrid endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the population is estimated to number ...

(''Viverra civettina''),

brown palm civet The brown palm civet (''Paradoxurus jerdoni'') also called the Jerdon's palm civet is a palm civet endemic to the Western Ghats of India. Taxonomy The scientific name ''Paradoxurus jerdoni'' was introduced by William Thomas Blanford in ...

(''Paradoxurus jerdoni''),

Salim Ali's fruit bat Salim Ali's fruit bat (''Latidens salimalii'') is a rare megabat species in the monotypic genus ''Latidens''. It was first collected by Angus Hutton, a planter and naturalist in the High Wavy Mountains in the Western Ghats of Theni district, ...

(''Latidens salimalii''), Nilgiri striped squirrel (''Funambulus sublineatus'') and

Layard's palm squirrel Layard's palm squirrel or flame-striped jungle squirrel (''Funambulus layardi'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae endemic to Sri Lanka. The validity of the subspecies ''F. l. dravidianus'' based on a single specimen from the sou ...

(''F. layardi'').

References

External links

* {{coord missing, India ecoregions of India Indomalayan ecoregions Montane forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Tropical rainforests of India