Shola
A shola is the local name for a patch of stunted Montane grasslands and shrublands, 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 found mainly in the valleys and are usually separated from one another by undulating montane grassland. The shola and grassland together form the shola-grassland complex or mosaic. Not all such high-elevation grasslands have sholas in their valleys, especially if they are isolated from other such meadows, such as the meadows found in the Idamalayar Reserve Forest in Ernakulam district of Kerala. The word 'Shola' is probably derived from the Tamil language word cōlai (சோலை) meaning Grove (nature), grove. The shola-forest and grassland complex has been described as a climatic climax vegetation with forest regeneration and expansion restricted by climatic conditions such as frost or soil characteristics w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shola Forest And Grassland
A shola is the local name for a patch 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 found mainly in the valleys and are usually separated from one another by undulating montane grassland. The shola and grassland together form the shola-grassland complex or mosaic. Not all such high-elevation grasslands have sholas in their valleys, especially if they are isolated from other such meadows, such as the meadows found in the Idamalayar Reserve Forest in Ernakulam district of Kerala. The word 'Shola' is probably derived from the Tamil language word cōlai (சோலை) meaning grove. The shola-forest and grassland complex has been described as a climatic climax vegetation with forest regeneration and expansion restricted by climatic conditions such as frost or soil characteristics while others have suggested that it may have anth ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Palni Hills
The Palani Hills are a mountain range in the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Palani Hills are an eastward extension of the Western Ghats ranges, which run parallel to the west coast of India. The Palani Hills adjoin with the high Anamalai range on the west and extend east into the plains of Tamil Nadu, covering an area of . The highest part of the range is in the southwest, and reaches 1,800-2,500 metres (5,906-8,202 feet) elevation; the eastern extension of the range is made up of hills 1,000-1,500 m (3,281-4,921 ft) high. It is also home to the main temple of Murugan, who is worshipped as a major deity in Tamil Nadu. The Palani Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park is a proposed protected area in Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu. The park will be an upgrade and expansion of the Palani Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary which was to be established in 2008. The park includes about 36% of the in the Palani Hills. The park is located between latit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kudremukh
Kudremukha is the name of a mountain range and an individual mountain peak located in Chikmagalur district, in Karnataka, India. It is also the name of a small hill station and iron ore-mining town situated near the mountain, about 20 kilometres from Kalasa in Kalasa Taluk. The name ''Kuduremukha'' literally means "horse-faced" in Kannada and refers to a particular picturesque view of a side of the mountain that resembles a horse's face. It was also referred to as 'Samseparvata', historically since it was approached from Samse village. Kuduremukha is Karnataka's 2nd highest peak after Mullayanagiri and 26th highest peak in western ghats. The nearest International Airport is at Mangalore International Airport, Mangalore which is at a distance of 99 kilometres. The Kudremukha National Park in the Western Ghats is a part of the world's 38 ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Location The Kudremukha National Park (latitude 13°01'00" to 13 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ernakulam District
Ernakulam (; ISO: ''Eṟaṇākuḷaṁ'') is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala, and takes its name from the Ernakulam, eponymous city division in Kochi. It is situated in the central part of the state, spans an area of about , and is home to over 9% of Kerala's population. Its headquarters are located at Kakkanad. The district includes Kochi, also known as the commercial capital of Kerala, which is famous for its ancient Churches of Kerala, churches, Hindu temples, List of synagogues in Kerala, synagogues and mosques. The district includes the largest metropolitan region of the state: Greater Cochin. Ernakulam district yields the highest revenue and the largest number of industries in the state. Ernakulam is the second most populous district in Kerala, after Malappuram district, Malappuram (out of List of districts in Kerala, 14 districts). The district also hosts the highest number of int ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anamudi
Anamudi ("Elephant head", ) is a mountain located in Ernakulam district and Idukki district of the Indian state of Kerala. With an elevation of , it is the highest peak in the Western Ghats and in South India. With a topographic prominence of , it is the 26th most prominent peak in the world. Geography Anamudi has an elevation of . It is the highest peak and one of the three ultra prominent peaks in South India. It is the peak with the greatest topographic isolation within India and is the highest point south of the Himalayas. It is called the Everest of South India. Anamudi has a topographic prominence of , the associated key saddle being over away at in Haryana state just to the west of Delhi. The peak is not exceptionally steep and is a fault-block mountain. The north and south slopes are gentle, while the east and west slopes are steeper, with difficult rock faces. It is located in the southern region of Eravikulam National Park at the junction of the Cardamom H ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Coorg
Kodagu district () (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. Geography Kodagu is located on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. It has a geographical area of . The district is bordered by Dakshina Kannada district to the northwest, Hassan district to the north, Mysore district to the east, Kasaragod district of Kerala in west and Kannur district of Kerala to the southwest, and Wayanad district of Kerala to the south. It is a hilly district, the lowest elevation being above sea-level near makutta. The highest peak, Tadiandamol, rises to , with Pushpagiri, the second highest, at . The main river in Kodagu is the Kaveri (Cauvery), which originates at Talakaveri, located on the eastern side of the Western Ghats, and with its tributaries, drains the greater part of Kodagu. Rivers (mou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 Kingdom of Cochin, Cochin, Malabar District, Malabar, South Canara, and Travancore. Spread over , Kerala is the 14th List of states and union territories of India by area, smallest Indian state by area. It is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Laccadive Sea, Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33 million inhabitants as per the 2011 Census of India, 2011 census, Kerala is the List of states of India by population, 13th-largest Indian state by population. It is divided into 14 List of districts of Kerala, districts with the capital being Thiruvananthapuram. Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The Chera dynasty was the f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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South India
South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area () and 20% of India's population. It is bound by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south. The geography of the region is diverse, with two mountain ranges, the Western and Eastern Ghats, bordering the plateau heartland. The Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Penna, Tungabhadra and Vaigai rivers are important non-perennial sources of water. Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Kochi are the largest urban areas in the region. The majority of the people in South India speak at least one of the four major Dravidian languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. During its history, a number of dynastic kingdoms ruled ove ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wayanad
Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of the Indian state of Kerala, with its administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, the southern portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is set high in the Western Ghats with altitudes ranging from 700 to 2,100 meters. Vellari Mala, a high peak situated on the trijunction of Wayanad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode districts, is the highest point in Wayanad district. The district was formed on 1 November 1980 as the 12th district in Kerala, by carving out areas from Kozhikode and Kannur districts. An area of 885.92 km2 in the district is forested. Wayanad has three municipal towns— Kalpetta, Mananthavady and Sulthan Bathery. There are many indigenous tribes in this area. The Kabini River, a tributary of the Kaveri River, originates at Wayanad. Wayanad district, along with the Chaliyar valley in the neighbouring Nilam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or, in scientific literature, as an ''endemite''. Similarly, many species found in the Western ghats of India are examples of endemism. Endemism is an important concept in conservation biology for measuring biodiversity in a particular place and evaluating the risk of extinction for species. Endemism is also of interest in evolutionary biology, because it provides clues about how changes in the environment cause species to undergo range shifts (potentially expanding their range into a larger area or bec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Threatened
A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensation'', a mathematical measure of biomass related to population growth rate. This quantitative metric is one method of evaluating the degree of endangerment without direct reference to human activity. IUCN definition The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories, depending on the degree to which they are threatened: *Vulnerable species *Endangered species *Critically endangered species Less-than-threatened categories are near threatened, least concern, and the no longer assigned category of conservation dependent. Species that have not been evaluated (NE), or do not have sufficient data ( ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |