Western Ghats

The Western Ghats are a mountain range running parallel to India’s western coast. Their varied habitats support exceptional biodiversity, and their elevation shapes regional rainfall and climate.

Indian monsoon: A seasonal wind system that brings most of India’s annual rainfall. Moist monsoon winds rise over the Ghats, producing heavy rainfall on their western slopes.
Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve: A biosphere reserve spanning parts of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu in southern India. It protects connected forests and grasslands across a major southern section of the Ghats.
Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot: A global biodiversity hotspot recognized for exceptional endemism and extensive habitat loss. The hotspot designation captures both the range’s unique species and the threats to them.
Eastern Ghats: A discontinuous range of hills along India’s eastern side of the Deccan Plateau. Comparison with the lower, more fragmented Eastern Ghats clarifies the western range’s distinct geography.
Orographic lift: The upward movement of air as it encounters elevated terrain, often producing precipitation. The Ghats force moist air upward, helping create the sharp rainfall contrast across the range.
Silent Valley National Park: A protected area in Kerala known for its largely undisturbed tropical evergreen forest. Its protection became a landmark in debate over development and rainforest conservation in the Ghats.
Deforestation in India: The removal or degradation of forest cover across India. Forest conversion has fragmented habitats across the Ghats, especially in accessible lowlands.
Deccan Plateau: A large elevated region covering much of peninsular India. The Western Ghats form the plateau’s steep western edge.
Tropical rainforest: A warm, wet forest ecosystem with dense vegetation and high species diversity. The wet western slopes contain rainforest habitats shaped by the range’s rainfall.
Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve: A biosphere reserve in the southern Western Ghats, spanning parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Its forests and high endemism illustrate the southern range’s distinctive biodiversity.

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