WESTERN GHATS

• Western Ghats

Western Ghats (also known as Sahyadri meaning the Benevolent Mountain) is a mountain range that runs parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula,located entirely in India.It is sometimes called The Great Escarpment of India.It was inscribed in UNESCO in 2012.The range runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau,and separates the plateau from narrow coastal plain,called Konkan,along the Arabian sea.A total of thirty  nine properties including national parks,wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests were designated as world heritage sites,twenty in kerela ,ten in Karnatka , five in Tamil Nadu and four in Maharasthtra.It is one of the eight "hottest hot-spots" of biological  diversity in the world.The western ghats are home to thousands of animal species including at least 325 globally threatened species.There are atleast 139 mammal species.Of the 16 endemic mammals,13 are threatened and amongst the 32 threatened species include the critically endangered Malabar large spotted civet,the lion tailed macque ,Nilgiri tahr,Bengal Tiger and Indian elephants,the vulnerable Indian leopard,nilgiri Langur and gaur . These hills serve as important wildlife corridors and forms an important part of Project elephant and Project tiger reserves.The major population of snake family Uropelidae of the reptile class is restricted to the region.The region has significant population of vulnerable Mugger crocodiles.The amphibians of the Western Ghats are diverse and unique , with more than 80 % of the 179 amphibian species being endemic to the rain forests of the mountains.The endangered purple frog was discovered in 2003.Four new species of frogs belonging to the genera Rhacophorus,Polypedates,Philautus,Bufo were described from the western Ghats in 2005.The region is also home to many caecilian species.As of 2004,288 freshwater fish species are listed for the Western Ghats,including 35 also known from brackish or marine water.Several new species have been described from the region since then.There are 118 endemic species,including 12 genera entirely restricted to the Western Ghats. There is a higher fish richness is the southern part of the western Ghats than in the northern,and the highest is the Chalakudy river,which alone holds 98 species.There are atleast 508 bird species.Most of Karnataka's five hundred species of birds are from the Western Ghat region.There are atleast 16 species of birds endemic to the Western Ghats including the endangered rufos-breasted laughing thrush, the vulnerable Nilgiri wood-pigeon,white bellied shortwing and broad tailed grass bird,the near threatened grey breasted-laughing thrush,black and rufous flycatcher,Nilgiri flycathcher,Nilgiri pipit,Malabar (blue winged) parakeet,grey headed bulbul,wynaad laughingthrush,white bellied flycatcher and the crimson-backed sunbird. There are roughly 6000 species.Of 334 western ghats butterfly species,316 species have been reported from the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.The western Ghats is home to 174 species of  odonates,including 69 endemics.Seasonal rainfall patterns of the Western Ghats necessitate a period of dormancy for its land snails,resulting in their high abundance and diversity including at least 258 species of gastropods from 57 genera and 4 families . A total of 77 species of freshwater mulluscs have been recorded from the Western Ghats but the actual number is likely higher.This enclude 28 endemics.