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Ghats Forests Transform: Thorn Scrub Replaces Rich Vegetation
31 Jan
Summary
- Climate change is driving forests in Tamil Nadu toward thorny vegetation.
- Significant forest cover loss occurred in both Western and Eastern Ghats.
- Ecological shifts threaten herbivores, fruit-bearing trees, and small mammals.
Forest habitats across Tamil Nadu's Eastern and Western Ghats are undergoing a dramatic reshaping due to climate change. Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns are causing a shift from evergreen and deciduous vegetation towards thorn-dominated forests. This transformation, documented over a three-year period ending in 2024, signifies a major ecological reorganization rather than a simple decline in tree cover.
In the Western Ghats alone, the study recorded the loss of approximately 249 sq km of evergreen and 720 sq km of deciduous forests. Concurrently, thorny forest cover expanded by nearly 969 sq km. A comparable pattern was observed in the Eastern Ghats, where 54 sq km of evergreen and 716 sq km of deciduous forests were replaced by thorny vegetation.
