Myristica swamps and the inland lagoons are distinct, localized habitats that are now disappearing, mostly being converted to coconut and areca nut plantations or filled and occupied by people.Īlmost 100 mammal species have been recorded from this ecoregion, including a single endemic species, the Kerala rat, or Ranjini’s field rat. The characteristic trees are species of genera Tetrameles, Stereospermum, Ficus, Dysoxylum, Pterocarpus, Terminalia, Dalbergia, Madhuca, and Mangifera (wild mango). The original tropical evergreen forests have now largely been replaced by a semi-deciduous vegetation, mostly because of the influence of plantation trees such as teak, or forest degradation. Over 2,500 mm of annual rainfall and abundance of water that flows down from the mountains create wet conditions in the lowlands that influence the vegetation. As the moisture-laden winds rise and cool they release rain, a process known as orographic rainfall, which falls on the western slopes and the lowlands. The Western Ghats Mountains now intercept the monsoons from the southwest and force these winds up the mountain sides. Image credit: Carlos Delgado, Creative Commons The plate with the Deccan Plateau drifted northwards to collide with the northern Eurasian continent and formed the Indian subcontinent.Īsian elephants. The paleogeological origins of this ecoregion go back to Gondwanaland, the supercontinent of southern continental masses that broke apart over 150 million years ago. The ecoregion extends from the coast to the 250 m elevation contour of the steep Western Ghats Mountains a few kilometers inland. Sadly, today very little of these forests and their biodiversity remains, victims to the Human Enterprise along this coast for millennia. Raucous populations of large black and white Malabar pied hornbills and great hornbills with over-sized yellow bills would have been fighting for fruit in the canopies of tall trees. The forests were once inhabited by tigers, Asian elephants, common leopards, and wild dogs. The flagship species of the Malabar Coast Moist Forests ecoregion is the Malabar pied hornbill. But a re-creation of the historic forest landscapes suggests that it was a narrow, lush, continuous swathe of rain forest stretching for over 1,400 km along the western coast of the Indian Subcontinent, from the present-day city of Mumbai and its 18 million people all the way to the southern tip of India. For over 5,000 years the Malabar Coast was a region of major international trading and commerce with ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Jerusalem and the Arab world, and through these millennia, most of the natural forests have been cleared.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |