Western ghats News

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The single forest road that connects Cholanaikkans with the outside world. Image by Unnnikrishnan Avala.

Asia’s last cave dwellers vanishing in the shadows of change

K.A. Shaji 25 Nov 2025
The Nilgiris hills in the southern Western Ghats. Image by Divya Kilikar/Mongabay.

A stairway from the ocean to the skies [Commentary]

C.P. Rajendran 29 Oct 2025
To find out how well the toads themselves recognise mating colour signals, researchers recorded the skin colours of toads gathered at a rock pool and fed the data into a computer model that simulated toad vision, revealing they could easily detect the contrast between yellow males and the brown females. Image by Susanne Stückler and Doris Preininger.

Male toads get a monsoon makeover to stand out from the crowd

Sandhya Sekar 23 Oct 2025
An aerial view of the Sundarbans, showing the species-wise zonation. Image by Touhid Biplob via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

What is ecological succession? [Explainer]

Phalguni Ranjan 1 Sep 2025
Yellow-browed bulbul specimens collected from the Nilgiri hills in the 1800s at the Natural History Museum at Tring, England. Image by Vijay Ramesh.

Old maps and dead birds reveal the story of grassland and bird decline in the Nilgiris

Kartik Chandramouli 19 Aug 2025
A Hanuman langur leaps over tree tops in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, Karnataka. Image by Nikhil More via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Mewa Singh on chasing monkeys for over half a century [Interview]

Arathi Menon 18 Aug 2025

Rohini Balakrishnan on why (and how) we must listen to insects [Interview]

Kartik Chandramouli 15 Aug 2025
Tubers on display at the Nilgiris Earth Festival. Image by Anokha Venugopal/Keystone Foundation.

Tubers and tribals face the climate test

Jeyanthi R. 13 Aug 2025
Striped tigers congregate in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Maharashtra. Image by Dr. Raju Kasambe via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Why are butterflies migrating across the Indian peninsula? [Explainer]

Sandhya Sekar 12 Aug 2025

Dinesh Holla on trekking the Western Ghats for ecological awareness [Interview]

Shradha Triveni 12 Jun 2025

Wildflowers by the wayside – are they weeds? [Commentary]

R.J. Ranjit Daniels 11 Jun 2025
The author visits the tribal community in Bommiyampadi after an initial interaction 40 years earlier, for a restoration project that sought to revive groundwater and soil health. Image courtesy of Jacob Punnathara.

When elephants signalled eco-restoration in a tribal village [Commentary]

C. J. Punnathara 2 Jun 2025

Citizen science reveals lesser known invasive pest

Arathi Menon 16 May 2025
A Jerdon's bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus crassus) spotted in Coochbehar, West Bengal. When it rains, this species is one of many that sings. Image by Kingshuk Mondal via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Listening to frogs can offer clues to their decline [Commentary]

R.J. Ranjit Daniels 5 May 2025
Study authors conducting field work at the Makum coalfield in Assam. Image courtesy of Harshita Bhatia.

Fossil study takes a leaf out of climate history to predict ecological changes

Arathi Menon 5 May 2025
Tea gardens in Ooty, The Nilgiris, below which land is being prepared for growing vegetables. Silver oak trees provide the filtered shade that is perfect for tea. UPASI is currently exploring the possibility of growing fruit trees that can provide similar shade. Representative image by Timothy A. Gonsalves via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Intercropping as an ecological solution to tea demand drop

Arathi Menon 22 Apr 2025
A train passes through the Palghat gap. Image by Robtheequalizer via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

The mountain pass that is a morphologic marvel and a scientific paradox [Commentary]

C.P. Rajendran 1 Apr 2025
Rhododendron trees in full bloom near Darjeeling, West Bengal. Image by Abhijit Kar Gupta via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).

Rhododendron survival depends on its conservation [Commentary]

R.J. Ranjit Daniels 13 Mar 2025

Science welcomed multiple new species in 2024

Arathi Menon 30 Dec 2024

Civet latrines in the shade puzzle researchers

Arathi Menon 25 Jun 2024