Climate change destabilising Western Ghats’ forest ecosystems in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, warn researchers
Researchers have found that climate change is causing erratic weather patterns and shifting forest seasons within the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Satellite data from 2000 to 2020 indicates that rising temperatures and decreasing rainfall are disrupting the natural growth cycles of native forest ecosystems.
Why it matters
Understanding these ecological shifts is critical for biodiversity conservation and managing water security in the Western Ghats.
The lack of rains in The Nilgiris this year has brought into focus the impacts of erratic weather to the district’s water security. However, a less visible and more alarming facet of the warming climate in the Western Ghats is its impacts on native forests in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR), with researchers warning of “erratic, unpredictable seasons” leading to widespread mayhem within forest ecosystems.
According to a study titled ‘Mapping forest phenological shift in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Western Ghats: Response to Climate Change,’ published in 2024 in ‘Remote Sensing’, an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal, researchers used satellite imagery to examine forests in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve over two decades between the years 2000 and 2020, and how they were responding to changing temperature and rainfall.
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