Publications
Assessment of pollution and risks associated with microplastics in the riverine sediments of the Western Ghats: a heritage site in southern India
Microplastic pollution in the Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southern India, poses significant ecological risks to its rich biodiversity. A study analyzing riverine sediments from the River Sharavathi revealed microplastic concentrations ranging from 2.5 to 57.5 pieces/kg during pre-monsoon and 0 to 15 pieces/kg post-monsoon, with smaller particles (0.3-1 mm) dominating due to physical breakdown. The main polymers identified were polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polypropylene. Risk assessment indices indicated hazardous pollution levels, with the Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI) showing higher values during post-monsoon seasons. This suggests severe ecological threats, particularly to the region's sensitive ecosystems, necessitating urgent mitigation strategies.
Temporal Trends of Rainfall and Temperature over Two Sub-Divisions of Western Ghats
A study analyzing rainfall and temperature trends over the Western Ghats, a critical watershed for South Indian rivers, reveals significant regional disparities. While Konkan and Goa experienced increased rainfall from 1977 to 2016, Coastal Karnataka saw a decline, with both changes statistically significant. Temperature trends were consistently positive across all seasons. The research also found no strong link between the Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall (ISMR) and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon in this region. These findings highlight the need for tailored climate change adaptation strategies for the Western Ghats, considering its ecological significance.
The tale of three landslides in the Western Ghats, India: lessons to be learnt
A study of three devastating landslides in Kerala, India, during the 2021 monsoon season reveals that intense rainfall—exceeding 266 mm in under 24 hours—serves as a universal trigger, while underlying causes vary. The Kokkayar landslide was primarily driven by anthropogenic agricultural activities, Plappally by geomorphic and tectonic processes combined with human influence, and Kavali by forest fragmentation on thin soil. These findings underscore the critical role of precise rainfall forecasting in establishing early warning thresholds to mitigate future disasters. The research combines ground-based data with satellite imagery to analyze these events, providing actionable insights for disaster preparedness in the Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site prone to landslide risks.
Rapid mapping of landslides in the Western Ghats (India) triggered by 2018 extreme monsoon rainfall using a deep learning approach
A deep learning approach significantly improves the accuracy of landslide mapping in the Western Ghats, India. By integrating PlanetScope imagery with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and topographic slope data, researchers achieved a 78% mean accuracy in identifying rainfall-induced landslides triggered by the 2018 extreme monsoon season—an increase of 12.5% compared to spectral-only methods. This methodology effectively reduces false positives, distinguishing landslide areas from barren lands and riverbeds without compromising true positive detection. The study demonstrates a scalable solution for rapid hazard assessment in landslide-prone regions, offering potential applications for disaster mitigation strategies worldwide.
Ecosystem-level carbon storage and its links to diversity, structural and environmental drivers in tropical forests of Western Ghats, India
Tropical forests in the Western Ghats, India, store significant amounts of carbon (C), with an average stock of 336.8 Mg C/ha across seven forest types. Woody vegetation, understorey, litter, deadwood, and soil contribute 231.3, 3.0, 2.4, 15.2, and 84.9 Mg C/ha respectively. Live vegetation, detritus, and soil account for 65.5%, 5.5%, and 29% of total ecosystem-level C stock, with the highest storage observed in TEF III forests. Plant diversity, structural attributes, and environmental factors positively correlate with C stocks, explaining 6.7%, 77.2%, and 16% of variance respectively. These findings underscore the importance of the Western Ghats' forests for carbon sequestration and highlight their potential for conservation and management strategies aimed at enhancing C storage.
Spatial modelling of shallow landslide susceptibility: a study from the southern Western Ghats region of Kerala, India.
A study identified that agricultural areas with slopes of 10°–40° on denudational structural hills in the southern Western Ghats, India, are highly susceptible to landslides. The research used Dempster–Shafer, Bayesian probability, and logistic regression models to assess susceptibility, with the Bayesian model performing best (ROC-AUC: 0.833). Key factors influencing landslide risk included proximity to roads, streams, soil texture, and geomorphological features. This predictive model offers a reliable tool for future land-use planning to mitigate landslide hazards in this UNESCO-listed region.
GIS and AHP Techniques Based Delineation of Groundwater Potential Zones: a case study from Southern Western Ghats, India
Approximately 59% of the studied river basin in the Southern Western Ghats, India, is identified as having moderate groundwater potential, with high and low potential zones covering 11% and 29%, respectively. The study employed a combination of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) techniques to delineate these zones using 12 thematic layers such as geology, geomorphology, rainfall, soil, and topography. This approach, validated with local groundwater data, achieved an overall accuracy of around 85%. The findings highlight the effectiveness of GIS-based methods in rapidly assessing groundwater potential, offering crucial insights for sustainable water resource management in tropical river basins.
Assessment of soil erosion in a tropical mountain river basin of the southern Western Ghats, India using RUSLE and GIS
Researchers found that while the Muthirapuzha River Basin (MRB) in the southern Western Ghats, India, experiences significant gross soil erosion at 14.36 tons per hectare per year, net erosion is substantially lower at 3.60 tons due to deposition processes. About 86% of the basin undergoes slight erosion, while nearly 3% acts as a depositional environment for sediments. Human activities in agricultural areas and tea plantations significantly accelerate soil erosion compared to natural vegetation belts. The study used the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) combined with transport-limited sediment delivery (TLSD) modeling to quantify soil erosion and deposition, providing critical data for land management strategies to mitigate soil degradation in tropical mountain river basins.
Flowering plants of the Western Ghats, India
The Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and global biodiversity hotspot, host a remarkably diverse angiosperm flora. A comprehensive two-volume checklist identifies 7,402 species (5,588 indigenous) across 164,280 km², including 376 naturalized and 1,438 cultivated taxa. The study organizes entries by accepted names, synonyms, habit, nativity, distribution, phenology, conservation status, economic importance, and local names, drawing significantly from earlier regional works like the Flowering plants of Kerala. While the checklist follows an outdated family classification (BD Sharma et al., 1993), it serves as a critical resource for understanding the region's flora, despite minor nomenclatural oversights. The Western Ghats' undisturbed vegetation has dwindled to one-third of its original extent, underscoring urgent conservation needs.
Microphysics of clouds and rain over the Western Ghat
Shallow clouds over the Western Ghats produce heavy rainfall due to rapid condensational growth of cloud droplets, driven by orographic updrafts. Research reveals that collision-coalescence processes dominate rain formation, with distinct raindrop size distribution (DSD) patterns observed on both windward and leeward sides of the mountains. At Pune (lee side), DSD shapes transition from concave upward to downward during stratiform rain, indicating breakup processes at lower altitudes. Conversely, Mahabaleshwar (windward side) shows bimodal and monomodal DSDs for light and heavy rainfall, respectively, with small drops contributing significantly. Aircraft measurements confirm that ambient updraft speeds foster rapid droplet growth, leading to precipitation within a few hundred meters of cloud depth. These findings highlight the dynamic interplay between cloud microphysics and orographic forcing in shaping rainfall over this UNESCO-listed region.
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