NEWS – Habitats of endemic and threatened animals are adversely impacted by disruptive land-use patterns on the plateaus of a Western Ghats section, a new study has found

HIGHLIGHTS

Area of Research –

• Western ghats region of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra
• Compared the number of various animal groups in three environments – loose rocks in natural plateaus, farmlands that were earlier under traditional paddy cultivation, and mango/cashew orchards expanding on these plateaus

What did the research yield

• Removal of large rocks from plateaus for paddy cultivation and land conversion to create orchards have damaged Habitat of many endemic organisms
• Loose rocks double up as shelter for the animals through extreme, varying climates
• Many of these animals were sensitive to minor habitat changes which led to reduction in numbers of the endemic organisms
• Drastic impact on snakes and geckos in the orchards and paddy
• Other impacted species – Stripped Viper Gecko (IUCN – Threatened), Sesacharis caceiliaen, saw scaled viper etc