Invertebrate Diversity and Conservation in the Western Ghats, India

Western Ghats is among the world's oldest tropical mountains. It is one of the 34 biodiversity hotspots identified globally. The altitude varies from sea level to 2695 m above mean sea level making it second only to the Himalayas in terms of topographic complexity in South Asia. Yet another important feature of the Western Ghats is that along the 1600 km north-south stretch there is a clear gradient in the length of the dry season, it being the shortest in the south. North-south variations in the length of the dry season and the local differences in altitude, temperature and total annual rainfall have together created distinct patterns of vegetation, species diversity and endemism.