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Signs of climate change such as weather extremes are more and more prevalent in the Western Ghats, a region which is characterised by the monsoon rains. Rainfall has been declining and some district are facing dry conditions. Floods are also more frequent as there is a shift in the rainfall pattern, where there is increased rainfall volume over a shorter time.
This severely impacts agriculture in the area but also ecosystems and  biodiversity.
More info:

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Varying rainfall threatens biodiversity in Western Ghats

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Varying rainfall threatens biodiversity in Western Ghats

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More reading

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Varying rainfall threatens biodiversity in Western Ghats

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On International Day of Forests, scientists say changing patterns in the number of rainy days are adding to the woes of the Western Ghats, already threatened by unplanned developmental activity The Western Ghats, one of India's largest natural carbon sinks and a biodiversity hotspot, is facing a new threat due to changing rainfall patterns besides continuing pressure from developmental activity, recent research indicates.

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One example of wildlife overexploitation in the Western Ghats is the exploitation of freshwater fish for the pet trade. In a 2013 study* researchers examined the extend of exploitation of endemic and threatened freshwater fish for the pet trade in India. They discovered that at least 30 endemic and threatened (IUCN Red List) freshwater fish species were exported. The majority of exports comprised of three species which were either listed as Endangered or Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List. They conclude that current regulations are not sufficient to protect freshwater fish from the aquarium trade and that this threat is more severe that previously thought.

*Reference and more info
Raghavan, R. et al. (2013). Uncovering an obscure trade: Threatened freshwater fishes and the aquarium per markets. Biological Conservation, 164: 158-169.

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Several species that are found in the Western Ghats appear on the IUCN Red List of Threatened species. Some have already been mentioned previously (e.g. Lion-tailed macaque and Purple frog). Some more examples are provided below.

Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata)
The Indian pangolin is a species of the Western Ghats listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List and whose population is believed to be declining significantly. It is mainly threatened by hunting and poaching. Its scales are used in traditional medicine and its meat is used as a food source.

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Indian Kangaroo Lizard (Otocryptis beddomii)
The Indian Kangaroo Lizard is an endemic species of the Western Ghats which is listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List. It is a small sized terrestrial species found among leaf-litter and forest floor vegetation. It is threatened by agriculture and habitat modification.

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There are several invasive species in the Western Ghats.
1. For example,  Chromolaena odorata*, Lantana camara* and Maesopsis eminii are invasive plant species found in the Western Ghats. Invasive plant species usually do not permit native species to regenerate. In a study in 2015, researchers found that densities of these invasive species were lower in a protected site compared to three disturbed sites.
2. Another example of invasive species are five freshwater fish: Oreochromis mossambicus*, Gambusia affinis*, Osphronemus goramy, Xiphophorus maculatus and Poecilia reticulata. These 5 invasive species were found in the Chalakudy river in Western Ghats. Research indicates that  Poecilia reticulata has established breeding populations. If these species proliferate they might pose serious threats to the native fish species of the river.

References and more details:
1. Joshi, A.A. Mudappa, D. & Shankar Raman, T.R. (2015).  Invasive alien species in relation to edges and forest structure in tropical rainforest fragments of the Western Ghats. Tropical Ecology, 56(2):233-244.
2. Raghavan, R. Prasad, G. Anvar-Ali, P.H. and Pereira, B. (2008).

Exotic fish species in a global biodiversity hotspot: observations from River Chalakudy, part of Western Ghats, Kerala, India. Biological Invasions, 10(1): 37-40.

* Species included in the list of "100 World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species"

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Valparai Plateau is a mosaic dominated by rainforest fragments, shaded coffee plantations and tea plantations, surrounded by protected areas. Many studies have been carried out in the area in order to examine the effects of rainforest fragmentation on different taxa. A recent study, examined the functional diversity of bat species in this landscape. The reseachers found that functional diversity was much lower in tea monocultures compared to forest fragments and shaded coffee plantation which were similar to protected areas.

Reference and more info:
Wordley, C.F.R Sankaran, M. Mudappa, D. and Altringham J.D (2017). Bats in the Ghats: Agricultural intensification reduces functional diversity and increases trait filtering in a biodiversity hotspot in India. Biological Conservation, 210 (A):48-55.
Trait filtering:

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Efforts to restore and enhance rainforest fragments are ongoing. More information provided in the video below.

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Leopard (Panthera pardus) and Dhole (Cuon alpinus)
Leopards and Dhole (Indian wild dog) coexist in the forests of the Western Ghats. They both prey mainly on medium sized ungulates. In order to avoid direct conflict they are mostly active at different times. Dhole is diurnal whereas leopards hunt mostly at night. However, things are not always as clear-cut. For example, due to the leopard's ability to climb trees they could also feed on langurs which was an additional food resource for them.
Consequently, when species' niches overlap more than one strategy might come into play in order to avoid conflict.

Reference and more info:
Ramesh, T. Kalke, R. Sankar, K. & Qureshi Q. (2012). Dietary Partitioning in Sympatric Large Carnivores in a Tropical Forest of Western Ghats, India. Mammal Study, 37(4):313-321.

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Sangai (Rucervus eldii eldii)

Sangai is an endemic subspecies of brow-antlered deer. It is only found in Manipur, India and it is Listed as endangered in the IUCN Redlist. Even though not a Western Ghats species (but a Northeast Indian species) it is a remarkable example of an extremely narrow niche. This species' habitat is the floating meadow (called phumdi) of the southeastern part of Loktak Lake at the Keibul Lamjao National Park. This unique habitat is comprised by entangled vegetation, accumulated organic debris and biomass with soil. It feeds on various water plants, grasses, herbs and shoots.

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✔️Official Documentary- Sangai, Keibul Lamjao National Park, Manipur- The Return of Sangai (English)

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Ticks - Amblyomma gervaisi
Amblyomma gervaise is a species of parasite found on snakes and monitor lizards. A study published in 2011 reported tick infestation by this species on two Indian snakes (Indian rat snake and Spectacled combra) from Northern Parts of the Western Ghats. Average prevalence on the India rat snake was 29.16% (N=48) whereas the average prevalence on Spectacled cobras was 30% ( N=20). They also noted that moulting behaviour did not affect the parasites as their numbers did not change before and after moulting.

Reference: Pandit, P. et al. (2011). Tick Infestation on Wild Snakes in Northern Part of Western Ghats of India. Journal of Medical Entomology, 48(3):504-507.

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King Cobras (Ophiophagus hannah) and Rat snakes (Ptyas mucosa)

Kind cobra is a venomous species of snake found in India and Southeast Asia. Rat snake is a widespread species found in Central, Southeast and South Asia. Kind cobras mainly eat other snakes with a preference rat snakes.

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STEP 1. ACTIVATE YOUR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE - assess the problem

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STEP 1. ACTIVATE YOUR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE - assess the problem

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Come up with possible reasons for the decision to reintroduce grey wolves into the National Park. From the three options below, select the reason you find most likely.

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On a quiet spring morning, a resounding "Slap!" reverberates through the air above a remote stream leading to Lake Yellowstone. Over much of the past century, it has been a rarely heard noise in the soundscape that is Yellowstone National Park, but today is growing more common-the sound of a beaver slapping its tail on the water as a warning to other beavers.

When the grey wolf was reintroduced into the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in 1995, there was only one beaver colony in the park, said Doug Smith, a wildlife biologist in charge of the Yellowstone Wolf Project.

Today, the park is home to nine beaver colonies, with the promise of more to come, as the reintroduction of wolves continues to astonish biologists with a ripple of direct and indirect consequences throughout the ecosystem.

A flourishing beaver population is just one of those consequences, said Smith.

A Yellowstone Beaver's Tale of Elk

What happened, said Smith, is that the presence of wolves triggered a still-unfolding cascade effect among animals and plants-one that will take decades of research to understand.

"It is like kicking a pebble down a mountain slope where conditions were just right that a falling pebble could trigger an avalanche of change," Smith mused.

So how did this avalanche of change work out for the beaver?

To answer that, you have to go back to the 1930s, when the wolf was killed off in Yellowstone. Even though Yellowstone elk were still preyed upon by black and grizzly bears, cougars and, to a lesser extent, coyotes, the absence of wolves took a huge amount of predatory pressure off the elk, said Smith. As a result, elk populations did very well-perhaps too well. Two things happened: the elk pushed the limits of Yellowstone's carrying capacity, and they didn't move around much in the winter-browsing heavily on young willow, aspen and cottonwood plants. That was tough for beaver, who need willows to survive in winter.

Healthier Willow Stands in Yellowstone

This created a counterintuitive situation. Back in 1968, said Smith, when the elk population was about a third what it is today, the willow stands along streams were in bad shape. Today, with three times as many elk, willow stands are robust. Why? Because the predatory pressure from wolves keeps elk on the move, so they don't have time to intensely browse the willow.

Indeed, a research project headed by the U.S. Geological Survey in Fort Collins found that the combination of intense elk browsing on willows and simulated beaver cuttings produced stunted willow stands. Conversely, simulated beaver cutting without elk browsing produced verdant, healthy stands of willow. In the three-year experiment, willow stem biomass was 10 times greater on unbrowsed plants than on browsed plants. Unbrowsed plants recovered 84 percent of their pre-cut biomass after only two growing seasons, whereas browsed plants recovered only 6 percent.

With elk on the move during the winter, willow stands recovered from intense browsing, and beaver rediscovered an abundant food source that hadn't been there earlier.

As the beavers spread and built new dams and ponds, the cascade effect continued, said Smith. Beaver dams have multiple effects on stream hydrology. They even out the seasonal pulses of runoff; store water for recharging the water table; and provide cold, shaded water for fish, while the now robust willow stands provide habitat for songbirds.

"What we're finding is that ecosystems are incredibly complex," he said. In addition to wolves changing the feeding habits of elk, the rebound of the beaver in Yellowstone may also have been affected by the 1988 Yellowstone fires, the ongoing drought, warmer and drier winters and other factors yet to be discovered, Smith said.

Yellowstone Wolf Trophic Cascade

Biologists are often faced with the grim task of documenting the cascade effects of what happens when a species is removed from an ecosystem, by local extirpation or even extinction. In Yellowstone, biologists have the rare, almost unique, opportunity to document what happens when an ecosystem becomes whole again, what happens when a key species is added back into the ecosystem equation.

"In the entire scientific literature, there are only five or six comparable circumstances," Smith said. "What we're seeing now is a feeding frenzy of scientific research."

Scott Creel, an ecology professor at Montana State University, is hip-deep in that feeding frenzy.

"My research has been in the Gallatin Canyon," said Creel, where elk inhabit four drainages. Wolves come and go, he said, enabling him to study what elk do in the presence and absence of wolves.

"Elk have proven to be pretty adaptable," Creel said. "When wolves are around, they're more vigilant and do less foraging."

Elk move into heavy timber when wolves are around, Creel added, but return to the grassy, open meadows when wolves go away. Creel and other researchers are still working out what that means in terms of the elk's diet and whether there are costs associated with this behavior.

Rather surprisingly, elk herd size breaks up into smaller units when wolves are around, said Creel, who had expected herd size to get bigger as a defense mechanism. "I think they're trying to avoid encounters with wolves," he said, by being more vigilant, moving into the timber and gathering in smaller herd units.

Yellowstone Wolves are Food Distributors

Researchers have also determined that wolves, in the recent absence of hard winters, are now the primary reason for elk mortality. Before wolf reintroduction, deep snows were the main determinant of whether an elk was going to die.

Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley determined that the combination of less snow and more wolves has benefited scavengers both big and small, from ravens to grizzly bears.

Instead of a boom and bust cycle of elk carrion availability-as existed before wolves and when winters were harder-there's now a more equitable distribution of carrion throughout winter and early spring, said Chris Wilmers in the on-line journal Public Library of Science Biology. He added that scavengers that once relied on winter-killed elk for food now depend on wolf-killed elk. That benefits ravens, eagles, magpies, coyotes and bears (grizzly and black), especially as the bears emerge hungry from hibernation.

"I call it food for the masses," said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He said he was genuinely surprised by the vast web of life that is linked to wolf kills. "Beetles, wolverine, lynx and more," he said. "It turns out that the Indian legends of ravens following wolves are true-they do follow them because wolves mean food."

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On a quiet spring morning, a resounding "Slap!" reverberates through the air above a remote stream leading to Lake Yellowstone. Over much of the past century, it has been a rarely heard noise in the soundscape that is Yellowstone National Park, but today is growing more common-the sound of a beaver slapping its tail on the water as a warning to other beavers.

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Purple frog

(Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis)

The Purple frog is an endemic, endangered and very rare species of the Western Ghats. It is another example of an animal exploiting a unique niche. It spends most of its life underground and only emerges for a few days during the start of the monsoon period to breed. They eat primarily termites.

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Purple frog photo - Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis - G130038 | Arkive

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Purple frog, front view - View amazing Purple frog photos - Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis - on Arkive

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Lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) and Indian Giant squirrel (Ratufa indica)

Lion-tailed macaque is an endangered primate species endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It is omnivorous and it feeds primarily on fruits but also eat leaves, buds, seeds, flowers, fungi insects and small vertebrates.  Lion-tailed macaques might not feed frequently on vertebrates there have been several reports of them feeding on small vertebrates such as frogs, lizards, bats, small birds, etc*. In 2008, a small communication was published were researchers had observed an adult Lion-tailed macaque feeding on an Indian giant squirrel*.

*Sushma, H.S. & Singh, M. (2008). Hunting of Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) by the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) in the Western Ghats, India. Current Science 95(11):1535-1536.

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Lion-tailed macaque videos, photos and facts - Macaca silenus | Arkive

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The striking lion-tailed macaque is one of the smallest and most endangered of the macaque species of monkey. The coat is shiny and black apart from an impressive mane of grey hair framing the face...

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Leeches
The rainforests of Western Ghats are home to many species of leeches. Leeches are segmented parasitic organisms, mainly found in freshwater ecosystems. Some species can also be found in terrestrial ecosystems and with the onset of the monsoon season they can be found in great numbers in the rainforests. The majority of leech species feed on the blood of a host organism. They attach themselves to the host and secret a anticoagulant which prevents the blood from clotting. Once they have consumed enough blood they drop off from their hosts.

Indicative Reading:
Mandal, CK. & Nandi, N.C. (2008). Distribution of Leech Faunal Diversity in Freshwater Wetlands of West Bengla and Tamil Nadu. Proceedings of Taal 2007: The 12th World Lake Conference: 1831-1839.

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The wolves were brought in because the increased elk population was overgrazing the deciduous, woody species such as aspen and cottonwood.

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When the long white truck drove through Roosevelt Arch on Jan. 12, 1995, it was almost like watching a modern-day Trojan horse arrive in Yellowstone.

Inside were eight gray wolves from Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. They became the first wolves to roam Yellowstone since the 1920s when the last pack was killed. By the end of 1996, 31 wolves were relocated to the park.

Bringing back the wolves struck a nerve among ranchers along the park's boundaries who feared the wolves would wander out of the park and kill their livestock. But wildlife biologists felt the wolves played a key role in the Yellowstone ecosystem, including controlling the elk population, which had ballooned in the wolves' absence and wreaked havoc on the range.

Eradication of Wolves 1872-1926

When the Hayden expedition explored Yellowstone in the late 1800s, wolf packs roamed the park. But, by the end of the 1920s, gray wolves had been hunted to eradication. Wolves had been pursued with more determination than any other animal in United States history.

70 Years Later, Reintroduction of Wolves in 1995

As attitudes towards wild ecosystems changed, people began questioning whether a wolf-less Yellowstone environment was a healthy one. Once the wolves were gone, the elk population exploded and they grazed their way across the landscape killing young brush and trees. As early as the 1930s, scientists were alarmed by the degradation and were worried about erosion and plants dying off.

To protect declining species from the shortsightedness of man, the Endangered Species Act was created. In 1974 the gray wolf was added to the list.

Biologists in Yellowstone began exploring the idea of bringing Canadian wolves to the park and on January 12, 1995 the first eight wolves arrived from Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.

Wolves have a large roaming area and a homing instinct. It was feared that the expensive, transplanted wolves would simply head north to home. To make the wolves establish a home in the park, Yellowstone built three acclimation pens to house 14 wolves for several weeks. Carcasses of elk were covertly "planted" to give wolves a taste of their new environment.

A Protected Wolf is Killed

Crossing their fingers for luck, biologists opened the pens the last week of March. As feared #10, the alpha male in the Rose Creek pack, almost immediately headed north and crossed the border to Montana. His mate, pregnant with pups, followed him soon after. On April 26, 1995 near Red Lodge, Montana, #10 was illegally shot by Chad McKittrick who received a prison sentence and fine. Fortunately, #10's mate, #9 and her eight pups were rescued and moved back into the park. This couple's blood line can be traced in the majority of the wolf packs today.
Available on Amazon: The Killing of Wolf Number Ten
The Effects of the Reintroduction of Wolves

In the years that followed, wolves brought the elk population down and protected the open valleys from overgrazing. However, the number of elk killed was double than estimated and many local hunters stir controversy by protesting that the wolves will end up killing ALL of the elk. Today the debate is still strong. Inside the park, scientists joyously exclaim that the wolves have saved Yellowstone. Cross the park border into a gateway town and you will surely hear how wolves kill for the pleasure of killing and are terrorizing ranches and wildlife.

Read more about the environmental changes since wolves have returned and the status of Yellowstone's 10 wolf packs in 2013, and 11 wolf packs in 2014.

How many wolves currently live inside Yellowstone National Park? A biological count in December, 2018, recorded 80 wolves in 9 packs and on April 1, 2019, recorded 61 wolves in 8 packs. Wolf numbers have fluctuated between 83 and 108 wolves since 2009. Read more: How Many Wolves Are in Yellowstone?

Photo Gallery: Remembering the First Wolves of 1995

Recommended: An in-depth account of the political debate and enactment of the wolf reintroduction from The Flathead Beacon: http://flatheadbeacon.com/2015/01/15/20th-anniversary-yellowstone-wolf-reintroduction-observed/

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1995 Reintroduction of Wolves in Yellowstone

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When the long white truck drove through Roosevelt Arch on Jan. 12, 1995, it was almost like watching a modern-day Trojan horse arrive in Yellowstone. Inside were eight gray wolves from Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. They became the first wolves to roam Yellowstone since the 1920s when the last pack was killed.