Malabar Coast moist forests
The Malabar Coast moist forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southwestern India.
Geography
The ecoregion lies along India's Konkan and Malabar coasts, in a narrow strip between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats range, which runs parallel to the coast. It has an area of, and extends from northern Maharashtra through Goa, Karnataka and Kerala to Kanniyakumari in southernmost Tamil Nadu.The ecoregion extends from sea level to the 250 meter contour of the Western Ghats. It is bounded on the east by the North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests in Maharashtra and Karnataka, and the South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests in Kerala.
Much of the ecoregion is densely populated, and it includes several large cities, including Mumbai in Maharashtra, Mormugao and Margao in Goa, Mangalore in Karnataka, and Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode in Kerala.
Climate
The climate is tropical and humid. Rainfall varies seasonally, falling mostly with the southwest monsoon between June and September. Rainfall is generally higher in the south, decreasing and becoming more seasonal as one moves north.Flora
The original vegetation in the ecoregion was tropical evergreen rainforest, with some deciduous trees particularly in drier areas. The original forests have mostly been replaced with or interspersed with teak, a mostly deciduous tree that drops its leaves during the winter dry season.Characteristic canopy trees include Tetrameles nudiflora, Stereospermum personatum, Dysoxylum binectariferum, Ficus nervosa, Ficus glomerata, Pterocarpus marsupium, Salmalia malabarica, Terminalia bellerica, Terminalia tomentosa, Anogeissus latifolia, Dalbergia latifolia, Lannea coromandelica, Madhuca indica, Garuga pinnata, Syzygium cumini, Olea dioica, Pouteria tomentosa, Bridelia retusa, Mangifera spp., and Actinodaphne angustifolia. There is an understorey of low trees and shrubs.
In drier areas along Karnataka's northern coast, the deciduous trees Lagerstroemia microcarpa, teak, and Dillenia pentagyna are predominant.
Swamp forests of Myristica spp. are found in low-lying coastal areas, but are now endangered. The Kerala Backwaters are an extensive coastal lagoon system in the southern portion of the ecoregion.
Fauna
There are 97 native mammal species in the ecoregion. The ecoregion's remaining habitat is too limited and fragmented to support viable populations of most larger mammals, including Asian elephant, tiger '' sloth bear, gaur, and dhole. Wild tigers and Asian elephants are locally extinct, but still found in adjacent portions of the Western Ghats. The other large mammals are locally threatened.Several smaller mammals are threatened by habitat loss, including the gray slender loris, Jerdon's palm civet, and grizzled giant squirrel.
The ecoregion has one strictly endemic species, the Kerala rat. Day's shrew is found in both the Malabar Coast forests and the adjacent South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests. The Nilgiri langur, Jerdon's civet, and the Malabar large-spotted civet also inhabit the South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests and South Western Ghats montane forests. The Travancore flying squirrel is found in the ecoregion and on Sri Lanka.
There are 280 native species of birds, including the Malabar grey hornbill, Indian grey hornbill, great hornbill, lesser florican, and greater flamingo.