**Conflict of interest**

*Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development*

them and there has a ban on them officially since 1996 [1].

decrease in dense forest cover (32 km2

and also expansion of urban areas (14.47 km2

grass land (11.54 km2

As the grasslands are easy to clear off, tea estates, coffee estates and timber plantations were established by the British and later by the Indian forest department to satisfy the various need of the growing economy. Exotic trees such as eucalyptus, wattle, cinchona and pine and shrubs like *Lantana camara, Parthenium, Scotch broom* and *Gorse* are fast growing in nature and hence they easily compete with native plant species and grasslands by invading the forest-grassland ecosystem [39]. The indigenous mixed forests in the Nilgiris district were replaced by commercial and industrial crops which affect the ecological balance of the region [40]. Except in protected areas, conversion of land into commercial plantations, agricultural lands and construction activities such as hydrological dams has resulted in extensive deforestation. The latest Draft Forest Policy of the central government promotes these plantations, even though the State Forest Department has stopped promoting

The statistical data on the climate variability and future projections for shola forest

), open forest (2.38 km2

), scrub class (1–24 km2

), estates (26 km2

), plantation crops (5.73 km2

). The results also showed that the mon-

),

) and

)

of the Nilgiris revealed that rainfall pattern was likely to reduce during southwest monsoon and increase towards northeast monsoon and the extreme rainfall events could further results in higher flooding. The overall temperature expected to increase more in 2050 and 2070 due to manmade pressures and some intolerant endemic species could get loss due to increasing greenhouse gas emission and fires would result in the loss of endemic habitat of shola forests. The climate change also expected to shift and alter fruiting and flowering pattern of the endemic species [41]. There had been

tane grasslands and shola forests of the Nilgiris has been destroyed by widespread tea plantations and commercial plantations, easy vehicle access and the extensive monoculture [32]. Projected climate change would likely to multiply the invasion intensity of alien species. Also the montane grasslands and shola forests of the Nilgiris has been destroyed by widespread tea plantations and commercial plantations, easy vehicle access and the extensive monoculture [39]. The area once covered with native forests was transferred into land of plantation over centuries. This led to the loss of major proportion of the ecosystem. Many developmental works also have been carried out in the area. The region is being affected by various kinds of encroachment. This resulted in loss of endemic species of birds and animals by affecting their food reserve, gradual disappearance of wild edible fruits and other plant species and the native forest is reducing in a faster manner which also results in man-animal conflicts thus ultimately affects the biodiversity of the region. A documentation study carried out in the region revealed that the area is facing soil related issues such as loss of soil fertility, loss of soil beneficial microbial activity, subsoil compactness, incidence of frequent soil erosion and unsuitability of the soil to produce profitable crop. The study also stated indiscriminate use of fertilizers and pesticides, soil transportation, repeated application of chemical inputs beyond recommended level, use of heavy farm machineries, cultivation of exotics, loss of local natural vegetation, faulty land resettlement, loss of natural wind breaks, mono-cropping and loss of healthy soil biological process have

), dense tree cover (4.93 km2

contributed high damage to the natural soil ecosystem of the region [42].

The shola grasslands are tropical montane forests found in the high altitudes of Western Ghats separated by rolling grasslands. The shola-grassland ecosystem has undergone severe habitat loss mainly due to exotic tree plantations, widespread

meager level of water bodies, increase in rocky surface (16.60 km2

**32**

**6. Conclusion**

The authors declare no conflict of interest.
