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Tropical forests are well known for their rich biodiversity, contribution to global carbon stock and various ecosystem services they render to humanity and to wildlife. There are 16 major forest types in India ranging from dry tropical scrubs to montane wet temperate forest. Among them the tropical dry evergreen forest (TDEF) on the Coromandel Coast of India constitute one of the under-studied forest types. Yet various sites of TDEF have been subjected to different levels of anthropogenic disturbances ranging from pristine, relatively undisturbed to highly disturbed. This book is an attempt to fill up scientific gap in our knowledge on the biodiversity and ecology of this unique forest type, pooling our hardcore research data generated over 25 years on biodiversity and functional ecology aimed towards conservation of forests and valuable bio-resources they offer. In twenty chapters, this book covers a wide range of topics that include plant and animal diversity and their complex interactions, ecosystem services offered, including economic good services for human welfare. It concludes on the conservation need and future of this forest type under the changing environmental scenario.
About the author
Professor. N. Parthasarathy, FNASc. Pondicherry University, India. He obtained M.Sc. and Ph.D. from University of Madras, specialized in Biodiversity and Conservation, handled 13 research projects and produced 13 Ph.Ds. Published three books and 86 research papers in international and national journals.
