Researchers from NIAS, IISc Bengaluru, IISER Mohali, TDU and Royal Holloway University of London reconstructed 1,200 years of environmental history at Town Vayal, a seasonal wetland in Mudumalai National Park. Their sediment record shows how monsoon shifts, indigenous paddy farming and colonial forestry shaped the Nilgiris landscape, with wetland drying beginning around 700 CE.