Study traces shift towards grassland in Nilgiris over 1,200 years

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.