Context: Recently, Scientists at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology have come up with plant data of the Northern Western Ghats which indicates that plateaus, in addition to the forests, should be prioritized for conservation of the Northern Western Ghats. 
Key Findings

• It is the plateaus and the cliffs that harbour most of the endemic species, thus increasing their importance in conservation plans. 
• ARI team has published a paper in the international journal Phytotaxa after thoroughly investigating the Northern Western Ghats to produce an updated checklist of 181 local endemic plant species, including four monospecific genera. 
• They have found that a majority of the endemic species are therophytes, which complete their life cycle in a short period during monsoon. 
• The data indicates that in addition to the forests plateaus should be prioritized for conservation of the Northern Western Ghats.
• The Western Ghats of India is one of the global biodiversity hotspots owing to the endemism that is sheltered by a chain of mountains.  
• The northern part of this biodiversity hotspot, along with the Konkan region, is considerably different from its southern and central counterparts on account of lesser precipitation and extended dry season. 
• A notable geographical feature of the Northern Western Ghats is the presence of plateaus and cliffs that display maximum endemic species, unlike forests. Forests of the Northern Western Ghats harbour many species which are not endemic. 

Significance of the data

• To project the Northern Western Ghats prominently on the world vegetation map, it is absolutely necessary to complete the IUCN threat status assessment on priority, which is underrepresented for the region.
• The published data can be used as a proxy for conservation planning and effective protection measures of the Northern Western Ghats.

About The Western Ghats 

• They are the mountain groups running parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula. 
• The Ghats is well known for its biodiversity, where we can find a variety of flora and fauna. 
• The Western Ghats again find a place in the news after the announcement of the UNESCO World Heritage site. 
• Followed by UNESCO announcement, the government of India appointed two committees [Gadgil committee and Kasturirangan committee]  to study the measures taken to protect it.
• The single reason behind the complete protection of the Western Ghats is the phenomenon of endemism. There are around 1500 species of flowering plants, 500 species of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals according to various studies.

Geographical Features

• Mountain range starts around the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra, to the south of river Tapti.
• Runs through the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• Ends at Kanyakumari, the southern tip of India. It covers approximately 1600km.
• The Western Ghats blocks southwestern monsoon winds reaching the Deccan plateau.

Rivers

• Major rivers originate from the Ghats, these include Godavari, Kaveri, Krishna, Thamiraparani, Tungabhadra.
• These watersheds feeding the perennial rivers.
• These rivers flow to the east and drain into the Bay of Bengal.
• The tributaries, Kabini, Periyar, Bhima etc flow towards the west to western ghats and drain into the Arabian sea.
• The major use of these water bodies is irrigation and hydroelectric purposes.