The Long-term Ecosystem Monitoring Network (LEMoN-India) is an open, collaborative, multi-institutional initiative established in 2011 with the objective of monitoring vegetation across different forest types based on internationally accepted protocols (RAINFOR-GEM & CTFS/ForestGEO). The network currently comprises eleven 1-hectare plots, of which eight are set up and monitored by BEER Lab.
These include two low-elevation tropical wet-evergreen forest plots, established in collaboration with ANET, in Alexandria and Rutland in the South Andaman Islands, two highly seasonal tropical wet-evergreen forest plots at Hosagadde and Mulgunda in the central Western Ghats, one low-elevation tropical evergreen forest at Coorg in the south-central Western Ghats, two mesic-deciduous savanna plots in the Eastern Ghats - one at Mannanur in Amrabad Tiger Reserve, Telengana and one at Tummalabailu in the Nallamalla Landscape of Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, Andhra Pradesh. Another savanna plot, established in collaboration with Sigur Nature Trust, is located in Sigur Plateau in the southern Western Ghats.
Field team at NSTR: from left Dayani, Rohit, Veeranna, Peddanna, Sumo
and Pradyumna.
Field team at NSTR: from left Veeranna, Peddanna, Abhirup, Venkateshwarulu and Peddiraju.
Ongoing Projects
We are characterizing the sensitivity of tropical forests to droughts and extreme temperatures using plant functional and physiological traits across abiotic gradients in peninsular India
We are examining responses of tropical ecosystems to extreme weather events and exploring resource allocation patterns in plants under various abiotic stressors
People Associated
Mahesh Sankaran
Jayashree Ratnam
Sandeep Pulla
Chengappa S K
Dayani C
Raghavendra H V
Kaikho Liriina
Mukta Mande
Peddiraju bandaru
Dev Bagdi
Anish Paul
Lakshmi Niranjana
Arpitha Jayanth
Indrani Bandaru
Ron Sunny
Publications
Chakravarthy, D., Raghavendra, H. V., Ratnam, J. & Sankaran, M. (2025). Soil respiration is correlated with rainfall and soil moisture at multiple temporal scales in a seasonal wet tropical forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology. 41, e20. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467425100126
Najeeb, N., Jose, K., Sreejith, K. A., Pulla, S., Suresh, H. S., Ratnam, J., Raghavendra, H. V., Chakravarthy, D., & Chaturvedi, R. K. (2025). Presence of large trees and tree diversity enhances carbon storage in the Western Ghats. Biological Conservation. 308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111250
Murali, A., Kasinathan, S., Bhat, K., Ratnam, J., Sankaran, M., Mudappa, D., Raman, T. R. S., & Osuri, A. M. (2025). Structure and dynamics of secondary and mature rainforests: insights from South Asian long-term monitoring plots. Plant Ecology & Diversity. 1–13.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2025.2494204
Ongole, S., Teegalapalli, K., Byrapoghu, V., Ratnam, J., & Sankaran, M. (2021). Functional traits predict tree-level phenological strategies in a mesic Indian savanna. Biotropica. 53, 1432–1441. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12993
Marthews, T.R., Nelaballi, S., Ratnam, J., & Sankaran, M. (2015). Ecosystem monitoring and forest census studies in South Asia. Current Science. 108(10), 1779–1782. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24905594
Website developed on Google Sites by Dev Bagdi and Anish Paul. Photographs by Abhirami Ravichandran, Dayani C, Dev Bagdi, Karthik Teegalapalli and Sandeep Pulla. No reuse of any photos on this website is allowed.