Long-term Ecosystem Monitoring Network (LEMoN)

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.

Ongoing Projects

People Associated

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