Tides of Change in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Chronic browsing by an introduced mammalian herbivore in a tropical island alters species composition and functional traits of forest understory plant communities

“…However, climate across the tropics and in these islands is increasingly dynamic with altered rainfall and temperature regimes (Guhathakurta et al, 2011; Wetzel et al, 2012). Meanwhile recent, rapid urban and economic development of these islands, as is mirrored across the global tropics, in combination with global climate change portends an increasing vulnerability of habitats, species and interactions (Oommen & Ramesh, 2019; Prasad et al, 2010). As conditions change, herbivory has the potential to interact with multiple stressors in tropical forests as in several other ecosystems leading to exacerbated effects on vegetation demographics (Brodie et al, 2012; Didion et al, 2011).…”