Abstract
The montane regions (>2000 m MSL) of the Western Ghats in southern India feature stunted ever- green forests (C3 plant type) interspersed with extensive grasslands (C3 or C4 plant types). We have studied the vegetational history of this ecosystem in relation to climate change during the late Quaternary through stable- carbon isotope analysis of peat deposits as indicators of C3 or C4 plant types. Grasslands (of C4 type) were predominant during the last glacial maximum (20-18 kyr BP) and again during 6-3.5 kyr BP, while forest and possibly C3 grassland expanded during the deglaciation, attaining their peak distribution at 10 kyr BP. The shift in C3 and C4 plant types seems related to changes in moisture and atmospheric C02, with lower moisture and CO2 levels favouring the latter plant types. The oscillating climate and vegetation has influenced the
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