Fire alters diversity, composition, and structure of dry tropical forests in the Eastern Ghats.

Fire is known to have dramatic consequences on forest ecosystems around the world and on the livelihoods of forest-dependent people. While the Eastern Ghats of India have high abundances of fire-prone dry tropical forests, little is known about how fire influences the diversity, composition, and structure of these communities. Our study aimed to fill this knowledge gap by examining the effects of the presence and the absence of recent fire on tropical dry forest communities within the Kadiri watershed, Eastern Ghats.