01467nas a2200121   4500000000100000008004100001260006900042100002000111700002000131700001600151245014500167520103300312       2016                            d  c08/2016bFaculty of Forestry Universiti Putra MalaysiaaMalaysia1 aKumaran Kesavan1 aRavinder Bhalla1 aDevi Prasad00aEcological and anthropogenic implications of two decades of land cover changes in the upper Nilgiris in the context of global climate change3 aLarge scale changes in land cover can impact a range of ecosystem services, particularly in the context of global climate change induced extreme rain events coupled with longer dry seasons. A recent Landsat image was classified using over 400 ground control points and Maximum Likelihood Classification to obtain a map of the present extent of six classes of land cover. Changes in the area under these classes were then calculated based on a similar map published in 1996. There has been a significant reduction in forest plantations with a smaller reduction in natural forest, natural grassland with shrubs, forest plantation and water bodies. These areas have been replaced by tea plantations and vegetable cultivation. This is likely to increase risks of shallow landslides in this region. Reduced water quality due to increased erosion and transport of agrochemicals downstream coupled with an overall reduction of stream flow in dry season in the headwaters are some of the other likely outcomes of the land cover changes.