T R Shankar Raman

Scientist, Western Ghats

I like to imagine that I am a writer turned wildlife scientist turned writer, living in a landscape of rainforests and plantations in the Anamalai hills of southern India. As a wildlife scientist, I focus on the ecology and conservation of tropical forests and wildlife—especially rainforest plants, birds, and mammals—mainly in the Western Ghats. I write creative nonfiction and essays on nature and conservation for newspapers, magazines, and blogs, besides occasional book reviews and op-ed or feature articles.

My book The Wild Heart of India: Nature and Conservation in the City, the Country, and the Wild was published in 2019 by Oxford University Press, India. In 2018, I co-authored Pillars of Life: Magnificent Trees of the Western Ghats with Divya Mudappa (Illustrations by Nirupa Rao and Sartaj Ghuman).

As a participant in an open initiative called WikiProject Nature and Conservation in India, I have also been contributing media (my images, video and audio recordings) to Wikimedia Commons and editing Wikipedia pages related to nature and conservation in India. Here is my Wikipedia user page, and you can find my Wikimedia Commons photo gallery here (works in progress). I also like to read a fair bit and you can see what I am reading here.

Projects

Publications

Tea plantation with native shade trees in the Anamalai Hills

Dataset

2021

Data from: Native shade trees aid bird conservation in tea plantations in southern India

Tea plantation with native shade trees in the Anamalai Hills

Journal Article

2021

Native shade trees aid bird conservation in tea plantations in southern India

Great Hornbill female in flight

Journal Article

2021

Hornbill abundance and breeding incidence in relation to habitat modification and fig fruit availability

Male Malabar Grey Hornbill

Dataset

2021

Data from: Hornbill abundance and breeding incidence in relation to habitat modification and fig fruit availability

Seed fates of four rainforest tree species in the fragmented forests of Anamalais in the southern Western Ghats, India

Journal Article

2021

Seed fates of four rainforest tree species in the fragmented forests of Anamalais in the southern Western Ghats, India

Remnant rainforest fragment in the Anamalai hills

Dataset

2020

Data from: Effects of Habitat Structure and Adjacent Habitats on Birds in Tropical Rainforest Fragments and Shaded Plantations in the Western Ghats, India

Journal Article

2020

When and how to study the nesting biology of Indian birds: Research needs, ethical considerations, and best practices

Journal Article

2020

Guidelines for conducting research on the nesting biology of Indian birds

Male Malabar Grey Hornbill

Journal Article

2020

Forest cover and fruit crop size differentially influence frugivory of select rainforest tree species in Western Ghats, India

Population assessment of the Endangered Nilgiri tahr Nilgiritragus hylocrius in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, using the double-observer survey method

Journal Article

2020

Population assessment of the Endangered Nilgiri tahr Nilgiritragus hylocrius in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, using the double-observer survey method

Greater stability of carbon capture in species-rich natural forests compared to species-poor plantations

Journal Article

2020

Greater stability of carbon capture in species-rich natural forests compared to species-poor plantations

Data from: Effects of restoration on tree communities and carbon storage in rainforest fragments of the Western Ghats, India

Dataset

2019

Data from: Effects of restoration on tree communities and carbon storage in rainforest fragments of the Western Ghats, India

Data from: Greater stability of carbon capture in species-rich natural forests compared to species-poor plantations

Dataset

2019

Data from: Greater stability of carbon capture in species-rich natural forests compared to species-poor plantations

Restored rainforest fragment surrounded by tea plantations

Journal Article

2019

Effects of restoration on tree communities and carbon storage in rainforest fragments of the Western Ghats, India

The Wild Heart of India: Nature and Conservation in the City, the Country, and the Wild

Book

2019

The Wild Heart of India: Nature and Conservation in the City, the Country, and the Wild

Great Hornbill female in flight

Journal Article

2018

Breeding biology of Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis in tropical rainforest and human-modified plantation landscape in Western Ghats, India

Seasonal variation in wildlife roadkills in plantations and tropical rainforest in the Anamalai Hills, Western Ghats, India

Journal Article

2018

Seasonal variation in wildlife roadkills in plantations and tropical rainforest in the Anamalai Hills, Western Ghats, India



Population assessment of the Nilgiri tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius) using
the Double-observer Survey method in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve

Report

2018

Population assessment of the Nilgiri tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius) using the Double-observer Survey method in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve

Understanding perceptions of people towards lion-tailed macaques in a 
fragmented landscape of the Anamalai Hills, Western Ghats, India

Journal Article

2018

Understanding perceptions of people towards lion-tailed macaques in a fragmented landscape of the Anamalai Hills, Western Ghats, India

Retaining remnant forest patches is vital to conserve wildlife in plantation landscape

Book Chapter

2018

Expanding nature conservation: considering wide landscapes and deep histories

Herpetofaunal survey in rainforest remnants of the Western Ghats, India

Journal Article

2018

Herpetofaunal survey in rainforest remnants of the Western Ghats, India

Pillars of Life: Magnificent Trees of the Western Ghats

Book

2018

Pillars of Life: Magnificent Trees of the Western Ghats

Dataset

2017

Data from: Successional status, seed dispersal mode and overstorey species influence tree regeneration in tropical rain-forest fragments in Western Ghats, India

Successional status, seed dispersal mode and overstorey species influence tree regeneration in tropical rain-forest fragments in Western Ghats, India

Journal Article

2017

Successional status, seed dispersal mode and overstorey species influence tree regeneration in tropical rain-forest fragments in Western Ghats, India

Dataset

2016

Data from: Shifting agriculture supports more tropical forest birds than oil palm or teak plantations in Mizoram, northeast India.

Powerline slicing through forest

Popular Article

2015

Current ecological concerns in the power sector: options to avoid or minimise impacts

A chital stag

Book Chapter

2015

Chital Axis axis

Rainforest canopy

Book

2010

Rainforest restoration: a guide to principles and practice

Dataset

2009

Data from: A conservation status survey of hornbills (Bucerotidae) in the Western Ghats, India.

Conservation biogeography in North-east India: hierarchical analysis of cross-taxon distributional congruence

Journal Article

2007

Conservation biogeography in North-east India: hierarchical analysis of cross-taxon distributional congruence

A Malabar Grey Hornbill in a rainforest fragment in the Anamalai Hills, Western Ghats

Report

2001

Impact of fragmentation and plantations on rainforest birds in the Anamalai hills, southern Western Ghats, India.