The Western Ghats is one among the 34 global hotspots of biodiversity and it lies in the western part of peninsular India in a series of hills stretching over a distance of 1,600 km from north to south and covering an area of about 1,60,000 sq.km.  It harbours very rich flora and fauna and there are records of over 4,000 species of flowering plants with 38% endemics, 330 butterflies with 11% endemics, 156 reptiles with 62% endemics, 508 birds with 4% endemics, 120 mammals with 12% endemics, 289 fishes with 41% endemics and 135 amphibians with 75% endemics. The rich biodiversity coupled with higher endemism is due to the humid tropical climate, topographical and geological characteristics, and geographical isolation (Arabian Sea to the west and the semiarid Deccan Plateau to the east).  The Western Ghats forms an important watershed for the entire peninsular India, being the source of 37 west flowing rivers and three major east flowing rivers and their numerous tributaries. Western Ghats is extremely important for agriculture and horticultural crops. Whereas the rice fields in valleys are irrigated with numerous perennial streams from forested hill-slopes the undulating landscape is used to great extent for growing precious cash crops, especially coffee and cardamom. Black pepper, ginger, arecanut, coconut, rubber are notable crops here, in addition to various fruit trees and vegetables. Some of the higher altitudes are under cultivation of tea. From the point of productivity, revenue generation, employment potential and subsistence the central Western Ghats are extremely important.
The physical surface of the landscape is undergoing transformation either naturally or due to human interference. While humans are causing most of these transformations, others are the result of changing seasons giving rise to land cover (LC) changes. Land cover (LC) change is one of the important factors affecting ecosystem condition and functions. LC information are frequently used to generate landscape metrics that help in assessing landscape condition and in monitoring status and trends over an area.LC change refers to human modification of the Earth's terrestrial surface for food and other essentials. Terrestrial ecosystems are permanently changing at a variety of spatial and temporal scales due to natural and/or anthropogenic causes. Current issue discusses changes in LC induced by agents (either human and/or natural processes) and its role in global as well as regional scale patterns, including weather and climate.