South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests - Definition and Overview

The South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests is an ecoregion of southern India. The ecoregion lies in the eastern foothills of the Western Ghats; the dry forests lie in the Ghats' rain shadow, and recieve considerably less rainfall than the North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests and South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests that lie to the west. The ecoregion covers the Malnad region of Karnataka, extending south into Tamil Nadu.

The South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests recieve most of their rainfall with the June-September southwest monsoon, and are characterized by tall trees that drop their leaves during the dry winter and spring months. Much of the forest has been degraded through over-use, and thorn forests and shrub thickets are common. To the east, the forests transition to the xeric shrublands of the Deccan plateau.