Ghat ya Magharibi

Milima ya Ghat ya Magharibi ni eneo la milima inayoenea katika urefu wa km 1,600 sambamba na pwani ya magharibi ya Bara Hindi, kupitia majimbo ya Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra na Gujarat.  

Ni eneo lililoandikishwa na UNESCO kama Urithi wa Dunia likiwa kati ya vitovu vya bioanwai. Kuna idadi kubwa ya spishi za wanyama na mimea ambayo inapatikana nchini Uhindi pekee.

Jina
Jina la "ghat" katika lugha za Kihindi linamaanisha "safu ya milima". Safu hiyo ina athira kubwa kwa hali ya hewa na mwendo wa masika ya monsuni (pepo za msimu katika Bahari Hindi) yanayoonyesha kwa wingi kwenye mitelemko ya magharibi ya Ghat ilhali kiasi kinachofika upande wa mashariki ni kidogo.

Maeneo
Masafa ya milima ya Ghat huanzia kaskazini kuelekea kusini kando ya magharibi na kuacha tambarare nyembamba kwenye pwani ya magharibi.    

Maeneo mengi ndani ya Ghat yametengwa kama hifadhi ya taifa au misitu inayohifadhiwa.   

Masafa huanza karibu na mji wa Songadh wa Gujarat, na kuishia karibu na ncha ya kusini ya Uhindi. Eneo la milima hii lina jumla ya kilomita za mraba 160,000 na kuwa eneo la kukusanya maji kwa mito inayomwagilia asilimia 40 za Uhindi. Mwinuko wa wastani ni mnamo mita 1,200 juu ya UB.

Vilele 
Ghat ya Magharibi huwa na milima mirefu inayofikia kimo cha zaidi ya mita 2000. Mlima Anamudi (mita 2,695) ndio mlima mrefu zaidi.

Chanzo cha mito
Mvua inayonyesha kwenye Ghat ya Magharibi unalisha mito mingi ya kudumu ya Uhindi. Mifumo mikubwa ya mito inayotokea kwenye Ghat ya Magharibi, hii ni pamoja na mito ya Godavari, Kaveri, Krishna, Thamiraparani na Tungabhadra . Mito mingi midogo zaidi yenye chanzo kwenye Ghat inajiunga na mito hiyo, na hubeba maji mengi wakati wa miezi ya masika. Mito hiyo inaelekea hasa upande wa mashariki ikifuata mtelemko wa nchi ikiishia kwenye Ghuba ya Bengali. 

Mito ya Periyar, Bharathappuzha, Pamba, Netravati, Sharavathi, Mandovi na Zuari inashuka upande wa magharibi ikiishia katika Bahari Arabu. Kutokana na mtelemko mkali upande huu inashuka kwa kasi kali.

Mvua 
Kanda ya Maharashtra kwa wastani hupata mvua nzito kuliko mikoa ya Karnataka, Kerala na Goa. Katika Maharashtra mvua inaenea sawasawa zaidi kwa sababu mabonde mengi yanaruhusu sehemu za mawingu kupita safu ya Ghat. Lakini Ghat huko Karnataka inaacha nafasi chache za mawingu kupita hivyo miteremko ya magharibi ya Karnataka hupokea mvua kubwa, zaidi ya sm 400, kushinda sehemu nyingine za Ghat ya Magharibi.

Mamalia

Tanbihi

Marejeo 
 Mahajan, Harshal. A rendezvous with Sahyadri
 Ingalhalikar, Shrikant. Flowers of Sahyadri. Corolla Publication; Pune
 Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Island Press; Washington, DC.
 Kapadia, Harish. Trek the Sahyadris
 Daniels, R.J. Ranjit, Wildlife institute of India, "Biodiversity in the Western Ghats"
 Ajith Kumar, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, India, Ravi Chellam, B.C.Choudhury, Divya Mudappa, Karthikeyan Vasudevan, N.M.Ishwar, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun, India, Barry Noon, Department of Fish and Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, U.S. (2002) "Impact of Rainforest Fragmentation on Small Mammals and Herpetofauna in the Western Ghats, South India", Final Report, pp. 146, illus. Full text retrieved 14 March 2007
 Verma Desh Deepak (2002) "Thematic Report on Mountain Ecosystems", Ministry of Environment and Forests,13pp, retrieved 27 March 2007 Thematic Report on Mountain Ecosystems Full text, detailed data, not cited.
 Abstracts, Edited by Lalitha Vijayan, Saconr. Vasudeva, University of Dharwad, Priyadarsanan, ATREE, Renee Borges, CES, ISSC, Jagdish Krishnaswamy, Atree & WCSP. Pramod, Sacon, Jagannatha Rao, R., FRLHTR. J. Ranjit Daniels, Care Earth, Compiled by S. Somasundaram, Sacon (1–2 December 2005) Integrating Science and Management of Biodiversity in the Western Ghats, 2nd National Conference of the Western Ghats Forum, Venue: State Forest Service College Coimbatore, Organized by Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty, Coimbatore – 641108, India. Sponsored by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Supported by The Arghyam Foundation, The Ford Foundation & Sir Dorabiji Trust Through Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)
 Shifting Cultivation, Sacred Groves and Conflicts in Colonial Forest Policy in the Western Ghats.  M.D. Subash Chandran; Chapter 22

Viungo vya nje 
 Gats Magharibi, wavuti ya Urithi wa Dunia wa UNESCO 
 Gats Magharibi, WWF

Milima ya Uhindi
Urithi wa Dunia