India, April 27 -- A comprehensive new study of dragonflies and damselflies across the western ghats has revealed a yawning gap in biodiversity records, with researchers documenting only about 65% of historically known species. The nearly 35% gap is being seen as a warning sign of mounting ecological stress in one of the world's richest biodiversity hotspots.

The study - among the most extensive, recent assessments of freshwater biodiversity in the western ghats - was carried out over two years from February 2021 to March 2023 by researchers from MIT World Peace University (MIT-WPU), Pune, in collaboration with the Society for Odonate Studies. It was recently published on April 21, 2026 in Biology Bulletin Reviews.

The research covered ...