Sri Lanka

Ecology

Sri Lanka is one of the world's bio-diversity hot-spots. Its forests are amongs the most floristically rich in Asia and for some faunal groups, it has the highest density of species diversity in the world. The southwest portion of the island, where the influence of the moisture-bearing southwest monsoon is strongest, is home to the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests. At higher elevations they transition to the Sri Lanka montane rain forests. Both these tropical moist forest ecoregions bear strong affinities to those of India's Western Ghats.

Related Topics:
Sri Lanka lowland rain forests - Sri Lanka montane rain forests - Tropical moist forest - Western Ghats

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The northern and eastern portions of the island are considerably drier, lying in the rain shadow of the central highlands. The Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion, which, like the neighboring East Deccan dry evergreen forests of India's Coromandel Coast, is characterized by evergreen trees, rather than the dry-season deciduous trees that predominate in most other tropical dry broadleaf forests.

Related Topics:
Rain shadow - Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests - Tropical dry broadleaf forest - East Deccan dry evergreen forests - Coromandel Coast - Evergreen - Deciduous

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These forests have been largely cleared for agriculture, timber or grazing, and many of the dry evergreen forests have been degraded to thorn scrub, savanna, or thickets. Several preserves have been established to protect some of Sri Lanka's remaining natural areas. The island has three biosphere reserves, Hurulu (established 1977), Sinharaja (established 1978), and Kanneliya-Dediyagala-Nakiyadeniya (KDN) (established 2004).

Related Topics:
Savanna - Biosphere reserve - Hurulu - Sinharaja - Kanneliya-Dediyagala-Nakiyadeniya

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Sri Lanka is a centre of bird endemism. See Endemic Birds of the Indian Subcontinent for further information.

Related Topics:
Endemism - Endemic Birds of the Indian Subcontinent

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