Threatened woody endemics of the wet lowlands of Sri Lanka and their conservation

Gunatilleke, I. A. U. N.; Gunatilleke, C.V.S.

doi:10.1016/0006-3207(91)90003-r

Cited by 26 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Published descriptions of the lowland and montane forests give details about species composition, ecological properties, threats facing them, the fauna that they support and conservation status (Gunatilleke and Ashton, 1987;Gunatilleke and Gunatilleke, 1991;Ashton et al, 1997;Wikramanayake and Gunatilleke, 2002a, b, c;Kathriarachchi, 2012;Wijesundara, 2012). Although there are 31 different protected areas in the lowland rainforest region, and nine at higher elevations, most are small in areas, with exception of the Sinharaja National Heritage Wilderness Area (112 km 2 ) in the lowland rainforest and the Peak Wilderness area (120 km 2 ) that straddles the submontane and montane regions (Table 5).…”

Section: What Once There Wasmentioning

confidence: 99%

The biogeography and ecology of Sri Lankan mammals point to conservation priorities

Dittus

2017

Ceylon J. Sci.

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All mammals originated on the supercontinent of Pangaea in the Mesozoic era during the "Age of Reptiles." However, the crown ancestors of contemporary mammals did not flourish until major environmental and biotic changes had occurred. An asteroid collided with earth at the end of the Cretaceous Period (the K-Pg boundary event) wiping out nonflying dinosaurs and primitive mammals. It was followed by large-scale volcanism, a spike in atmospheric oxygen and the proliferation of flowering plants. New niches became available for the ancestors of today's mammals to fill. Evidence suggesting whether the ancestors of the Sri Lankan and Indian mammals originated on the tectonically marooned Indian plate before crashing into Asia or on the Laurasian supercontinent is inconclusive. Modern Sri Lankan mammals show their greatest affinity with those of southern India, and were more diverse in the Pleistocene when rhinoceros, hippopotamus, wild dogs, gaur and lions enriched the island's landscapes. Native Sri Lankan land-based mammals are diversified into about 108 unique taxa (among 91 species and 53 genera), differentiated as phenotypic adaptations to sharply contrasting environments among seven major phyto-climatic zones. Endemic subspecies are distributed fairly equally across different phyto-climatic zones (n=24 to 29), except in the highlands where they are fewer (n=14) having evolved rapidly to species and genera among the insectivores and rodents whose reproductive rates are high. Conversely, greater numbers of endemic species (n=13) and genera (n=3) occur in the highlands than in the other zones (2-6 endemic species, no endemic genera). The prevalence of endemism is inversely related to body size or vagility. This suggests a greater probability of genetic exchange among distant populations of large bodied mobile mammals within Sri Lanka, as well as with Indian fauna during periods of land bridges in the Pleistocene. Most (8 of 13) endangered and critically endangered endemic mammals occur in the wet montane regions that offer the least Protected Areas (PAs). More than 85% of PAs occur in the extensive dry zone about half of which is not suited for water dependent mammals whose distributions are restricted to alluvial forests (less than 1% of PAs). Historically, the national cost of conservation has been low and therefore politically palatable. Current conservation urgently requires a major change in management policy combined with realistic investment to prevent extinctions of many endemic mammals and other unique Sri Lankan biota.

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Section: What Once There Wasmentioning

confidence: 99%

The biogeography and ecology of Sri Lankan mammals point to conservation priorities

Dittus

2017

Ceylon J. Sci.

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“…However, in Sri Lanka, members of this family have been studied for their ecological contributions (Weerakkody, and Parkinson, 2006;Gunatilleke, et al, 2005;Jayasekara, et al, 2003;Ganashan, 1996;Gunatilleke and Gunatilleke, 1991;De Zoysa, et al, 1988;Jayasekera, 1992) and medicinal values (Kankanamalage, et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the occurrence and conservation status of Sri Lankan species of Anacardiaceae

et al. 2017

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Sri Lanka is a tropical island with variety of climatic, geographical and weather combinations. These significant variations have resulted high biodiversity in the country. Sri Lanka together with the Western Ghats is one of the biodiversity hotspots. Presently, Sri Lanka harbors 3,154 species of Angiosperm families of which 894 are endemic. The family Anacardiaceae is one of the flora groups that did not attract attention of the researchers. However, 47.4% of this family, including 46.7% endemics was considered as nationally threatened during the National Red listing in 2012. This study was carried out to investigate the current occurrence and conservation status of the members of this family. Observations on plant species were made in both protected and un-protected areas. This study present the recent occurrences of 14 species in 6 genera with 11 endemics belongs to this family. These species are dispersed in two strict nature reserves, one Man and Biosphere Reserve, one sanctuary, five forest reserves and two un-protected locations. Among the observed species 35.7% including 36.4% endemics are accounted as nationally threatened which includes 'Critically Endangered', 'Endangered' and 'Vulnerable' species. This information will be contributed to establish precise conservation measures and updating of the conservation status of these species in Global and National level red listing.

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“…The southwestern region in Sri Lanka is a showcase for biodiversity, where lowland rainforests harbour high endemic and threaten taxa (Gunatilleke & Gunatilleke, 1991). For example, the Sinharaja rainforest, the largest primary rainforest in Sri Lanka, contributed over 60% endemic flora Gunatilleke et al, 2005) and 23% endemic vertebrate fauna (de Zoysa & Raheem, 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting land-cover change using mappable vegetation related indices: A case study from Sinharaja Man and the Biosphere Reserve

Madurapperuma

Kuruppuarachchi

2014

JTFE

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Understanding the effects of human disturbances at the forest fringe is useful in efforts to implement best management practices aimed at conserving forest resources. This study evaluates multi-year changes of vegetation in the Sinharaja Man and the Biosphere (MAB) reserve using mappable vegetation related indices viz., Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Burn Index (BI). Land-cover changes in the Sinharaja MAB reserve were detected using According to the land-cover map, burn area occurred at the cultivated lands, scrublands, and fragmented forest fringe. The results were visualized using an embedded 3D render window of Google Earth and a 2D view of ArcGIS explorer online. In conclusion, insitu ground truthing data is needed for the fire-influenced area for implementing sustainable forest resource management at the Sinharaja MAB reserve.

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Threatened woody endemics of the wet lowlands of Sri Lanka and their conservation

Cited by 26 publications

References 6 publications

The biogeography and ecology of Sri Lankan mammals point to conservation priorities

The biogeography and ecology of Sri Lankan mammals point to conservation priorities

Evaluating the occurrence and conservation status of Sri Lankan species of Anacardiaceae

Detecting land-cover change using mappable vegetation related indices: A case study from Sinharaja Man and the Biosphere Reserve

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