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| Environment Sri Lanka > Biodiversity | |
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Picture galleries of Fauna and Floraa and Flora |
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Birds of Sri Lanka
Wild Fauna and Flora |
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Threatened spcies and Flora |
| Threatened
Plants of Sri Lanka Threatened endemic amphibians of Sri Lanka |
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Species Diversity d Flora |
| Checklist
of Mammals of Sri Lanka Endemic Birds Bird information from Sri Lankan Birder web site |
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Sinharaja World Heritage Site and Flora |
| Sinharaja
Forest- General Information
Sinharaja Trail Map |
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New species added to Sri Lankan Biodiversity (2005)and Flora |
| 43 new species of vertebrates, 1 genus and 1 species of shrimp, 14 new species of freshwater crabs and five mosses were newly discovered from Sri Lanka |
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Ecosystems of Sri Lankand Flora |
| Ecosystem Diversity |
Biological diversity of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is an island, 65,610 km2 in area situated close to the Southeast corner of the peninsula of India. Despite its relatively small size, Sri Lanka possesses a high level of bioddiversity. A nortworthy feature of Sri Lanka's biodiversity is the remarkable high proportion of endemic species among its flora and fauna: 23% of the flowering plants and 16% of the mammals in the island are endemic. Sri Lanka has a wide range of topographic and climatic variation and this contributes to the special features of its biodiversity.
Flora - Number of species described to date in Sri Lanka
| Group | Number of described species | Percentage endemism |
| Algae | 866 | NA |
| Fungi | 1,920 | NA |
| Lichens | 110 | 35 |
| Mosses | 575 | NA |
| Liverwoths | 190 | NA |
| Ferns and Fern allies | 314 | 18 |
| Gymnosperms | 1 | 0 |
| Angiosperms (Flowering plants) | 3,350 | 23 |
Fauna - Number of species described to date in Sri Lanka
| Group | Number of described species | Percentage endemism |
| Protista (One celled animals) | 40+ | NA |
| Rotifera | 140+ | NA |
| Anthozoa (Corals) | 171 | NA |
| Annelida (Earthworms and Leeches) | 18 | NA |
| Monogenea (Flatworms) | 23+ | NA |
| Crustacea (Prawns, crabs and allies) | 400 | NA |
| Mollusca (snails and allies) | 325 | NA |
| INSECTA | ||
| Mayflies | 18 | 100 |
| Mosquitoes | 139 | NA |
| Beetles | 540 | 23 |
| Butterflies | 242+ | 6 |
| Arachnida (Spiders) | 400+ | NA |
| Pisces - Coastal fish | 400+ | NA |
| Pisces - Freshwater fish | 61 | 39 |
| Amphibia (Frogs and Toads) | 48 | 52 |
| Reptilia (Reptiles) | 162 | 43 |
| Aves (Birds) | 441 | 5 |
| Mammalia (Mammals) | 90 | 16 |
Sri Lanka: One of 25 World's Biodiversity Hot Spots
Sri Lanka
has been identified by the environment activist group Conservation International
(CI) as one of 25 biodiversity hot spots in the world.
These
hot spots could have maximum benefit by preservation efforts, the magazine
said in a cover story titled "Heroes for the Planet: Earth Angles".
The U.S.-based CI said that together with Western India, Sri Lanka, the
island in the Indian ocean, accounts for 2,180 plant species that are
unique to each hot spot.
Sri Lanka's tropical rain forest ecosystem is considered as an area which is disturbed by human activity, but still exceptionally rich in animal and plant species found nowhere else.
Web
site Maintained by
Forestry and Environmental Science Society of Univesity of Sri Jayewardenepura,
Nugegoda, Sri Lanka and
Young Biolgists' Association, National Meuseum of the Naural History,
Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.
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