Lowland rainforests of Sri Lanka

 The altitude of the southwest part of the island is below 1000 meters (3,281 feet) representing the tropical rain forests of Sri Lanka. Here there is hot and humid weather throughout the year. Plants and animal species have evolved. The dense forest canopy is made up of over 150 tree species reaching heights of 45 meters (148 feet). This lowland rainforest is about 2.14 percent of Sri Lanka's total land area. This ecoregeon is home to scrub forests and small endemic mammals of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has the highest density of amphibian species in the world. It includes 250 species of tree frogs that live in these rainforests.

(A lowland rain forest in the south of Badulla district)

Environmental zone spread (in purple)

Plants

The vegetation of this region is primarily influenced by climate and topography and secondarily by soil conditions. Two floral communities dominate the lowland rainforests of Sri Lanka. These are the Dipterocarpus (Sinhala 'hora') community and the Na-darshaya community (Sinhala 'na-doona').

(The World Heritage Sinharaja Reserve Forest is an important national heritage for this ecoregion.)

                         Animal Society

Kishirapain-ක්ෂීරපායින්

The territory of Sri Lanka is not enough for a large number of animals. Many ancient fossil records of animals like rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, lions etc. have been found. Despite the small number of species, this ecoregion is home to highly endemic plant species, and near-endemic mammals, including shrubs. The two types of shrubs endemic to Sri Lanka are listed as threatened and endangered, Asian land shrubs and forest shrubs respectively. The Sri Lankan leopard is the largest carnivore on the island and is a recognized endangered species. Asian elephants live sparingly in these rainforests and are listed as threatened. Unlike the dryland forests where they live in large numbers, elephant populations in these ecosystems face habitat loss and fragmentation. Indian hare, fishing cat and green-leopard are some other mammals that inhabited this ecoregion.

Eg-

Sri Lanka mountain hick rat-කදු හික් මීයා

Sri Lanka jungle hick rat-කැලෑ හික් මීයා

Pat-nosed bat-නාස් වවුලා

Sri Lanka Black Widow-කලු වදුරා

                                birds

This eco-region contains birds that are completely native to Sri Lanka. Sixteen bird species are classified as near-endemic and two species, the reed-cuckoo and the Ceylon pilaccha, are classified as native species. Ati kukula and Lankan arangaya are listed as threatened birds. Other threatened species are the gray sedum, the red-flowered koha, and the petal gomara wild aviwchia.

Eg:අළු කෑදැත්තා

වත රතු මල් කොහා

බට ඇටි කුකුළා*

හබන් කුකුළා

වළි කුකුළා

       Reptiles, fish and amphibians

The reptile fauna of Sri Lanka includes 204 species with 114 endemic species. Another 17 taxa are endemic to Sri Lanka at the subspecies level. The spineless forest lizard and eight freshwater fish species are listed as endangered.

                          forest cover

These lowland rainforests cover 2.14% of the country's total land area. It is about 124,340.8 hectares (480.1 sq mi). The annual rainfall of the humid monsoon forests is about 2,500-1,800 mm (98-71 in) and they are located in the lower areas of 1000 m (3,281 ft) altitude. Kanneliya, Viharakele, Nakiadeniya, and Sinharaja, which is a world heritage, are representative forests of this ecoregion. Bambarabotuwa, Morapitiya, Runakanda, Gilimale and Eratne are some of the other protected forests. Rainfall throughout the year and constant temperature help to be very rich in biodiversity. These forests act as an important catchment area for rivers.