| Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Ecoregion territory (in purple) | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Indomalayan |
| Biome | tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests |
| Borders | |
| Geography | |
| Area | 47,759 km2 (18,440 sq mi) |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Conservation | |
| Conservation status | vulnerable |
| Protected | 17,736 km2 (37%) [1] |
The Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion of the island of Sri Lanka.
The ecoregion covers an area of 48,400 square kilometers (18,700 sq mi), about 75%, of the island of Sri Lanka, with the exception of the islands' southwestern corner and Central Highlands, home to the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests and Sri Lanka montane rain forests ecoregions, respectively, and the northern Jaffna Peninsula, which is part of the Deccan thorn scrub forests ecoregion.
The topography is generally low, and the landscape is dotted with isolated inselbergs. The highest of these inselbergs is Ritigala (766 meters), which lies north of the Central Highlands.
The ecoregion receives 1500–2000 mm of rainfall annually. Most rain falls during the December-to-March northeast monsoon season, and it is mostly dry the rest of the year.
The ecoregion has several plant communities.
The Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests are made up mostly of evergreen trees, which distinguish them from the deciduous trees that characterize most other tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregions. The dry-zone dry evergreen forests most closely resemble the East Deccan dry evergreen forests of India's southeast coast.
The dry-zone dry evergreen forests are home to most of the Sri Lanka's 6000 Sri Lankan elephants (Elephas maximus maximus), the island's indigenous subspecies of Asian elephant. [8] [9]
17,736 km2, or 37%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. [10] Protected areas include:
The South Western Ghats montane rain forests is an ecoregion in South India, covering the southern portion of the Western Ghats in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu at elevations from 1,000 to 2,695 m. Annual rainfall in this ecoregion exceeds 2,800 mm (110 in).
The East Deccan dry evergreen forests is an ecoregion of southeastern India. The ecoregion includes the coastal region behind the Coromandel Coast on the Bay of Bengal, between the Eastern Ghats and the sea. It covers eastern Tamil Nadu, part of Puducherry and south eastern Andhra Pradesh.
The Malabar Coast moist forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southwestern India.
The South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests is a tropical dry forest ecoregion in southern India. The ecoregion lies in the southernmost portion of the Deccan Plateau, and includes the southernmost portion of the Eastern Ghats.
The Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion of northern India.
The Northern dry deciduous forests, presently known as the North Deccan dry deciduous forests, is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion of east-central India.
The Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion of Bangladesh and India. The ecoregion covers an area of 254,100 square kilometres (98,100 sq mi), comprising most of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar and Tripura, and extending into adjacent states of Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and a tiny part of Assam, as well as adjacent western Myanmar.
The Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests are a tropical dry forest ecoregion of central India. The ecoregion lies mostly in Madhya Pradesh state, but extends into portions of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh states.
The Deccan thorn scrub forests are a xeric shrubland ecoregion of south India and northern Sri Lanka. Historically this area was covered by tropical dry deciduous forest, but this only remains in isolated fragments. The vegetation now consists of mainly of southern tropical thorn scrub type forests. These consist of open woodland with thorny trees with short trunks and low, branching crowns; spiny and xerophytic shrubs; and dry grassland. This is the habitat of the great Indian bustard and blackbuck, though these and other animals are declining in numbers; this area was at one time home to large numbers of elephants and tigers. Almost 350 species of bird have been recorded here. The remaining natural habitat is threatened by overgrazing and invasive weeds, but there are a number of small protected areas which provide a haven for the wildlife. Trees in these forests have adapted to not require much water.
The Northern Congolian forest–savanna mosaic is a forest and savanna ecoregion of central Africa. It extends east and west across central Africa, covering parts of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Uganda. It is part of the belt of transitional forest-savanna mosaic that lie between Africa's moist equatorial Guineo-Congolian forests and the tropical dry forests, savannas, and grasslands to the north and south.
Manas National Park is a national park, Project Tiger reserve, and an elephant reserve in Assam, India. Located in the Himalayan foothills, it borders the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan. The park is known for its rare and endangered endemic wildlife such as the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur and pygmy hog. It also hosts the only known population of pygmy hogs in the world. Manas is also famous for its population of the wild water buffalo. Because of its exceptional biodiversity, scenery, and variety of habitats, Manas National Park is a biosphere reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests is an ecoregion that extends from the middle hills of central Nepal through Darjeeling into Bhutan and also into the Indian States of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. It represents the east–west-directed band of subtropical broadleaf forest at an altitude of between 500 and 1,000 m along the Outer Himalayan Range, and includes several forest types traversing an east to west moisture gradient.
The Southeastern Indochina dry evergreen forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion of Indochina.
The Sri Lanka lowland rain forests represents Sri Lanka's Tropical rainforests below 1,000 m (3,281 ft) in elevation in the southwestern part of the island. The year-around warm, wet climate together with thousands years of isolation from mainland India have resulted in the evolution of numerous plants and animal species that can only be found in rain forests in Sri Lanka. The thick forest canopy is made up of over 150 species of trees, some of the emergent layer reaching as high as 45 m (148 ft). The lowland rain forests accounts for 2.14 percent of Sri Lanka's land area. This ecoregion is the home of the jungle shrew, a small endemic mammal of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has the highest density of amphibian species worldwide. Many of these, including 250 species of tree frogs, live in these rain forests.
Hurulu Forest Reserve of Sri Lanka was designated as a biosphere reserve in January 1977. The forest reserve is an important habitat of the Sri Lankan elephant. Hurulu forest reserve represents Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests. There are many other protected areas situated around Hurulu Forest Reserve viz. Ritigala strict nature reserve, Minneriya-Girithale and Mahaweli flood plains nature reserves, Wasgamuwa National Park and Kahalla-Pallekele sanctuary. Carved out at the edge of the Hurulu Forest Reserve is the Hurulu Eco Park which offers jeep safaris.
Lahugala Kitulana National Park is one of the smallest national parks in Sri Lanka. Despite its land area, the park is an important habitat for Sri Lankan elephant and endemic birds of Sri Lanka. The national park contains the reservoirs of Lahugala, Kitulana and Sengamuwa and they are ultimately empties to Heda Oya river. Originally it was designated as a wildlife sanctuary on July 1 of 1966. Then the protected area was upgraded to a national park on October 31 of 1980. Lahugala Kitulana is situated 318 km east of Colombo.
The Cardamom Mountains rain forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in Southeast Asia, as identified by the WWF. The ecoregion covers the Cardamom Mountains and Elephant Mountains and the adjacent coastal lowlands in eastern Thailand and southwestern Cambodia, as well as the Vietnamese island of Dao Phu Quoc.
The Southern Korea evergreen forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion at the southern end of the Korean Peninsula.
The Tenasserim–South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion on Mainland Southeast Asia. The ecoregion extends north–south along the Kra Isthmus. It includes lowland forests along the coasts, and montane forests on the Tenasserim Hills and Bilauktaung range, which form the mountainous spine of the isthmus.
The Irrawaddy moist deciduous forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in central Myanmar. The ecoregion occupies the central basin of the Irrawaddy River and the lower basin of the Salween River. The ecoregion is characterized by forests of tall trees which drop their leaves in the dry season. Most of the ecoregion's forests have been converted to agriculture.