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Possible signs of climate change in Sri Lanka

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Possible signs of climate change in Sri Lanka

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Most people know that there has been a slow and continuous rise of the temperature around us, specifically night-time temperature. In addition, variability of all seasonal rainfall has increased. There is less soil moisture in the hill country, because of this increase in temperature, where there is a high percentage of endemics. Increased droughts in the dry and intermediate zones. Increase in natural disasters.

Climate change and forests: loss of carbon sinks through deforestation. Sri Lanka’s total emissions of carbon dioxide is about 26 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2005 (Näsström & Mattsson, 2011). If we had not lost those forests, we could have absorbed half of these emissions.

Climate change and other habitats: other habitats such as coral reefs, sand dunes and mangroves which provide physical barriers that retard the force of extreme weather events, are also being lost. The impacts of climate change by losing forests, bulldozing mangroves and flattening sand dunes and dynamiting reefs is exacerbated.

Climate change and species. Very little has been done to link climate change and its impacts on species here in Sri Lanka. However it is know that:

Montane species — needing a cool and wet climate are going to be affected by increasing temperature and variable rain patterns.

Coral reefs are bleached when water temperature increases by just 1 degree. Many of our coral reefs were bleached in the late 1990s.

A particular group of tree frogs in Sri Lanka – Pseudophilautus — lays their eggs in moist areas, not water. The species are extremely vulnerable to desiccation, and therefore are extremely vulnerable to any change in the climate.

The Pygmy lizard — an endemic to the high hill country — is very susceptible to droughts — there have been mass deaths observed in 1992, 1994 and 1995.

The peafowl on the other hand, is expanding its range. It used to be a dry zone species, but it is now also in the wet zone. This too has detrimental effects as this bird is an omnivore and will eat the endemic lizards and frogs of the wet zone.

Reference: Miththapala, Sriyanie. (2014). Sri Lanka’s nature: Red alert!. 10.13140/RG.2.1.1780.6320.

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Reference : https://propelsteps.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/prosopis-juliflora.jpg

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Reference : https://hiveminer.com/Tags/eichhornia/Timeline

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Alien species in flora: back in the past

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Alien species in flora: back in the past

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Many plants have been introduced to Sri Lanka in the history of the country. The sacred boo tree, venerated in Buddhism for being known as the tree under which Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, has been introduced from India more than 2000 years ago. Sri Lanka is also renowned for its fruits, ornamental flowers vegetables, coffee and of course, tea production. All these crops have been introduced from other countries.

Some of the plants introduced have also been reported as noxious or invasive. The Royal Botanic Gardens of Peradeniya played a major role in such introduction. For example, it is there that the well-known Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) was first introduced in the country.

According to Wijesundara, S. (2010), no less than 14 species, originating from Mexico, Tropical America, Hong Kong, etc. were introduced through botanical gardens.

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Many species in Sri Lanka are affected by overexploitation.

Over-visitation is also a form of overuse. Jeeps in Yala queuing for leopards, boats in Mirissa circling for whales are common sights now. Irresponsible behaviour is layered on this over-visitation, resulting in road kills.

Reference: Miththapala, Sriyanie. (2014). Sri Lanka’s nature: Red alert!. 10.13140/RG.2.1.1780.6320.

1st row left: Satinwood (Chloroxylon swietenia), selectively harvested for its wood, now Threatened (© Sarath Ekanayake); right: Dotalu Loxococcus rupicola, an endemic restricted to the wet zone, heavily traded as an ornamental, even protected by law (© Nadika Hapuarachchi); 2nd row left: Habenaria crinifera, a native orchid found in the dry and intermediate zones, which is collected by orchid enthusiasts and for medicinal purposes; protected by law (© Samantha Gunasekera); right: Golden Rasbora (Rasboroides vaterifloris), an endemic freshwater fish of the wet zone, as well as other freshwater fish, heavily traded in the ornamental fish industry (© Samantha Gunasekera); 3rd row left: Marine fish — such as Butterfly fish, are also threatened by over-collection for the aquarium trade. There is also an concurrent destruction of habitat — dynamiting or damage — during collection of reef fish (© Arjan Rajasuriya); right: Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) are caught accidentally as by-catch. They are also harpooned deliberately as there is a thriving market for dolphin flesh in the estate sector (© Anouk Illangakoon); 4th row left: Leopards (Panthera pardus) are killed for their skins and snared either deliberately or accidentally (© Samantha Gunasekera; right: Some snakes — such as the Ceylon Krait (Bungaris cenylonicus) are killed out of fear (© Chamara Amarasinghe)

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Figure 1 - Loss of forest cover in Sri Lanka (% by year)

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Figure 1 - Loss of forest cover in Sri Lanka (% by year)

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Reference: Mattsson et al., 2012, whose data were sourced from Legg and Jewell (1995) and GOSL (2000).

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Habitat loss, habitat fragmentation or habitat degradation in Sri Lanka

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Habitat loss, habitat fragmentation or habitat degradation in Sri Lanka

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Habitat loss is the prime among threats to Sri Lanka’s nature. The forests were cut down and burn. Forest cover diminished from 84% in the 1880s to 24% by 1992 (see Figure 1).

In addition to habitat loss, there is the much more insidious habitat degradation. Examples include:
- gem mining which scars stream beds causing changes in the depth of water columns and siltation;
- sand mining in rivers upstream that increases siltation and diminishes the sediment replenishment so needed for coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, tidal flats and beaches;
- encroachment of forests— very common around wet zone forests;
- chena cultivation — which used to be sustainable but now is not. Monsoon forests degraded in this manner grow into scrub forests;
- cardamom cultivation which destroys the understoreys of submontane forests;
- poor slope management in the hill country with dire consequences downstream — siltation and landslides;
- earthworks — large areas cut open and left to erode resulting in greatly increased siltation and erosion;
- dams and diversions —which alter the quantity of water reaching downstream: changing water flow from fast to slow, depth from shallow to deep.

Reference: Miththapala, Sriyanie. (2014). Sri Lanka’s nature: Red alert!. 10.13140/RG.2.1.1780.6320.

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The IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group’s (ISSG) Global Invasive Species Database lists 82 potentially invasive species as present on the island. More than 60 of these are known to have become invasive (40 plants and 20 animals, including 23 of “100 of the world’s worst”).

For more details on IAS in flora, see: Wijesundara, S. (2010): Invasive alien plants in Sri Lanka. In: Invasive Alien Species in Sri Lanka – Strengthening Capacity to Control Their Introduction and Spread (Eds: Marambe, B., Silva, P., Wijesundara, S. and Atapattu, N.), pp 27-38. Biodiversity Secretariat of the Ministry of Environment, Sri Lanka.

For more details on IAS in fauna, see: Silva, P. and Kurukulasuriya, M. (2010): Invasive alien fauna in Sri Lanka – Introduction, spread, impacts and management. In: Invasive Alien Species in Sri Lanka – Strengthening Capacity to Control Their Introduction and Spread (Eds: Marambe, B., Silva, P., Wijesundara, S. and Atapattu, N.), pp 39-61. Biodiversity Secretariat of the Ministry of Environment, Sri Lanka.

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About IAS: https://efl.lk/portfolio/invasive-alien-species-a-silent-threat-to-sri-lankas-biodiversity/
About reasons to protect environment: https://reliefweb.int/report/sri-lanka/south-asia-mangrove-forests-saved-lives-2004-tsunami-disaster

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Species of Sri Lanka that appear on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

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Species of Sri Lanka that appear on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

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Slender loris, presented in Theme 2, is an example of one of the many species threatened in Sri Lanka. It is categorised as endangered on IUCN list. A complete report of conservation in Sri Lanka was published in 2012, assessing that around 43% of fauna and 45% of flora (angiosperms + pteridophytes) are threatened (see table below). For more details see: MOE 2012. The National Red List 2012 of Sri Lanka; Conservation Status of the Fauna and Flora. Ministry of Environment, Colombo, Sri Lanka. viii + 476pp

Available at: http://www.cea.lk/web/images/pdf/redlist2012.pdf