Archive for September, 2006
Keystone Species & their Role in an Eco-System
Thursday, September 28th, 2006Thilina Jayarathne
All species play a role within an ecosystem as, (i) Primary producers (ii) Primary consumers (iii) Predators, and (iv) Decomposers. Primary producers absorb energy from the environment mainly from sun light an inorganic substances CO2 and H2O, produce Organic molecules such as C6H12O6 in their living cells which contain pigments. The primary consumers feed […]
Threatened Plant Species & their Conservation in Sri Lanka.
Thursday, September 28th, 2006Gayesha Jayasinghe
Plants are a vital part of the world’s biological diversity & an essential resource for human well being. Beside the crop plants that provide our basic food & fibers, many thousands of wild plants have great economic & cultural importance & potential, providing food, medicine, fuel, clothing & shelter for vast number of people […]
Wildlife Conservation in Sri Lanka
Friday, September 22nd, 2006W.M.K.S.Chandrarathne
The theme of wildlife conservation has been an ancient concept in Sri Lanka.It was considered noble in keeping with the teaching of Goutham Buddha and later essential to the Island.
The first attempt to stop the destruction of wildlife resources of Sri Lanka was made in 1889, by the conservation of forests, Colonel Clark R.A. He […]
Environmental Impacts of Shrimp Farming in Sri Lanaka
Friday, September 22nd, 2006Duminda Perera
The problems related to the environment in the shrimp farming industry in Sri Lanka arose mainly from over–emphasis on high production, economic viability and foreign income generation without full consideration of the environmental impacts caused by over-crowding of farms. At the inception, there was no proper zoning plan to facilitate development of an environmentally […]
Flowering Plant Diversity in Sri Lanka, with special reference to Endemism and Nomenclature
Thursday, September 21st, 2006Pradeep Rajatewa
Sri Lanka has considerably high diversity of flowering plants. According to the recent checklist published in 2001, in Sri Lanka there are 214 flowering plant families, 1,522 genera and 4,143 species. Of the total number of species, about 75% are indigenous and about 25% are exotic. Of the total number of indigenous plant species […]
Importance and Management Constraints of Elephant Transit Home, Udawalawa, Sri Lanka
Sunday, September 10th, 2006Isuru Jayasundara
Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus ) is considered as a major endangered species and their survival in the natural habitat is threatened due to expansion of various human informal activities. Therefore the human and elephant conflict is increasing and as a result of that elephants in natural forests are constantly being destroyed and […]
Aquatic Weeds in Sri Lanka
Sunday, September 10th, 2006Darshani Samarakkody
Sri Lanka is an agricultural country with a population of 19 million people. Farmers and farming communities rely on a multitude of reservoirs for water as the country knows prolonged dry periods. There are some 50000 reservoirs in Sri Lanka ranging in size from 10Km2 to 1045 Km2, which have been constructed […]