IMPACT OF SAMBAR DEER(Cervus unicoior unicoior) ON THE VEGETATION AT THE HORTON PLAINS NATIONAL PARK

A survey was carried out at the Horton Plains National Park to investigate the influenceof sambar deer on grassland and fares' vegetation. The method adopted was, comparisonof the dominant grassland communities and seedlings in the forested areas with andwithout the effect of deer. Three enclosures (20 m x 5 m) were erected in the grasslandand four enclosures (20 In x 15 m) were erected in the forest to serve as controls (nograzing). Similar areas adjoining the plots were marked with pegs as test areas (withgrazing). Field surveys were carried ou. during the years 1997 and 1998. Incidence andextent of bark damage by sambar deer \Y<JS also examined using a scoring method on sixtransects each measuring 250 lJ1. GSN (Grazing Susceptibility Number) was used as anindicator of the the phytosociological behaviour of sambar in the grassland SummedDominance Ratio (SDR)) was used to calculate the GSN. During the months of January,March. July and October 1997, GSN values for dominant species in the grassland vizPennicetum and Chrysopogon were 184,20,23.75, -3.06 and 18.6,8.1, 17.23, 19.0respectively. The minus GSN value of ).06 indicates that during October Pcnnicctumgrass was not damaged by deer which coincided with the flowering period of thatspecies. Grazing presusure values obtained during the periods July-Sep 97, Sep-Nov 97 .Nov-Jan 98, Jan-Mar 98 for Pennicetum and Chrysopogon were 17, 5.6, -17.6, 5.8 andI, I I, -0.5, 0.9 respectively. Here the minus values indicates heavy grazing. During theperiods of less rain and also during peak lactation periods of sambar, the grazingpressure is high (July-September and November-January) compared to positive values ofgrazing pressure which coincides well with the comparatively high rainfall periods Studiesof the forest vegetation revealed that after a period of two years (1997-1999) 88'% ofseedlings survived (N=1499) in the enclosure but only 73% of the seedlings survived(N= 1488) in the open area. Bark damage is distinct on plants like Cinnamomumovalifolium, Neolitsea fucata, Calopiiyllum walkeri, Eurya japonica, Eleocarpussubvillosus, Syzigium revolutum and rJedyotis lawsoniae all of which have high IV)(Importance Value Indices). Trees with average gbh 28 cm and average height 7 m weremore prone to damage by deer. Only S% of a total of 921 trees were dead due to barkdamage

BREEDING BIRDS AT KUMANA VILLU OF YALA EAST NATIONAL PARK: STATUS AFTER 22 YEARS

Kumana villu is one of the oldest known breeding sites for many waterbirdspecies that breeds colonially. The canopy of mangrove trees located insidethe villu provides nesting facilities for the large water birds such as Paintedstorks, Spoonbills, Black headed Ibises, egrets, cormorants and globallythreatened Spot billed Pelicans. A detailed study of this breeding colony wasdone in 1983 By Kotagama. After 22 years, the breeding bird survey wasreinitiated in July 2005.First, a roosting count was done to estimate the population size of breedingbirds in the Kumana villu. The counts were conducted from 3 pre-identifiedlocations between 1700 to 1900h in the 2nd week of July. Three mangrovevegetation patches of 5000m2 were chosen for a detailed nest count. In eachpatch, the number of trees used for nesting was recorded. Then for each tree,number of nests, the species to whom the nests belonged, the height of eachnest and the current status of nesting were recorded.Many species of birds use this villu for roosting while Painted Storks showedthe highest population density (728). Among other water birds, spot billedpelicans (422), spoonbills (57), cormorants (187), egrets (184), Black headedIbises (74) and darters (41) are the most common taxa. In 1983,228 paintedstorks, 565 pelicans, 125 ibises and 609 egrets were recorded. Five flightpaths of birds that come to roost were identified in 1983. However, only 3flight paths were observed during this survey.A total of 293 nests were recorded that belonged to five species namelypurple herons, little cormorants, painted storks, spot billed pelicans andspoonbills. Most common nesting species in this period was painted stork and97.6% of their nests were still active. In May 1983, total of 701 nestsbelonged to seven species were recorded and most nests were of paintedstorks (529). In 1983, nests of four additional species, grey herons, ibises,egrets and night herons were recorded while purple herons and cormorantswere not recorded to be nesting.The mangrove vegetation has changed from a diverse habitat to a singlespecies (S. caseolaris) stand during last 22 years. Reduction of mangrovearea was also observed. Further, invasion of the common weed species Typhaangustifolia is another major change that has taken place during this period.Isolated mangrove trees and trees that are located beyond the perimeter of thevillu are not selected by birds for nesting. Low density of vegetation insidethe villu is a limiting factor for breeding birds. Most remaining trees in thevillu are not in good condition and therefore a replanting programme isrecommended to ensure continuous breeding of this colony.

An investigation of the effectiveness of locally available materials as oil spill sorbents for Sri Lanka

The effectiveness of seven locally avai lable natural organ ic materials as oi I spi II sorbents was tested.The study specifically focused on determining, the behaviour of loose material on a layer of oil, oilsorption capacity of different types of materials and the viability of using them under actual fieldconditions. The seven natural organic materials were chosen based on their availability and cost. Theamount of oi I sorption by each was determined by the gravimetric method and the rate of sorption wasdetermined. A commercially available synthetic oil sorbent, polyurethane. was used as the positivecontrol. Out of the seven natural organic materials tested, human hair was found to be the mosteffective sorbent. Compared to the positive control, Polyurethane, there was no significant differencewith respect to the oil sorption capacity of human hair. Therefore, all the subsequent experimentswere carried out using human hair only. As hair has a tendency to sink in sea water after oil sorption,hair was compacted in to pillows to facilitate the recovery after sorption. First, the affect of the pillowthickness on the oil sorption capacity was tested. Oil sorption capacity increased significantly as thethickness of the pillow increased and a thickness of Iern was found to yield the most efficient sorption.Then sorption capacity of oil by pillows was compared on a sea water oil interphase. only on oil and oilon sand. No significant difference was detected in the oil sorption capacity of hair filled pillows underthese three conditions. Finally, a field trial was conducted where pillows were developed up to the sizeof commercially avai lable synthetic pi llows and placed on an artificially created oil spi II and tested theoil sorption capacity under actual field conditions. A total offour pillows were used for the field trialand the pillows were removed at different time intervals after placing it on the artificial oil slick. Theresults of th is experiment were not conclusive as amount of oi I absorbed by all four pi llows did notreach the expected value calculated based on results obtained during laboratory experiments. due toseveral shortcomings in the experimental design. The results of this study clearly demonstrate thathuman hair can be used as an effective oil sorption material. As waste human hair is cheap andreadily available, it is a much more viable alternative to expensive synthetic organic material availablein the market

IMPACT OF HOUSEHOLD ECONOMIC FACTORS ON INCOME AND SPECIES DIVERSITY OF KANDYAN HOMEGARDENS

Being a highly popular agricultural land use with lot of promising ecological features,Kandyan Home Gardens (KHGs) have strong economic and social functional relationshipswith the occupants. Most homegardens have been developed out of long term efforts ofhousehold members which often extend to multiple generations. Wide variety andadaptation found in homegardens even within relatively small areas with approximatelysimilar agro climatic and physiographic conditions strongly indicate the high influence ofsocio economic factors on composition and structure of homegardens. Unless vital socioeconomic relationships involved with homegardens are properly understood, achievingbroad policy objectives could become a difficult task. Therefore this study attempts toinvestigate some of the socio economic relationships associated with KHGs.Data collection has been done by conducting a survey in 3 villages in Kandy district usinga structured questionnaire. Information related to important physical features ofhomegardens and socio economic aspects of households have been gathered. Based on thegathered information two multiple regression models have been developed to elaborate onfactors influencing the income obtained from homegardens and number of species found inhomegardens.Results show monetary income from the homegarden has shown statistically significantpositive relationships with size of land, capital used, family labour and number of species.This indicates that in households with high resource endowments homegardens tend to bemore commercially productive. Income from other sources has shown a negativerelationship with the income from homegardens. The second model shows someinteresting results which has important implications related to bio diversity of the system.Land extent, domestically used subsistent outputs and number of family members hasshown positive relationships with number of species found in the homegardens. Capitalused has shown a significant negative relationship. This indicates that as the resourcemanagement is shifted towards more capital intensive forms from subsistent forms it canlead to reduce the bio diversity of the system. This is a very important implication whichshould be considered seriously in any policy related to use as homegardens.We can conclude that as homegarden management orients more towards intensive formsit has the potential to increase the income. However this could lead to deterioration of thespecies profile of the system. Therefore, the challenge for policy is to find a balancebetween ecological sustainability and economic viability of the system.

Positive relationships between association strength and phenotypic similarity characterize the assembly of mixed-species bird flocks worldwide

Competition theory predicts that local communities should consist of species that are more dissimilar than expected by chance. We find a strikingly different pattern in a multicontinent data set (55 presence-absence matrices from 24 locations) on the composition of mixed-species bird flocks, which are important sub-units of local bird communities the world over. By using null models and randomization tests followed by meta-analysis, we find the association strengths of species in flocks to be strongly related to similarity in body size and foraging behavior and higher for congeneric compared with noncongeneric species pairs. Given the local spatial scales of our individual analyses, differences in the habitat preferences of species are unlikely to have caused these association patterns; the patterns observed are most likely the outcome of species interactions. Extending group-living and social-information-use theory to a heterospecific context, we discuss potential behavioral mechanisms that lead to positive interactions among similar species in flocks, as well as ways in which competition costs are reduced. Our findings highlight the need to consider positive interactions along with competition when seeking to explain community assembly

ESTIMATING THE ABUNDANCE OF SAMBAR DEER(Cervus unicolor unicolor) AT THE HORTON PLAINS NATIONAL PARK Of SRI LANKA

A study was conducted during the period 1997-2000 to estimate the sambar population atthe Horton Plains National Park of Sri Lanka using direct and indirect method. Vehiclebased spot light technique was used as the direct method and fecal accumulation methodwas used as the indirect method. The defecation rate of sambar used in the indirect methodwas estimated by, a study carried out in the National Zoological Garden Dchiwala, usingeight-penned sambar. The mean defecation rate of sambar deer [or the eight focal samplingat the Zoological Garden - Dehiwala was twenty-one pellet groups / sambar/ day (range =20,17- 30). Results of ANOVA revealed that there is a significant variation in defecationrate with age (P< 0.05, Sig-0.02) but it is not significant sex (P< 0.05, Sig-0.09).Altogether 688 transects were run for the direct method. For the indirect method, 200quadrats measuring 25m*25m size were sampled. Standard equations were used [or thepopulation analysis. The estimated sambar population, crude density and ecological densityof the direct and indirect methods are 2102.5=Bl845, 66.5Ikm2, 223.5Ikm2 and3154=B 11096, 98.9km2, 350lkm2 respectively.Results indicated that the values obtained by the indirect method are higher than the valuesobtained [rom the direct method. The reliability of the indirect method depends on theactual daily defecation rate of sambar deer, which depends on the habitat use. Directmethods are more reliable but not feasible at all times. However indirect method can beused to obtain information on population trends. The results of this study indicate anincrease in sambar deer population at the Horton Plains National Park when comparedwith estimates made in 1991.

A Case study on economic valuation of environmental services provided by the Bolgoda Lake Sri Lanka Phase I

In the recent past, several countries in Asia have demonstrated robust economic growth, largely led by industrialization. A consequence has been rapid urbanization. About 30 percent (800 million people) of the total population in Asia, live in urban areas (cities and towns). This demographic shift towards a larger urban population is accelerating. It is expected that by year 2025, about 60 percent of the Asian population (2.5 billion people) will be living in urban areas. The number of large urban cities is growing rapidly in the region. Currently, there are nine megacities (those with the population of the more than 8 million) in Asia, and their number is expected to increase to 13 by the year 2000. The concentration of industrial activities and large populations in Asian cities have caused environmental problems with serious consequences that undermine the gains from growth to human welfare. Awareness to consider environmental conservation as an essential goal of development is increasing. Governments, the private sector, community groups are responding with a variety of initiatives such as investment on environmental management, controls on investments having potential to pollute the environment, encouraging the use of environment friendly technology, and creating awareness among population on need for urban environmental conservation. The physical magnitude of urban environmental degradation has been reasonably analyzed and understood. The economic impact of environmental degradation, however, has not been adequately analyzed, degradation has not been considered for rational policy-making. This leads to anomalies in prioritization of investments and selection of environmental management strategies and policies to economically efficiently mitigate environmental degradatio

The Taxonomy, Distribution, and Conservation Status of the Slender Loris (Primates, Lorisidae: Loris) in Sri Lanka

External body dimensions and proportions, skull morphology, coat coloration, vocalizations, and genetics have contributed to an increase in the number of diagnosable species among nocturnal primates. Two species of slender loris are currently recognized for Sri Lanka: the red slender loris Loris tardigradus (Linnaeus, 1758), endemic to the wet zone and montane areas; and the grey slender loris Loris lydekkerianus Cabrera, 1908, which is widespread and also occurs in India. The red slender loris has two subspecies, namely the western red slender loris Loris tardigradus tardigradus (Linnaeus, 1758) and the Horton Plains slender loris Loris tardigradus nycticeboides Hill, 1942. Loris t. tardigradus is found in the lowland wet zone and L. t. nycticeboides is restricted to the montane region of south-central Sri Lanka. Two subspecies are also ascribed to Loris lydekkerianus in Sri Lanka, namely the northern Ceylon slender loris Loris lydekkerianus nordicus Hill, 1933, and the highland slender loris Loris lydekkerianus grandis Hill and Phillips, 1932. Loris l. nordicus is found in the dry zone, and L. l. grandis is restricted to the sub-montane region of Kandy and Matale. Another two subspecies are known from southern India. We examined specimens (live and museum) from all climate/vegetation zones in Sri Lanka, for facial and pelage features, external body morphology, and skull morphology, and concluded that there are at least two species and at least six subspecies, though we suspect that some, or all, of these subspecies may be distinct species. Names are available for four of these taxa, and here we describe two new subspecies.The programme is funded through the EDGE of Existence Programme of the Zoological Society of London and the Synchronicity Foundation—we are extremely grateful for their support. Furthermore, the first author (SNG) gratefully acknowledges the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), UK, for providing equipmen