A preliminary study of the plant community in Halmandiya Sinharaja man and biosphere reserve

Abstract

The preliminary study of the forest community of Halmandiya in the Sinharaja MAB reserve, indicated that the plant community exhibited many features characteristic of the Wet Evergreen forests. The majority of the plants were woody and were of the dimension of trees. The total biomass of vegetation was found to be high. Among the vegetation analysed a high species richness was observed. In a total area 6f 0.56 hectares there were 98 species of woody forms, ten centimeters or more, girth at breast height. They belonged to 64 genera. These included trees, shrubs, lianas and the young trees. Within a total area of 0.03 hectares 53 genera of plants were recorded. These were the perennial herbs of the ground layer and ( the seedlings and saplings of the woody forms above the herb layer. The perennial herbs included the ferns, herbaceous plants, and the non woody 1ianas. species of ferns (Pteridophytes) three were endemic. Although there was a high species richness the Shanon - Weiner indices of diversity indicated low values. The highest value (1.48) was found in plot three on the ridge top. The Ha1mandiya plant community also exhibited the high endemicity characteristic of virgin forests. Fifty one percent of the woody forms, 10 centimeters or more gbH, were endemic to Sri Lanka. Of the sx The forest stands sampled at Halmandiya varied in many features that characterize a plant community, namely, the species richness, the species abundance or density, the forest structure and the dominance.