Sri Lanka lowland rain forests | |
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![]() Lowland rain forest in the south of Badulla District. | |
![]() Ecoregion territory (in purple) | |
Ecology | |
Realm | Indomalayan |
Biome | tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests |
Borders | |
Geography | |
Area | 12,493 km2 (4,824 sq mi) |
Country | Sri Lanka |
Conservation | |
Conservation status | critical/endangered |
Global 200 | Sri Lanka moist forests (with Sri Lanka montane rain forests) |
Protected | 1,176 km² (9%)[1] |
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.[2] 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.[3] This ecoregion is the home of the jungle shrew, a small endemic mammal of Sri Lanka.[4] Sri Lanka has the highest density of amphibian species worldwide.[2] Many of these, including 250 species of tree frogs, live in these rain forests.