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Kanneliya–Dediyagala–Nakiyadeniya
Kanneliya–Dediyagala–Nakiyadeniya or KDN is a forest complex in southern Sri Lanka. The forest complex designated as a biosphere reserve in 2004 by UNESCO. The KDN complex is the last large remaining rainforest in Sri Lanka other than Sinharaja. This forest area has been identified as one of the floristically richest areas in South Asia. The forest complex is situated 35 km northwest of city of Galle. The rain forest is a major catchment area for two of the most important rivers in southern Sri Lanka, the Gin and Nilwala Rivers. This biosphere reserve harbors many plants and animal species endemic to Sri Lanka. Physical features The biosphere consists series of parallel mountain ranges and valleys. The elevation ranges from 60 m to 425 m above sea level. Mean annual temperature is 27.0 °C while annual temperature variation is 4 °C-5 °C. The forest receives a substantial rainfall of 3,750 mm. Many ancient taxonomic groups of Gondwana are pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Province, Sri Lanka
The Southern Province ( ''Dakuṇu Paḷāta'', ''Theṉ Mākāṇam'') of Sri Lanka is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. It is the 7th largest province by area and is home to 2.5 million people, the 3rd most populated province. The province is bordered by Sabaragamuwa Province and Uva Province to the North, Eastern Province to the Northeast, Western Province to the Northwest and the Indian Ocean to the South, West and East. The Province's capital is Galle. The Southern Province is a geographic area consisting of the districts of Galle, Matara and Hambantota. Subsistence farming and fishing is the main source of income for the vast majority of the people of this region. Government School education is primarily handled by thSouthe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemism
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or, in scientific literature, as an ''endemite''. Similarly, many species found in the Western ghats of India are examples of endemism. Endemism is an important concept in conservation biology for measuring biodiversity in a particular place and evaluating the risk of extinction for species. Endemism is also of interest in evolutionary biology, because it provides clues about how changes in the environment cause species to undergo range shifts (potentially expanding their range into a larger area or b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tinospora Cordifolia
''Tinospora cordifolia'', the heart-leaved moonseed, is a herbaceous vine of the family Menispermaceae native to South and Southeast Asia. It has been used in Ayurveda in an attempt to treat various disorders. There is no good evidence ''Tinospora cordifolia'' is of benefit as a medicine and its use can lead to potentially fatall herb-induced liver injury. Botanical description It is a large, deciduous, extensively-spreading, climbing vine with several elongated twining branches. Leaves are simple, alternate, and exstipulate with long petioles up to long which are roundish and pulvinate, both at the base and apex with the basal one longer and twisted partially and half way around. It gets its name ''heart-leaved moonseed'' by its heart-shaped leaves and its reddish fruit. Lamina are broadly ovate or ovate cordate, long or broad, seven nerved and deeply cordate at base, membranous, pubescent above, whitish tomentose with a prominent reticulum beneath. Flowers are unisexual, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salacia Reticulata
''Salacia reticulata'' is a flowering plant of the genus '' Salacia'' native to Sri Lanka and the Andaman Islands. It grows in dry zone forests in Sri Lanka. In ayurvedic medicine, it is known as ''kothala himbutu'' (කොතල හිඹුටු) in Sinhala. Description ''Salacia reticulata'' is a climbing, perennial, woody shrub. The plant has dichotomous branching pattern. The bark is smooth, greenish grey in colour, thin, and white internally. The leaves are opposite and elliptic-oblong. The leaves have acute bases, abruptly acuminate apexes, and a margin with minute rounded teeth. The flowers are bisexual and arranged in clusters of 2-8 in the leaf axils. They are greenish-white to greenish-yellow in color. The fruit is a drupe which is globose and tubercular. The drupe assumes a pinkish-orange color on ripening. There are 1–4 seeds, each resembling an almond. It's used as a folk medicine for treating diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coscinium Fenestratum
''Coscinium fenestratum'', or yellow vine as it is sometimes referred to in English, is a flowering woody climber, native to South Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia. It is rare and critically endangered in many of its habitats. ''Coscinium fenestratum'' is a member of the family Menispermaceae and the genus '' Coscinium''. The plant is known by many different names, such as: Tree turmeric, False calumba, Colombo weed, Weni wel (වෙනිවැල්), Weniwelgeta (වෙනිවැල්ගැට),Baanvalgata (බාන්වැල්ගැට) (in Sinhala), Dāru Haridrā or Kāleyaka (दारुहरिद्रा, कालेयकः in Sanskrit), Mara Manjal (in Tamil and Malayalam), Haem herb (in Thai), Voer Romiet (in Khmer),Ashwell, D. and Walston, N. (2008): An overview of the use and trade of plants and animals in traditional medicine systems in Cambodia'. TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Greater Mekong Programme, Ha Noi, Viet Nam. etc. Description ''Coscinium fenest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbalism
Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments remains limited, prompting ongoing regulatory evaluation and research into their safety and efficacy. Standards for purity or dosage are generally not provided. The scope of herbal medicine sometimes includes fungi, fungal and bee products, as well as Dietary mineral, minerals, Exoskeleton, shells and certain animal parts. Paraherbalism is the Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific use of plant or animal extracts as medicine, relying on unproven beliefs about the safety and effectiveness of minimally processed natural substances. Herbal medicine has been used since at least the Paleolithic era, with written records from ancient Sumer, Egypt, Greece, China, and India documenting its development and application over millennia. Modern herbal medici ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emergent Layer
Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropical rainforests or temperate rainforests, but other types have been described. Estimates vary from 40% to 75% of all biotic species being indigenous to the rainforests. There may be many millions of species of plants, insects and microorganisms still undiscovered in tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the " world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there. Rainforests as well as endemic rainforest species are rapidly disappearing due to deforestation, the resulting habitat loss and pollution of the atmosphere. Definition Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, high humidity, the presence of moisture-dependent vegetatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinhalese Language
Sinhala ( ; Sinhala: , , ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( ), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. It is also the first language of about 2 million other Sri Lankans, as of 2001. It is written in the Sinhalese script, a Brahmic script closely related to the Grantha script of South India. The language has two main varieties, written and spoken, and is a notable example of the linguistic phenomenon known as diglossia. Sinhala is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka. Along with Pali, it played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. Early forms of the Sinhalese language are attested to as early as the 3rd century BCE. The language of these inscriptions, still retaining long vowels and aspirated consonants, is a Prakrit similar to Magadhi, a regional associate of the Middle-Indian Prakrits that had been spo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesua
''Mesua'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Calophyllaceae,Stephens, P.F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/ native to tropical southern Asia. Common names include ironwood (shared with many other plants) and rose chestnut. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees growing to 13 m tall, with leaves arranged in opposite pairs. Species According to ''Plants of the World Online'', ten species are currently accepted:''Mesua'' L. ''Plants of the World Online''. Retrieved 26 May 2023. * ''Mesua clemensiorum'' Kosterm. – Vietnam * ''Mesua ferrea'' L. – India and Sri Lanka to Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Java, and the Philippines * ''Mesua kochummeniana'' Whitmore< ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dipterocarpus
'' D. retusus'' in Köhler ''Dipterocarpus'' is a genus of flowering plants and the type genus of family Dipterocarpaceae. ''Dipterocarpus'' is the third-largest and most diverse genus among the Dipterocarpaceae. The species are well known for timber, but less acknowledged for use in traditional herbal medicine. The genus has about 70 species, occurring in South Asia and Southeast Asia, from Sri Lanka and India to the Philippines. It is an important component of dipterocarp forests. Its generic name comes from Greek and means "two-winged fruits". The greatest diversity of ''Dipterocarpus'' species occurs on Borneo, with many endemic to the island. The oldest fossil of the genus, and Dipterocarpaceae, is from the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Intertrappean Beds of India. Uses The genus is of considerable importance as timber trees and for producing resinous oil. The oil is sold under the trade names gurjun oil, kanyin oil, wood oil, and Keruing oil. ''D. turbinatus'', gu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shorea
Fruit of a ''Shorea'' species ''Shorea'' is a genus of about 47 species of mainly rainforest trees in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The timber of trees of the genus is sold under the common names lauan, luan, lawaan, meranti, seraya, balau, bangkirai, and Philippine mahogany. Description The tallest documented tropical angiosperm is a '' Shorea faguetiana'' found in the Danum Valley Conservation Area, in Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo). In Sabah's Tawau Hills National Park, at least five other species of the genus have been measured to be over tall: '' S. argentifolia'', '' S. gibbosa'', '' S. johorensis'', '' S. smithiana'', and '' S. superba''. Borneo is also the hotspot of ''Shorea'' diversity with 138 species, of which 91 are endemic to the island.Ashton, P. S. "Dipterocarpaceae". In ''Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak,'' Volume 5, 2004. Soepadmo, E.; Saw, L. G. and Chung, R. C. K. eds. Government of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Reproduction The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Community (ecology)
In ecology, a community is a group or association (ecology), association of Population ecology, populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, or life assemblage. The term community has a variety of uses. In its simplest form it refers to groups of organisms in a specific place or time, for example, "the fish community of Lake Ontario before industrialization". Community ecology or synecology is the study of the interactions between species in communities on many spatial and temporal scales, including the distribution, structure, abundance, demography, and biological interaction, interactions of coexisting populations. The primary focus of community ecology is on the interactions between populations as determined by specific genotypic and phenotypic characteristics. It is important to understand the origin, maintenance, and consequences ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
