Central Sri Lanka Photograph by Eric Wikramanayake   Southern Asia: Central part of the Island of Sri Lanka Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   9,843 square miles (3,000 square kilometers) -- about the size of Maryland Critical/Endangered

· A Walk in the Clouds
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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A Walk in the Clouds

Up here you can enter a different world where many of the highest peaks are enveloped in mist and fog -- the perfect conditions for the growth of cloud forests. In these forests, twisted, stunted trees are draped everywhere in orchids, mosses, and ferns. At lower elevations, the cloud forests give way to a variety of vegetation, with both temperate and tropical plants, and grassland savannas. Half of Sri Lanka’s endemic flowering plants and more than 34 percent of its endemic trees, shrubs, and herbs are restricted to these diverse montane forests.

Special Features

These higher-elevation forests are cooler and drier than the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests. During the winter months, ground frost is not uncommon on the higher peaks, some of which are over 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) high. Two monsoon seasons bring heavy rainfall that feeds the major rivers in Sri Lanka, all of which originate in the central mountains and radiate outward. It is an ideal habitat for many animals, and new species of frogs, lizards, fish, and crabs are still being discovered here.

	Sri Lanka has a remarkable diversity of small mammals (rodents, shrews, and bats) in fact, 70 percent of all the mammals on Sri Lanka are smaller than a small cat. One of these, Kelaart’s long-clawed shrew, is only found in the mountains of this ecoregion.

Wild Side

Scientists call this region a "super-hotspot" for endemism. Many of the plants are unique to this ecoregion and over half of the country’s endemic vertebrates are found here. Twenty species of birds are found just in this ecoregion or nearby areas. Sri Lanka’s largest carnivore, the Sri Lankan leopard, hunts among the trees. The golden palm civet--another member of the cat family--and the purple-faced leaf monkey also inhabit the forests.

Cause for Concern

Almost all of the montane rain forests have been cleared to create large tea plantations. These plantations have wiped out an unknown number of highly localized endemic species. What is left are small patches of forest that are threatened by logging and clearing for agriculture, even in areas that are officially protected.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.