Shyamali Weerasekara

National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency(NARA)

The ecological surveys with special reference to the dynamic of macrobenthos in the estuaries have not been comprehensively studied in Sri Lanka. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the correlation between physicochemical parameters and macrobenthos diversity and evaluate the pollution level in the estuary using macrobenthos diversity. Mac...

Tourism can be identified as an economic driver for the coastal areas around the world, but its growth usually comes with the degradation of the marine environment. Blue Flag Certification (BFC) is a globally renowned eco-label that has become a tool to balance environmental protection and revenue increment by tourism. The beaches that want to be c...

Examining fishing harbour sediment is crucial for understanding its impact on marine environments and community well-being. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the concentration in sediments for trace elements, organic matter content, microbial pollution, and other harmful substances. Samples were collected using Ekman grab sampler and col...

The research emphasizes some of human activities, specifically fishing and harbor operations, have led to significant coastal pollution in fishery harbors of Beruwala and Mirissa located in Western and Southern coasts, respectively of Sri Lanka. The pollutants accumulated in these harbors include crude oil, raw fish fragments, and other waste produ...

Analysis of water in fishery harbour basins is particularly important as harbour basins can be a serious source of marine pollution. Galle fishery harbour is a deep-sea industrial fishery port located in an international place for tourism and mooring facilities for visiting yachts. The harbour consists of a large number of service facilities and st...

Marine litter currently poses a growing threat to the marine and coastal environment all over the world. Most marine litter consists of materials that degrade slowly, if at all, continuous input of large quantities of those items results in a gradual build-up in the marine and coastal environment. Fourteen districts of Sri Lanka are covered by coas...

Lagoon ecosystems are an integral part of the aquaculture and fisheries sector in Sri Lanka. Among the brackish lagoons around the island, Nayaru Lagoon is considered a complex socio-ecological entity of great importance since the economic value provided by the lagoon is mostly associated with the biological production of aquatic animals and plants...

Physicochemical parameters of coastal water in the southwestern area of Sri Lanka were studied from January to November 2016. Surface water samples from 15 selected locations were analysed according to standard methods. The ranges of the values recorded were; water temperature (WT) 26.5-33.9 ºC, pH 7.1-8.4, dissolved oxygen (DO) 4.4-7.4 mg L-1 , sa...

The main objective of this study was to assess the difference of water quality of Bomuruwella reservoir before and after the dredging operations of the reservoir, which was carried out between June and September 2014. Water sampling was conducted from February to December 2014 on monthly basis at randomly selected 10 sampling locations. Dissolved o...

Abstract: The main objective of this study was to assess the difference of water quality of Bomuruwella reservoir before and after the dredging operations of the reservoir, which was carried out between June and September 2014. Water sampling was conducted from February to December 2014 on monthly basis at randomly selected 10 sampling locations. D...

Bolgoda Lake is an important wetland ecosystem with high biodiversity and socioeconomic value including fisheries. However, the lake has been increasingly polluted with contaminants from industrial, automobile, and domestic sources of waste since the recent past. Heavy metals and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been used extensively to determ...

There is a dearth of published information on the diversity of macrobenthic assemblages in lagoons. Therefore, we examined the diversity and composition of macrobenthos in the Mundel Lagoon in the northwestern province in Sri Lanka. Eight sites were selected considering the attributes in side of the lagoon. Macrobenthos samples were collected using...

The overall quality of a selected ecosystem depends on the species diversity and abundance. Major environmental conditions including seasonal changes and changes in water quality drive the species composition and richness of aquatic ecosystems. The present study focused on reporting the present status of the species diversity and abundance of plank...

The overall quality of a selected ecosystem depends on the species diversity and abundance. Major environmental conditions including seasonal changes and changes in water quality drive the species composition and richness of aquatic ecosystems. The present study focused on reporting the present status of the species diversity and abundance of plank...

Abstract: Consumption of fish contaminated with toxic heavy metals is a threat to human health. Cadmium and arsenic are suspected as potential risk factors for chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu), which is highly prevalent in agricultural settlements in dry zone districts of Sri Lanka causing a severe public health crisis. Objective...

The small fish stall’s are releasing their fish effluent containing wastewater into the natural environment without any appropriate treatment. There is less attention to treat the wastewater generated from those small scale fisheries. Therefore, study objective is to construct an artificial wetland to reduce pollution from fish wastewater by small...

Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown aetiology (CKDu) is prevalent in Medawachchiya area in Sri Lanka. This study was aimed at assessing potential toxicity of waters in the selected dug wells (drinking water sources) in Medawachchiya area using Allium cepa(common onion) root based and Cyprinus carpio (common carp) erythrocyte based bioassays. During p...

Fisheries industry plays an important role in the economy of Sri Lanka by providing livelihood for more than 2.5 million coastal communities and more than 50% of animal protein requirement of the people in the country. Beruwala fishery harbour contributes highly to the fish landings in Kalutara District of the country. However, there are limited st...

A study of dredging impacts on water quality in Bomuruella Reservoir, Nuwara Eliya Hettige, N.D. 1*, Weerasekara, K.A.W.S.1, Amaratunga, A.A.D.1 1Environmental Studies Division, National Aquatic Resource Research and Development Agency (NARA), Crow Island, Colombo 15, Sri Lanka. *Corresponding author: Email – nadeeshahettige7@gmail.com Abstract...

IDENTIFICATION OF HARMFUL MARINE MICROALGAE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PHYSICO-CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF COASTAL WATERS IN WESTERN PROVINCE, SRI LANKA J.K.P.C. Jayawardhane1, M.M. Pathmalal2, K.A.W.S. Weerasekara1 1National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, Crow Island, Colombo 15, Sri Lanka 2Department of Zoology, Faculty of Applied Scie...

Water quality in fishery harbours are deteriorated by numerous anthropogenic inputs, hence remains a critical management problem. Therefore, a study was carried out to identify status of water pollution in three selected fishery harbours located in the Western and Southern provinces of Sri Lanka. This investigation was conducted on monthly basis fr...

Chronic Kidney Disease of uncertain aetiology (CKDu) has been identified as a major health problem in some parts of the country, showing the highest prevalence in Medawachchiya. Previous studies have hypothesized the link of CKDu occurrence with the drinking water quality, however it was not characterized yet using physical characteristics of the d...

Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) is becoming a major health problem especially in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka showing the highest prevalence in Medawachchiya area. Aetiology of this disease seems to be multifactorial which includes chronic exposure to environmental toxicants. This study reports the preliminary results...

The study intended to carry out environmental monitoring for the exploratory petroleum drilling operations proposed in the Gulf of Mannar during pre and post drilling operations. Objective of this study was to carry out baseline studies during pre and post drilling phases to determine the impact of the marine environment. The study was carried out...

Coastal water bodies in the North Western Province (NWP) of Sri Lanka are highly utilized for shrimp farming, fisheries activities, recreational activities and bathing. Objectives of the study were assess the current water pollution status of selected coastal areas located in the NWP , to identify the factors affecting for water pollution and to id...

Phytoplankton diversity and abundance changes as a function of physico-chemical parameters in aquatic ecosystem; hence these may serve as indicators of water quality. The objective of the study was to determine the diversity and distribution of phytoplankton in relation to the water quality of the Batticaloa lagoon. Sampling was carried out on a mo...

Panadura estuary situated in the western province in Sri Lanka where Bolgodalake opens into Indian Ocean harbours a lot of aquatic biodiversity. Therefore, main objective of this study was to identify the diversity of benthic macro-invertebrates, to assess the correlation between physico-chemical parameters and macro-benthic invertebrate diversity...

The objective of this study was to determine the current status of water quality in three selected fishery harbours named Hikkaduwa, Galle, and Hambantota located in the Southern coastal stretch of the country. It also aimed to provide recommendations to prevent harbour water pollution and minimize post-harvest loses due to spoilage and finally to...

Coast line of Sri Lanka is fringed by fourteen districts and the majority of the population in the country is concentrated to the coastal zone. Land based pollution is considered as a major threat to the marine environment and solid waste originate from anthropogenic activities contributes as the major pollution source of the coastal environment. B...

Uma Oya, which has the highest watershed of the Upper Mahaweli discharges into Rantambe reservoir. Uma Oya may have been polluted as it drains a large portion of agricultural lands. A preliminary study was conducted from April to October, 2007 sampling six randomly selected sites to determine the status of water quality of Uma Oya as baseline data....

A sudden appearance of dead fish in an aquatic environment is a sign of environmental stress and most people believe that the fish have been poisoned of the water body. Factors that promote fish kills include rapid loss of oxygen or sudden increase of ammonia, temperature, cloud cover, algal blooms, and thermal stratification. The main objective of...

The pressure on the environment has been increased due to pollution in coastal area in Sri Lanka during the last few decades. The coastal stretch of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka is haphazardly used by coastal communities and is highly vulnerable to coastal pollution due to increasing urbanization and industrialization activities. Water quality...

Currently, an aquatic ecosystem of Sri Lanka is faced with acute environmental problems due to trace metal pollution. Bomburuella is one of reservoirs situated in Nuwara-Eliya District, Sri Lanka. Trace metal pollution of this reservoir has taking placed due to various anthropogenic activities. Therefore, it is very important to determine the cause...

The coastal area of the Western Province is faced with an acute environmental problem due to undesirable pollution of its waters from various wastes. The overall objective of this research was to determine the present status of water quality along the coastal line in the Western Province. In addition, an attempt was made to suggest recommendations...

Contamination of surface water is major problem in the Western Province, Sri Lanka due to rapid urbanization and the lack of adequate waste disposal and management facilities. The overall objective of this research was to determine the current pollution status of water in selected sea mouths in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. The study was carried...

Ballast water (BW) has been recognized as one of the major modes of worldwide transfer of aquatic non-indigenous species (ANS) that eventually threat aquatic ecosystems. Hence, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has codified and adopted a series of guidelines and regulations to minimize the adverse effects caused by BW. The common belief...

The coastal water quality of the Western Province is deteriorating due to land based activities. The overall objective of this research was to identify land-based pollution sources and to determine the current status of water quality along the coastal line in the Western Province. In addition, an attempt was made to identify the pollution trends an...

The present study carried out in order to understand the composition of zooplankton and their potentiality as bio indicators in Sri Lankan coastal waters. The study was carried out during the day time in a six months period in 2012. Samples were collected at major ports, fishery harbours and certain important native coastal habitats of Galle, Hamban...

Suspended matter and nutrient are major factors for water pollution studies and this study is focused on behavior and loading of suspended sediment and nutrient in Upper Kotmale Basin (UKB). Nanu Oya, Dambagasthalawa Oya and Agra Oya are three major streams fed by Kotmale Oya proper in UKB. Eight sampling locations were selected considering all maj...

The port of Hambatota is the second international habour in Sri Lanka. Introduction of non-native species through ships ballast water is identified as one of the five major threats to marine biodiversity indicating possible risk to native species by altering their habitats and reducing the diversity and abundance. Hence, this baseline study was mai...

This study focused to identify the current status of water quality in Giant's Tank in Akurala water bodies and Puttalam Lagoon of Sri Lanka during the year 2011. In-situ analysis was conducted for the determination of pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Turbidity, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Salinity. Laboratory analysis w...

Historically, irrigation tanks have been used by humans for various purposes, such as drinking, washing, and agricultural activities and for fisheries in Sri Lanka. Higher density of tanks is distributed in the dry zone of Sri Lanka and human dependence on such water bodies is very high. The Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown atiology (CKDu) prevail...

Madu Ganga is the latest addition to the Ramsar International Convention of Wetlands. Najas marina is an alien aquatic plant and 0.5 m long that are often branched toward the upward portion of the plant. The objective of the study was to study the impact of salinity and nutrients for the growth of Najas marina. Samples were collected for analysed w...

Sri Lanka is an island and coastal region of the country accommodates about 4.6 million people, which is about one fourth of the total population. This has resulted in the concentration of a large share of urban growth and development activities within this area, as reflected by a high rate of construction activity-particularly in the Western Provi...

Kotmale sub-catchment is located in Upper Mahaweli catchment in Sri Lanka and is fed by major three streams namely; Agra Oya, Nanu Oya and Dabagasthalawa Oya. The intensive agricultural activities were observed and erosion takes place in the basin and one component of water quality, total suspended solids (TSS), is both a significant part of aesthe...