
Amila Prasanna SumanapalaUniversity of Colombo · Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences
Amila Prasanna Sumanapala
BSc (Hons) Environmental Conservation and Management
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59
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Introduction
I am a conservation biologist working in Sri Lanka following my Masters in Philosophy at University of Colombo. My current work is mainly focused on the study of taxonomy, biogeography, ecology and conservation of Sri Lankan Odonata and avifauna. I'm also interested in the diversity and distribution of other major terrestrial arthropod groups. Over the past decade, I've been involved in many biodiversity assessments, environmental impact assessments and field research in ecology and conservation biology.
Additional affiliations
November 2010 - February 2015
Education
November 2010 - February 2015
Publications
Publications (59)
The consequence of forest conversion into human land-use systems on tropical biodiversity is needed to be assessed in order to initiate proper conservation and management strategies. In this study the bird species diversity and composition were characterized along with the vegetation structural components in four land-use types in Northern Flank of...
A Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Sri Lanka covers 105 of the odonate species known from Sri Lanka with photographs and description on identification, habits, habitats and distribution. The introductory chapters cover morphology, biology, ecology, diversity and conservation of odonata with special references to Sri Lankan species.
The majority of Sri Lanka’s endemic and Critically Endangered western purple-faced langurs, Semnopithecus vetulus nestor, inhabit fragmented and densely populated areas. Habitat loss and fragmentation resulting from agriculture and development may have an impact on the purple-faced langur’s social organization and create challenges to their surviva...
The genus Macromia is represented in Sri Lanka by two endemic species. In this paper a third presumed endemic species is described based on a single male specimen collected at Kirikitta, Weliweriya, Western Province in the low country wet zone of the country. Macromia weerakooni sp. nov. differs from its congeners in Sri Lanka by having turquoise b...
Sri Lanka’s location, historic and geologic isolation from the continental landmass, topography and climate act to shape its biogeography and biodiversity, including conferring a remarkably high level of endemism, given its close proximity to the mainland.
The island hosts several ‘point endemic1 species and even monotypic endemic genera. However t...
Emesine bug Ademula contaminata (Distant, 1903) is recorded from India for the first time and rediscovered from Sri Lanka.
Details of its morphology, including the male genitalia, are presented along with images of the habitat. Images of living bugs in natural
habitat are presented along with some comments on natural history of these bugs.
Bagauda aelleni Villiers, 1970 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae: Leistarchini), described from Sri Lanka, is reported from India for the first time. Based on specimens collected at Sirumalai, Tamil Nadu, the species is redescribed and various aspects of its morphology and life history are highlighted and illustrated.
Systematic work on insect taxonomy and research in Sri Lanka goes back to the 19th
Century. Early descriptive taxonomy and recent work have resulted in documenting about 11,500 insect species from Sri Lanka. This chapter provides an overview on the diversity of major insect orders in the country, that is, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidop...
The distribution and biogeographic patterns of Sri Lankan Odonata were reviewed using updated occurrence records. Occurrence data of 132 described species and several undescribed species were mapped in a 10x10 km grid covering the land area of Sri Lanka. Spatial distribution patterns are discussed first with respect to all Odonata, and then the Sub...
Chytridiomycosis, caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ( Bd ), constitutes a major threat to many amphibian species worldwide. Predicting the species and regions of highest geographical risk is critical for the early detection and mitigation of chytrid emergence.
In this study, using a niche modelling approach, the most conducive habitat for Bd...
This is the latest update of the National Red List assessment of the Birds of Sri Lanka. The book provides the latest Red List status of 244 birds that have breeding populations in Sri Lanka. The book also provides an overview of the taxonomy, evolutionary trends, biogeography, habitats and their status, threats to the birds and analysis of the glo...
This book provides an overview about the biodiversity of the Ampara district, the drivers that affect the biodiversity and the current trends in the biodiversity in the district.
This book provides an overview about the biodiversity of the Mannar district, the drivers that affect the biodiversity and the current trends in the biodiversity in the district.
As the number of observations submitted to the citizen science platform iNaturalist continues to grow, it is increasingly important that these observations can be identified to the finest taxonomic level, maximizing their value for biodiversity research. Here, we explore the benefits of acting as an identifier on iNaturalist.
Sri Lanka is considered one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Although Sri Lanka has a rich diversity of bats, Kerivoula malpasi is the only bat that is endemic to Sri Lanka, where it is represented by only five records. The other known species of Kerivoula in Sri Lanka, Kerivoula picta, is more widely distributed. This study maps the current a...
Lestes concinnus is a widespread species in tropical Asia and Oceania. It is a species known to have variable colour patterns ranging between pale and dark phenotypes which have earlier been recognized as distinct species. Lestes concinnus has never been known from Sri Lanka before. We report observations of both phenotypes of the species and inter...
Macromia flinti Lieftinck, 1977, is an endemic dragonfly in Sri Lanka and one of the rarest known odonates in the country. Originally described based on a single specimen collected in 1970, it had not been reported in the past 50 years and thus was considered a globally Critically Endangered Species (IUCN), possibly even extinct. Here we report the...
According to published data, 131 dragonfly species from 12 families are currently known from Sri Lanka. The proportion of endemics is 51.1%, with as many as 59 species and 8 subspecies endemic to the island. This extraordinary level of endemicity makes the dragonflies of Sri Lanka an exceptionally interesting group for studies in biodiversity, zoog...
Anisogomphus ceylonicus (Hagen in Selys, 1878) is one of the rarest of the Sri Lankan Odonata. It was first discovered from Ramboda over 140 years ago based on a female specimen, which was originally described as Gomphus ceylonicus and later assigned to the genus Heliogomphus by F. C. Fraser. Almost a century later, Lieftinck (1971) collected an im...
The painted bat, Kerivoula picta (Pallas, 1767) is considered one of the most aesthetically appealing bats in Sri Lanka with bright orange fur and black wings. However, very little information is available with regard to the ecology of this species in both local and global contexts. Of its roosting habits, Phillips (1980) reports that in Sri Lanka...
A Rapid Assessment of the Diversity and Composition of Arthropods in an Ellanga Agricultural System in Sri Lanka
Provides a comprehensive report on the status of species in Sri Lanka, including new species discovered during 2020, species recorded for the first time in Sri Lanka, changes in the distribution status of species, changes in nomenclature, new invasive species recorded and overall update on the statistics of the species.
Aquaculture is the aquatic equivalent of agriculture or farming on land. According to the FAO, aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms, including fish, mollusks, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Currently worldwide more than 220 species of finfish and shell fish are farmed in aquaculture. From the cultured species marine shrimps dominates th...
Human-monkey conflicts became a serious problem in Sri Lanka due to extensive deforestation during and after the country's 26-year ethnic war that ended in 2009. By 2015, these conflicts had affected most of the country's administrative districts, and the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) was under severe public and political pressure to re...
The purpose of this advocacy initiative in conducting this survey is to emphasize the impacts of plastic bags to the environment and to promote eco-friendly alternatives.
In the present work, we discuss the results of a four-day long rapid survey around Dhamapur Lake and surrounding freshwater habitats in the Sindhudurg District of Maharashtra through public participation. In total, 61 odonates, 51 butterflies, 17 species of amphibians and reptiles, 90 birds, and four mammals are documented. Our observations taken o...
Polymorphism has rarely been reported from dragonflies of the Libellulidae (Odonata: Anisoptera) family. Here, we report female-limited polymorphism in females of five species of the Libellulidae and a gynandromorph male of Brachythemis contaminata from South Asia. We describe the morphological variation between andromorph and heteromorph females,...
The island of Sri Lanka is home to 21 species of draconid lizards including 19 (~90%) endemic species. Nearly 62% of these species are listed as threatened with 7 critically endangered, 5 endangered and 1 vulnerable, however this number may change as conservation status of four species described after 2012 are not assessed. A number of taxonomic re...
The island of Sri Lanka is home to 21 species of draconid lizards including 19 (~90%) endemic species. Nearly 62% of these species are listed as threatened with 7 critically endangered, 5 endangered and 1 vulnerable, however this number may change as conservation status of four species described after 2012 are not assessed. A number of taxonomic re...
The distribution ranges of 40 species of endemic odonates of Sri Lanka including the threatened species and some newly described species were modeled using current climatic conditions and predicted climatic conditions for 2050 and 2080. Majority of the species showed a range shrink while some showed an expansion of range. Most of the montane endemi...
Diversity of marcobenthic community in a tropical tidal flat, Mannar, Sri Lanka.
Subasinghe K.*, Sumanapala A. P. & W. U. Chandrasekara
Department of Zoology and Environmental Management, University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya GQ 11600, Sri Lanka
*Corresponding author (email: kalya@kln.ac.lk)
The northwest coast of Sri Lanka supports a variety of high...
The livelihood of the coastal communities are mostly dependent upon the natural coastal resources. Questionnaire based field surveys were carried out focusing on the communities in two coastal towns on the west coast of Sri Lanka, Negombo and Chilaw, with an objective of evaluating and assessing the governance and the sustainable utilization and ma...
Lyriothemis defonsekai van der Poorten, 2009 is a nationally Critically Endangered odonate species in Sri Lanka. It is endemic to the country and was known only from the type locality, Kudawa, Sinharaja Forest Reserve and its vicinity thus it was considered to be a point endemic. We report the first ever record of the species outside Sinharaja exte...
Tiger beetles were surveyed from 2014 to 2016 in four protected areas of Sri Lanka covering the wet zone, the intermediate zone, the dry zone and the arid zone. Field surveys covered all types of major habitats found in each protected area. Species richness and other diversity indices were calculated and compared. The Dahaiyagala Sanctuary in the i...
Heliogomphus lyratus is a Sri Lankan endemic dragonfly. It is one of the rarest Sri Lankan dragonflies with only three hitherto known localities. Apart from the faunistic records of the species, nothing much is known of its biology or ecology. We report five new distribution localities for Heliogomphus lyratus with seven different observations. All...
Sri Lanka is a tropical island nation with a rich Odonata fauna. About 50% of the recorded species from the country are currently known to be threatened with extinction at the national level. Many threatened species
and newly discovered Odonata species in Sri Lanka lack reliable faunistic data, which is highly important for
proper conservation asse...
Elattoneura leucostigma is one of the rarest damselflies in Sri Lanka. It is endemic to the montane zone of the country and is categorized as a Critically Endangered species at both national and global level. Apart from the limited knowledge on distribution and flight season, nothing is known of the natural history of this species. We present a sum...
Jansenia laeticolor (W. Horn, 1904) is a rare endemic tiger beetle belonging to the genus Jansenia Chaudoir, 1865. Here we present the re-discovery of this species 107 years after its original discovery in 1908 and descriptions of its habitat for the first time.
The Knuckles Mountain Forest Range (KMFR) has a complex mosaic of natural and human modified habitats and the contribution of these habitats to the biological and functional diversities has not been deeply studied. Present study investigated both of these diversities in five habitat types (two natural habitats: Sub-montane forest and Pitawala Patan...
A preliminary study on the diversity of odonata was carried out for the first time to assess the diversity of odonata in the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary (PWS), Sri Lanka. It is a biologically rich area surrounding the Adam's Peak which is located at 6° 48' 33.357" N and 80° 29'58.3182" E. Total area of the sanctuary is about 24,000 ha and the altitud...
Environmental Science is a multidisciplinary subject that integrates physical and biological sciences in the study of the environment. Environmental science provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems and also provides solutions for the current global environmental issues. Employment fo...
This Sinhala language book was published with the support of Institute of Biology, Sri Lanka; Forestry and Environmental Science Association, University of Sri Jayawardenapura, Sri Lanka; Biodiversity Secretariat, Sri Lanka and the financial assistance by the Dilmah Conservation. It was aimed mainly at the school and university students. It describ...
Sinhalestes orientalis (Hagen in Selys, 1862) the only representative of its genus, is an endemic and globally critically endangered damselfly in Sri Lanka. It was first collected from Rambodde, Sri Lanka in 1858 and after that no new information on this species has been available. Here, we report on the re-discovery of Sinhal-estes orientalis from...
Tea plantation is a prominent and very abundant land use type in the up country of Sri Lanka. Though they are disturbed habitats they still sustains a significant portion of up country biodiversity. Here we have studied the floral and faunal diversity of five selected tea estates in the Nuwara Eliya District, Sri Lanka. Though this type of studies...
Questions
Questions (4)
I am planning a field research on dragonflies and I need to mark some of the individuals for a mark recapture study. I have heard that an ideal paint or ink marker should be durable, nontoxic, easy to apply, quick drying, lightweight and resistant to peeling. But what are the ink types or brands that has the specific qualities?
Habitat preference, Habitat occupancy, habitat selection and habitat usage, any definitions?
I'm especially interested on the effects of forest fragmentation and patch size on forest dwelling species such as Platystictidae species.
I once observed a mating attempt between two Libellulid species but I could not find much information about this.