Rajika Gamage

• Technician at Tea Research Institute Sri Lanka

The genus Miniopterus is a monophyletic assemblage of many species characterized by remarkably conservative morphology. The number of recognized species has more than doubled over the last two decades, mainly with newly recognized Afrotropical and Malagasy species. A molecular phylogenetic analysis based on cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) reve...

Bats spend more than half of their life in roosts, where key life events transpire. Therefore the availability and selection of roosts are important to bats everywhere, and may limit their ability to exploit every habitat, including agricultural landscapes such as paddy fields, orchards and tea plantations. This study aimed to investigate the day r...

The white-throated kingfisher or white-breasted kingfisher, Halcyon smyrnensis is a common breeding resident found throughout Asia. Both sexes are alike; juveniles are duller than the adults. They breed yearly from January to August in pairs, but the breeding season begins earlier in India and Sri Lanka. The most active period of breeding related a...

Bats spend over half of their lives in day roosts, where key life events transpire. Therefore the availability and selection of roosts is important to bats everywhere, and may limit their ability to exploit agricultural landscapes like tea plantations. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the day roosts used by different bat species in tea pl...

Sri Lanka has four species of wild cats; the Leopard (Pantherapardus), the Fishing Cat (Prionailurusviverrinus), the Jungle Cat (Felischaus) and the Rusty-spotted Cat (Prionailurusrubiginous). All of them are considered nationally threatened, while the Leopard is considered a globally threatened species. The Sri Lankan leopard (Pantheraparduskotiya...

A biodiversity survey was conducted at Mattakelle Tea Estate with the objective of assessing the significance of a tea plantation ecosystem in maintaining vertebrates diversity. Seven different habitats (home garden, vegetable land, small scale reservoir, Eucalyptus forest, marshy land, tea field and secondary forest) were surveyed. The monitoring...

During the present survey, 11 species of amphibians and 10 species of reptiles were recorded (Appendix 1). Interestingly, a critically endangered species Pseudophilautus microtympanum and six endangered amphibian species were recorded. Duttaphrynus melanostictus was the most common amphibian species observed and was the only one found in all six ha...

A survey on birds was conducted at St. Coombs Tea Estate, Talawakelle, Sri Lanka with the objective of assessing the avifaunal diversity of a given tea plantation ecosystem. Bird populations were sampled in man-made habitats such as home garden, wetland, tea plantation, Eucalyptus plantation and small scale reservoir. Hundred-and-twenty counts were...

A survey on birds was conducted at St. Coombs Tea Estate, Talawakelle, Sri Lanka with the objective of assessing the avifaunal diversity of a given tea plantation ecosystem. Bird populations were sampled in man-made habitats such as home garden, wetland, tea plantation, Eucalyptus plantation and small scale reservoir. Hundred-and-twenty counts were...

A survey on herpetofauna was conducted at Mattakelle Tea Estate with the objective of assessing the significance of a given tea plantation ecosystem in maintaining herpetofaunal diversity. Herpetofaunal communities of different habitats (seasonal stream, home gardens, small reservoir, secondary forest, small pond in tea field and marshy land) were...

A survey on dragonfly and butterfly was conducted at Mattakelle Tea Estate with the objective of assessing the significance of a given tea plantation ecosystem in maintaining dragonfly and butterfly diversity. Odonate and butterfly communities of selected different habitats (seasonal stream, home gardens, small reservoir, Eucalyptus plantation, tea...

A biodiversity survey was conducted at Mattakelle Tea Estate with the objective of assessing the significance of a given tea plantation ecosystem in maintaining vertebrates and invertebrates diversity. Seven different habitats (home garden, seasonal stream, small scale reservoir, Eucalyptus forest, wetland, tea field and secondary forest) identifie...

A survey on birds was conducted at Mattakelle Tea Estate with the objective of assessing the significance of a given tea plantation ecosystem in maintaining avifaunal diversity. Seven different habitats were identified in the ecosystem namely home garden, seasonal stream, small scale reservoir, Eucalyptus forest, wetland, tea field and secondary fo...