Abstract
Changes in the climate have worsen the problems caused by weeds and invasive alien plants (IAPs) in agro-ecosystems at global scale resulting from their changes in the range and population densities. Over the past six decades, Sri Lanka has experienced a slow but steady increase in annual environmental temperature by 0.01–0.03°C. Increasing extreme events of rainfall, wetter wet seasons, and drier dry seasons are some of the characteristic features of the changes in the climate observed in Sri Lanka over the years. The Ministry of Environment (MOE) in Sri Lanka has established a National Invasive Species Specialist Group (NISSG) in 2012 and adopted the National Policy on Invasive Alien Species (IAS) in Sri Lanka, Strategies and Action Plan in 2016. Further, the MOE has developed and adopted protocols to assess the risk of IAS at pre- and post-entry level to the country while incorporating climate change concerns. Periodic risk assessments have being carried out to prioritize actions against IAS in Sri Lanka. The Ministry of Agriculture as adopted a National Weed Strategy (NWS) and has identified the Weeds of National Significance (WONS) under different priority crops. A study done in 2014 has clearly shown that weed control costs in agricultural lands in several district of Sri Lanka were nearly doubled during the years that experiencedEl NiñoSouthern Oscillation (ENSO). Further, studies have clearly indicated that IAPs also survive, expand and impact the continuously disturbed environments in agro-ecosystems.Panicum trichocladum, a species listed as a potential invasive based on the risk assessment done in 2016, has shown an increase in its population density and distribution in Sri Lanka during the last 2–3 years. However, weeds and IAPs in agro-ecosystems have drawn less attention of policy makers, scientists, and practitioners in relation to impact of climate change in island ecosystems. This paper focuses on the scientific evidence reported in agro-ecosystems in Sri Lanka on climate-related impacts on agriculturally important weeds and IAPs, and the efforts made to manage their introduction and spread across the country.
Highlights
Sri Lanka (7.8731◦ N, 80.7718◦ E), occupying a land area of 62,707 km2 and water bodies of 2,905 km2 (Department of Census and Statistics, 2020) is an island nation with a physically diverse geography and tropical climate
The following sections of this paper summarizes the climate change experienced in Sri Lanka and its impacts, major weeds and invasive alien plants (IAPs) of the agroecosystems, implications of weeds, IAPs and climate interactions, and conclusion
Many agro-ecosystems in Sri Lanka are vulnerable to the changes in climate
Summary
Sri Lanka (7.8731◦ N, 80.7718◦ E), occupying a land area of 62,707 km and water bodies of 2,905 km (Department of Census and Statistics, 2020) is an island nation with a physically diverse geography and tropical climate. Increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO2, and other changes observed in the temperature and rainfall are considered as major issues related to managing weed populations in agroecosystems (Varanasi et al, 2016) Considering this future impact, and a country that rely heavily on agriculture sector for rural livelihood development (Central Bank, 2019), this review is focused on the climate change impacts on weeds and IAPs in agro-ecosystems in Sri Lanka. The objectives were to elucidate the climate impacts on the distribution and persistence of weeds and IAPs in agriculture, especially focusing on food crop production, and to identify a way forward in managing these troublesome species in a changing and variable climate, in Sri Lanka In this effort, we carried out a thorough literature survey using the Google R search engine to scan the published information pertaining to the topic. The following sections of this paper summarizes the climate change experienced in Sri Lanka and its impacts, major weeds and IAPs of the agroecosystems, implications of weeds, IAPs and climate interactions, and conclusion
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