Abstract
Colombo is the capital of Sri Lanka and the only wetland city in South Asia under the Ramsar Convention. Crow Island Beach Park and associated coastal area belong to the Colombo urban coastal wetland ecosystems. Crow Island wetland contributes diverse habitats for numerous flora and fauna species. The present study was conducted to assess the status of floral diversity in the Crow Island Beach Park and associated coastal ecosystem during the months of August to October 2021. Study area is divided in to three sites (A, B, C). Line transects method and field observations were used in the study. This coastal wetland consists of mosaic of five major vegetation types: Herbaceous, tree, shrub, creeper, grass and other than that marine algae namely Chaetomorpha antennina, Rhizoclonium africanum, Ulva compressa belonging to chlorophyta (green algae) and Grateloupia lithophila belonging to rhodophyta (red algae) were found in the study area. A total number of 102 flora species belonging to 50 families were recorded from the study area. There were two true mangrove species and 16 mangrove associated species in the study sites. Out of the 102 plant species 46 were recognized and documented as plants with medicinal values. Shannon-Wiener diversity indexes for mangrove and mangrove associated species were recorded as 2.378, 2.304 and 1.676 in site A, B and C respectively. Simpson’s diversity index for mangrove and mangrove associated species was recorded as 0.889, 0.874 and 0.735 respectively in site A, B and C and Jaccard index of similarity between three study sites showed high values ranging from 41% to 69% for mangrove and mangrove associated species.
Highlights
Sri Lanka has a diverse range of coastal habitats that include estuaries and lagoons (214,522 ha), mangroves (11,656 ha), seagrassbeds (37,137 ha) salt marshes (27,520 ha), coral reefs and large extents of beaches including barrier beaches [1]
The present study was conducted to assess the status of floral diversity in the Crow Island Beach Park and associated coastal ecosystem during the months of August to October 2021
The width of mangrove forest depends on the tidal amplitude (5) and in Sri Lanka where tidal amplitude is very low (75 cm) [5], mangroves are usually limited to rather narrow belts
Summary
Sri Lanka has a diverse range of coastal habitats that include estuaries and lagoons (214,522 ha), mangroves (11,656 ha), seagrassbeds (37,137 ha) salt marshes (27,520 ha), coral reefs (not determined) and large extents of beaches including barrier beaches [1] Each of these coastal habitats possesses a significant amount of species and provides an array of ecosystem services vital to human. The water bodies of lagoon and estuaries function like buffer zones, protect coastal communities from full force of weather related events, such as storm surges, floods and cyclones by damping wave action, dissipating river discharge and temporarily storing water The habitats such as mangroves, sea grass beds and salt marshes function as large filters to extract pollutants, excess nutrients and sediment carried out from municipal and industrial wastewater inland and storm water runoff [3]. Wetlands are habitats with permanent or temporary accumulation of water with associated floral and faunal communities
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