The Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests blanket roughly three-quarters of the island of Sri Lanka, reaching across the lowlands everywhere except the wetter southwestern corner, the Central Highlands, and the Jaffna Peninsula, with isolated inselbergs such as Ritigala rising above the plain. Unusually for a tropical dry forest, the trees here are largely evergreen rather than deciduous, with a mixed canopy of species such as Manilkara hexandra, Chloroxylon swietenia (Ceylon satinwood), and Drypetes sepiaria. The climate is strongly seasonal: most of the roughly 1,500 to 2,000 mm of annual rain arrives on the northeast monsoon between December and March, leaving the rest of the year dry. The ecoregion is a stronghold for wildlife, sheltering most of Sri Lanka's population of around 6,000 elephants and serving as the home of its flagship species, the endemic Sri Lankan leopard. For gardeners, the dry-tolerant native flora includes ornamentals such as wood-apple and the golden rain tree, prized for its spectacular bright-yellow flowers.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 7.8°N, 80.8°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.0°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Tropical & Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Indomalayan
Approximate area
18,692 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the tropical & subtropical dry broadleaf forests biome
Tropical forests that pass through a pronounced dry season, when many trees drop their leaves to conserve water. They hold high biodiversity but are among the most threatened tropical habitats, sensitive to fire and to clearing for agriculture.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
No catalog plants intersect this ecoregion's zone range. As the catalog grows to cover this region's climate band, suggestions will surface here.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: