Sinharaja Forest Dynamics Plot, Sri Lanka

The Sinharaja World Heritage Site is the largest remnant of Sri Lanka's forests and contains the Sinharaja Forest Dynamics Plot. The Sinharaja Forest Dynamics Plot was founded in 1993 by the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Department of Forestry, and CTFS/Harvard University. The forests of Sri Lanka display relatively low diversity but very high endemism. For example, in the Sinharaja World Heritage Site, 70% of its 190 tree species are endemic. The Sinharaja Forest Dynamics Plot contains one-half of the species in the World Heritage Site's lowland rain forests and one-quarter of all of Sri Lanka's tree species. The forest demographic work at the plot complements ongoing silvicultural and economic studies of the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka Forest Department, Yale School of Forestry and the Environment, CTFS/Harvard University. Research issues at Sinharaja include silvicultural management for diverse forest products including hardwoods, forest restoration, and the biological stability of forests of low biological diversity.