Department of Zoology

Collembola, commonly known as springtails, play a vital role in leaf litter decomposition and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. By fragmenting leaf litter, they enhance microbial activity, accelerating organic matter breakdown. Larger Collembolans primarily feed on soil fungi, while smaller ones consume humus and arthropod feces. Their feeding behavior promotes nutrient release and supports soil fertility. Additionally, Collembolans influence microbial communities and soil structure, indirectly impacting decomposition rates. As key decomposers within the litter layer, they contribute significantly to ecosystem productivity and soil health, highlighting their importance in maintaining balanced nutrient cycles.

Sustainable farming is a pressing need of the world to ensure the well-being of humans and other organisms while providing food for the growing human population. With 37% of the world’s terrestrial land used for agriculture currently, sustainable farming without expansion of farmlands needs a rigorous investigation. Biodiversity performs a variety of ecosystem services including provision of material, recycling of nutrients, regulation of microclimate, regulation of local hydrological processes, pollination, seed dispersal, control of pests and diseases, and detoxification of harmful chemicals. Hence, enhancing functional biodiversity in agroecosystems is identified as a key ecological strategy in sustainable farming.

For conservation of animals, it is essential to know the accurate number of species present in the country, their distribution and abundance. Phylogenetic relationships of species are important to understand their biogeography and evolutionary times, which in turn can be applied to other fields such as biomedical research and conservation; 

Rickettsioses and leptospirosis are emerging public health problems in Sri Lanka. Involvement of small mammals as reservoir hosts, which is important in controlling the disease, is being ivestigted in this study

Leptospira reservoirs among small mammals in Sri Lanka.

New Records of Small Mammal Hosts for Five Ectoparasite Species from Sri Lanka.

Diagnoss of Sri Lankan shrews using hair anatomy.

Predator- induced plasticity in tadpoles of Polypedates cruciger (Anura: Rhacophoridae).

Taruga (Ranidae: Rhacophorinae), a relict endemic genus of foam nesting tree frogs from Sri Lanka.

Systematic relationships and taxonomy of Suncusmontanusand S. murinus from Sri Lanka.

Crocidura hikmiya, a new shrew (Mammalia: Soricomorpha: Soricidae) from Sri Lanka.

Morphological and molecular divergence of subspecies of Indian Bush Rats, Golunda ellioti Gray, 1837 (Rodentia: Muridae) from Sri Lanka.

Historic black rat invasions into Sri Lanka lead to hybridization forming two sub-lineages in the Rattus rattus species complex.