Amphibian Diversity of Sri Lanka

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Biodiversity degradation are becoming one the worst global environmental catastrophes. Given the status of the world’s biological resources on which so much of human life depends, biodiversity loss is among the world’s most pressing crisis and there is growing global concern on slowing down population declines and extinctions (Wilson 1988; WHO 2005; McKinney et al. 2009; Soberon and Peterson 2009). The current estimation on the extinction rate ranges between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural rate (Kumar and Khanna 2008). The unsustainable human activities, particularly the exceedingly high rate of land development have resulted drastic population declines of many species reaching critical levels, destruction of crucial habitats, fragmentation of existing habitats, destabilization of ecosystems, loss of ecosystem functions, and alteration of biologically critical ecosystem structure (Bengtsson et al. 2000; Pimm and Raven 2000, Scott and Helfman 2001, Kremen et al. 2008). Climate changes preceded by global warming, environmental pollution, and invasive species are aggravat...

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