The Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion of the island of Sri Lanka.

Geography

The ecoregion covers an area of 48,400 km2, about 75%, of the island of Sri Lanka, with the exception of the islands' southwestern corner and Central Highlands, home to the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests and Sri Lanka montane rain forests ecoregions, respectively, and the northern Jaffna Peninsula, which is part of the Deccan thorn scrub forests ecoregion. The topography is generally low, and the landscape is dotted with isolated inselbergs. The highest of these inselbergs is Ritigala (766 meters), which lies north of the Central Highlands.

Climate

The ecoregion receives 1500–2000 mm of rainfall annually. Most rain falls during the December-to-March northeast monsoon season, and it is mostly dry the rest of the year.

Flora

The ecoregion has several plant communities. The Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests are made up mostly of evergreen trees, which distinguish them from the deciduous trees that characterize most other tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregions. The dry-zone dry evergreen forests most closely resemble the East Deccan dry evergreen forests of India's southeast coast.

Fauna

The dry-zone dry evergreen forests are home to most of the Sri Lanka's 6000 Sri Lankan elephants (Elephas maximus maximus), the island's indigenous subspecies of Asian elephant.

Protected areas

17,736 km2, or 37%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include: