Living Fences, a Widespread Agroforestry Practice in Sri Lanka: Two Cases from Dry and Intermediate Zones

The study was conducted to examine the structure and composition of live fence agroforestry practices in two regions of Sri Lanka and to identify key ecosystem system services provided by them. The studies were conducted in the Katupotha in Kurunegala district and Hingurakgoda in Polonnaruwa district. Species composition including dominance, diversity and sinusial formation were evaluated. Highest average relative importance, relative frequency and dominance values were obtained by Wetahira (Gliricidia sepium), Wetaendaru (Jataropha curcus) and Sudu araliya (Plumeria obtusa) at Katupotha and Teak (Tectona grandis), Wetahira (Gliricidia sepium), Ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala), Neem (Azadiracta indica) and Yakadamaran (Syzygium zeylanicum) at Hingurakgoda. The RIV value shows that live fences of Katupotha was dominated by typical (structural) live fence trees (Over 90% dominance) whereas live fences at Hingurakgoda was dominated by high value timber trees (Over 60% dominance). The results indicate that living fences have high species diversity. A total of 72 species were recorded from the living fences in two sites. Live fences at Hingurakgoda were often more diverse than Katupotha although the total number of species recorded at Katupotha site (68) was more than that of Hingurakgoda (25). 21 out of 25 (84%) species recorded at Hingurakgoda were also recorded from Katupotha. Hence species reported at Hingurakgoda is almost a subset of species identified from living fences at Katupotha. The Index of Similarity for two sites (plant communities) was 0.58 as 21 out of 72 (29%) species were found common to both sites. The study clearly shows that live fences in addition to acting as protective structures against theft of homegarden produce, entry of stray animals and encroachments also could make further contributions to the environment and mankind due to high biodiversity. They include provisioning of timber, food, medicine, fruits, vegetables and fodder for livestock regulatory functions such as shade, windbreak and enrichment of soil fertility and cultural services such as visual amenity due to having ornamental plants. Further this study indicates that there is lot of potential for further enriching these live fences to better perform ecosystem services. Since live fences are a common farming practice spanning all agro-ecological regions of Sri Lanka, they could serve as a place for conservation of species and tool for identification and evaluation of species for different regions and purposes.