Edaphic Characteristics at Ussangoda Serpentinite Deposit in Sri Lanka

Serpentinite localities are unique habitats with altered soil characteristics giving rise to a localized entity with unusual composition of vegetation. The evolved Serpentinite soils are a result of weathering of ultramafic rocks with characteristic chemical properties of low Ca/Mg ratio, N, P, K and high Fe, Cr, Ni and Co. The Ussangoda serpentinite deposit is one of the five identified in Sri Lanka close to the Precambrian suture zone between two complexes namely, Vijayan and Highland. This study is a detailed exploration on the soil characteristics, its spatial and temporal variability, identifies plant-soil relationships and heavy metal accumulation of selected plant species. The soil physical and chemical results showed that the site at Ussangoda exhibits typical characteristics of serpentinite soil, though with a degree of variation. Findings of this study answer questions related to edaphic characteristics, plant evolutionary ecology, geo-botany, adaptive evolution in nature and also a new dimension of phyto-remediation of use for researchers.