dushank@agri.ruh.ac.lk

+94 77 979 0110

+94 41 229 2383

Dr. Dushan Kumarathunge

Senior Lecturer

Department of Agricultural Biology,
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna,
Mapalana, Kamburupitiya,
Sri Lanka (81100).

Research Interests

Qualifications

PhD in Plant Eco-Physiology and Ecosystem modelling | Western Sydney University, Australia
MSc in Bio-Statistics | PGIA, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
BSc in Agricultural Technology & Management | University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Biography

Dr. Dushan Kumarathunge is a plant ecophysiologist with special focus on understanding the physiological mechanisms underpinning plant growth in response to warming, and developing functions to incorporate such mechanisms in ecosystem models.

Journal Publications

Total: 30

Kumarathunge, D. P., Medlyn, B. E., Drake, J. E., De Kauwe, M. G., Tjoelker, M. G., Aspinwall, M. J., Barton, C. V. M., Campany, C. E., Crous, K. Y., Yang, J., & Jiang, M. (2024). Photosynthetic temperature responses in leaves and canopies: why temperature optima may disagree at different scales. Tree Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpae135.

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Kumarathunge, D. P., Jiang, M., & Huntingford, C. (2024). Potential thermal safety margin for plant photosynthesis derived from local temperature variability. Ecological Modelling, 496, 110832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2024.110832.

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Kumarathunge, D. W., Samarasinghe, & Geekiyanage, N. (2024). The temperature optima for pollen germination and pollen tube growth of coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) strongly depend on the growth temperature. Experimental Agriculture. e2, 1–13.

Samarasinghe, Kumarathunge, D., & Meegahakumbura (2023). A novel genotypic selection methodology to create a breeding population for developing drought-tolerant cultivars in tree crops. MethodsX, 10. 102217.

Wijayaraja, I., Piyarathne, M., Weerasinghe, Malaviarachchi, Kumarathunge, D., Devasinghe, U., Rathnayake, S., & Geekiyanage, N. (2023). Impact of Mild Water Stress during the Flowering Stage on Leaf Functional Traits and Yield of Selected Cowpea Varieties Grown in the Low Country Dry Zone of Sri Lanka. Tropical Agricultural Research, 34(4), . 331-342.

Wijayaraja, I., Piyarathne, M., Alahakoon, T., Devasinghe, U., Weerasinghe, L., Kumarathunge, D., Dissanayake, D., Egodawatta, C., & Geekiyanage, N. (2022). Acclimation of Ecophysiological and Agronomic Traits to Increasing Growth Temperature in Three Cowpea Genotypes Grown in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. International Journal of Agronomy, 2022, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/3596075.

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Piyarathne, M., Wijayaraja, I., Devasinghe, D. A. U. D., Weerasinghe, L. K., Kumarathunge, D. P., Dissanayake, D. M. D., Malaviarachchi, M. A. P. W. K., & Nalaka, G. D. A. (2022). Effect of Water Stress during Seed Production and Storage Time on Germination and Seedling Growth of Cowpea Grown in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka. Tropical Agricultural Research, 33(2), 200. https://doi.org/10.4038/tar.v33i2.8501.

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Samarasinghe, C., Meegahakumbura, M., Kumarathunge, D., Dissanayaka, H., Weerasinghe, P., & Perera, L. (2021). Genotypic selection approach made successful advancement in developing drought tolerance in perennial tree crop coconut. Scientia Horticulturae, 287, 110220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2021.110220.

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Ely, K. S., Rogers, A., Agarwal, D. A., Ainsworth, E. A., Albert, L. P., Ali, A., Anderson, J., Aspinwall, M. J., Bellasio, C., Bernacchi, C., Bonnage, S., Buckley, T. N., Bunce, J., Burnett, A. C., Busch, F. A., Cavanagh, A., Cernusak, L. A., Crystal-Ornelas, R., Damerow, J., & Yang, D. (2021). A reporting format for leaf-level gas exchange data and metadata. Ecological Informatics, 61, 101232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2021.101232.

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Rogers, A., Kumarathunge, D. P., Lombardozzi, D. L., Medlyn, B. E., Serbin, S. P., & Walker, A. P. (2020). Triose phosphate utilization limitation: an unnecessary complexity in terrestrial biosphere model representation of photosynthesis. New Phytologist, 230(1), 17–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17092.

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Kumarathunge, D. P., Drake, J. E., Tjoelker, M. G., Pfautsch, S., & Medlyn, B. E. (2020). The temperature optima for tree seedling photosynthesis and growth depend on water inputs. Global Change Biology, 26(4), 2544–2560. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14975.

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Yang, J., Medlyn, B. E., De Kauwe, M. G., Duursma, R. A., Jiang, M., Kumarathunge, D., Crous, K. Y., Gimeno, T. E., Wujeska-Klause, A., & Ellsworth, D. S. (2020). Low sensitivity of gross primary production to elevated CO2 in a mature eucalypt woodland. Biogeosciences, 17(2), 265–279. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-265-2020.

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Kattge, J, Bönisch, G, Díaz, S, Lavorel, S, Prentice, C, I., Leadley, P, Tautenhahn, S, Werner, A, G. D., Aakala, T, Abedi, M, Acosta, R, A. T., Adamidis, C, G., Adamson, K, Aiba, M, Albert, H, C., Alcántara, M, J., Alcázar, C., C, Aleixo, I, Ali, H, Kumarathunge, P, D., .....Wirth, & C (2019). TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access. Global Change Biology, 26(1), 119–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14904.

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Yang, J., Duursma, R. A., De Kauwe, M. G., Kumarathunge, D., Jiang, M., Mahmud, K., Gimeno, T. E., Crous, K. Y., Ellsworth, D. S., Peters, J., Choat, B., Eamus, D., & Medlyn, B. E. (2019). Incorporating non-stomatal limitation improves the performance of leaf and canopy models at high vapour pressure deficit. Tree Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpz103.

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Kumarathunge, D. P., Medlyn, B. E., Drake, J. E., Rogers, A., & Tjoelker, M. G. (2019). No evidence for triose phosphate limitation of light‐saturated leaf photosynthesis under current atmospheric CO2concentration. Plant, Cell &Amp; Environment, 42(12), 3241–3252. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13639.

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Kumarathunge, D. P., Medlyn, B. E., Drake, J. E., Tjoelker, M. G., Aspinwall, M. J., Battaglia, M., Cano, F. J., Carter, K. R., Cavaleri, M. A., Cernusak, L. A., Chambers, J. Q., Crous, K. Y., De Kauwe, M. G., Dillaway, D. N., Dreyer, E., Ellsworth, D. S., Ghannoum, O., Han, Q., & Hikosaka, K. (2019d). Acclimation and adaptation components of the temperature dependence of plant photosynthesis at the global scale. New Phytologist, 222(2), 768–784. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15668.

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Samarasinghe, C., Meegahakumbura, M., Dissanayaka, H., Kumarathunge, D., & Perera, L. (2018). Variation in yield and yield components of different coconut cultivars in response to within year rainfall and temperature variation. Scientia Horticulturae, 238, 51–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2018.03.058.

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Drake, J. E., Tjoelker, M. G., Medlyn, B., Reich, P. B., Leigh, A., Pfautsch, S., Blackman, C. J., Aspinwall, M. J., Crous, K. Y., Duursma, R. A., Kumarathunge, D., De Kauwe, M. G., Jiang, M., Nicotra, A. B., Tissue, D. T., Choat, B., Atkin, O. K., & Barton, C. V. M. (2018). Trees tolerate an extreme heatwave via sustained transpirational cooling and increased leaf thermal tolerance. Global Change Biology, 24(6), 2390–2402. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14037.

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RANASINGHE, C. S., KUMARATHUNGE, M. D. P., & KIRIWANDENIYA, K. G. S. (2017). GENOTYPIC DIFFERENCES IN CARDINAL TEMPERATURES FOR IN VITRO POLLEN GERMINATION AND POLLEN TUBE GROWTH OF COCONUT HYBRIDS. Experimental Agriculture, 54(5), 731–743. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0014479717000357.

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Drake, J. E., Kumarathunge, D., Medlyn, B. E., Pfautsch, S., Reich, P. B., Tissue, D. T., Ghannoum, O., & Tjoelker, M. G. (2017). A common thermal niche among geographically diverse populations of the widely distributed tree species Eucalyptus tereticornis : No evidence for adaptation to climate‐of‐origin. Global Change Biology, 23(12), 5069–5082. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13771.

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Meegahakumbura, M. K. (2017). Cultivar by environment interaction of coconut.

Nainanayake, A. D., Gunathilake, J., Kumarathunga, M. D. P., Gunawardena, P. M., & Wijesekara, H. T. R. (2016). Limitation in the use of spectral analysis to detect Weligama coconut leaf wilt disease affected palms in Southern Sri Lanka. COCOS, 22(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.4038/cocos.v22i1.5808.

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Jayawardana, J. M. D. R., Yapa, R. D., & Kumarathunge, M. D. P. (2016). Modeling Extreme Drought Events in Major Cocount Growing Agro-Ecological Regions in Sri Lanka. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 5(9), 1249–1253. https://doi.org/10.21275/ART20161882.

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Nainanayake, A. D., Kumarathunga, M. D. P., & De Silva, P. H. P. R. (2016d). A survey of land for Weligama coconut leaf wilt disease affected palms outside the declared boundary in the Southern Province. COCOS, 22(1), 57. https://doi.org/10.4038/cocos.v22i1.5812.

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Kumarathunge, M. D. P., Waidyarathne, K. P., & Samita, S. (2015). The estimation of daily mean soil temperature at different depths in three Agroecological regions of Sri Lanka. COCOS, 20(0), 9. https://doi.org/10.4038/cocos.v20i0.5794.

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Ranasinghe, C., Kumarathunge, M., Jayaranjini, S., & Costa, W. (2015). Photosynthetic irradiance response, canopy photosynthesis and their variation with canopy strata in tall and dwarf×tall coconut cultivars (Cocos nucifera L.). Scientia Horticulturae, 189, 175–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2015.03.037.

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Brintha, N. K. K., Samita, S., Abeynayake, N. R., Idirisinghe, I. M. S. K., & Kumarathunga, M. D. P. (2015). Use of unobserved components model for forecasting non-stationary time series: a case of annual national coconut production in Sri Lanka. Tropical Agricultural Research, 25(4), pp.523–531. DOI: http://doi.org/10.4038/tar.v25i4.8058.

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KUMARATHUNGE, D. (2011). EVALUATION OF THE PLOTLESS SAMPLING METHOD TO ESTIMATE ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS AND OTHER STAND PARAMETERS IN TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 9(4), 425–431. https://doi.org/10.15666/aeer/0904_425431.

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Perera, L., Samarasinghe, C.R.K., Kumarathunge, D.P., Dissanayaka, H.D.M.A.C.,

under different water, heat regimes at their early stage of growth. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 49

Books / Book Chapters

Total: 1

Fernando, B. H. R., Kumarathunge, D. P., Nirukshan, G. S., & Ranasinghe, C. S. (2021). IMPORTANCE OF IRRIGATION FOR COCONUTS: COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGES. In Cocos nucifera: Production, Cultivation and Uses.