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Ecosystems in Madagascar
There are a variety of ecosystems in Madagascar:
TROPICAL MOIST FORESTS
Coastal rainforest
Elevation: sea level
These forests are some of the rarest in Madagascar. The Bradt guide describes these forests as follows: "Rooted in sand, washed with salty air, battered by cyclones and bordering lagoons and marshes the coastal forest harbors a very unusual community. The architecture of the forest is similar to the more widespread lowland forest, but the plants here are different: they are salt-tolerant and highly efficient at extracting water and nutrients from, the shallow porous sand beneath them." These forests are comparable in structure to the white sands or blackwater forests of the Amazon basin or the heath forests of southeast Asia.
Examples: forests north of Fort Dauphin and around Antalaha/Sambava
Lowland rainforest
Elevation: 0-800 m
Lowland rainforests are the most biologically rich ecosystems in Madagascar. These forests are characterized by warm temperatures, humidity that hovers around 100% year round, more than 200 cm (80 inches) of rain annually, and a well developed canopy. MORE
Examples: Masoala (including Nosy Mangabe), Makira, Mananara-Nord
Montane rainforest
Elevation: 800-1300 m
Montane rainforest is cooler than lowland rainforest with a lower canopy (18-25 m) and abundant epiphyte growth (especially ferms and orchids), mosses and lichens. Many lemurs and chameleons are found in Madagascar's montane forests.
Examples: Ranomafana, Andasibe-Mantadia , Montagne d' Ambre, Marojejy
Cloud forest / High mountain sclerophyllous forest / High altitude montane forest
Elevation: above 1300 m
These forests are cool and often enveloped in mist. Trees are typically shorter than those of lowland forest resulting in a less developed canopy at a height of 10 meters or less. The ground may be covered with a thick layer of mosses and lichens and epiphytes like orchids and ferns thrive with the abundance of moisture from the passing fog. Characterized by rapid changes in temperature and humidity.
Examples: Marojejy, Andringitra
High elevation scrub
Elevation: above 1300 m
At the high elevations of Madagascar's tallest peaks, forests yield to a mosaic of stunted montane vegetation, lichens, peat bogs, and grasses, and rock exposures. In this zone you can may find orchids and minature palm trees.
Examples: Marojejy, Andringitra
Sambirano forest
Elevation: 0-1000 m
Sambirano forest is found in the northwestern part of the island and serves as transition between the eastern moist forests and the western dry forests. These forests, especially at low elevations, are highly threatened.
Examples: Lokobe, parts of the Tsarantanana Massif, region around Manangorivo
SOUTHERN AND WESTERN DRY FORESTS
Dry deciduous forest
Elevation: 0-800 m
These seasonal forests are found from northwestern Madagascar south to near Fort Dauphin. While less diverse than their eastern counterparts, the island's dry deciduous forests have high levels of endemicism and many species of lemurs. Deciduous trees lose their leaves during the 6-8 month dry season. When rains return these forests erupt in a sea of bright green leaves.
Examples: Kirindy, Zombitse-Vohibasia, Berenty, Bemaraha
Limestone tsingy formations
Within the dry deciduous forests of Madagascar you can find the island's limestone pinnacle formations known locally as "tsingy." Because limestone is highly porous, these regions often wave well-developed caves and underground rivers. Similar formations can be found in China and Borneo.
Examples: Ankarana, Bemaraha, Namoroka
Tapia woodlands
Visitors to Isalo will see groves of Tapia trees (Uapaca bojeri). These trees, resistant to the frequent grass fires of the Hauts Plateaux are known locally for their edible fruit and as habitat for a wild silkworm.
Examples: Isalo
Spiny forest
Madagascar's most unique forests are also some of its most endangered. Madagascar's so-called spiny forests (or "spiny desert") are endemic to the arid southern tip of the island. Spiny forests are dominated by plants of the Didiereaceae family, which is unique to Madagascar as are 95% of the species found in this ecosystem. Didiereaceae closely resemble some forms of cacti but are not related. Unlike catci, Didiereaceae species produce small deciduous leaves which are protected by meanacing thorns and spines that grow directly out of the plant's many branches. Madagascar's spiny forests are being rapidly destroyed for use as charcoal and building material.
Examples: Berenty, Bezaha Mahafaly, Ifaty, Cap Sainte Marie
SECONDARY (MAN-MADE) COMMUNITIES
Grasslands of the Hauts Plateaux ("bosaka")
The central of highlands of Madagascar once had significant forest cover but generations of clearing for Zebu cattle and agriculture have left most of the countryside a sea of grass. Lacking roots to anchor the soil, hillsides slide away (locally known as "lavaka") leaving deep red scars across the landscape and eroding massive amounts of topsoil into rivers and streams. In some areas the French planted Eucalyptus and pine plantations to help stem erosion and provide wood for timber.
Examples: Central plateau outside Antananarivo
Palm savanna
In western Madagascar slash-and-burn clearing has left a landscape of grasses and scattered palm trees.
Examples: Region around Isalo
Secondary forest ("Savoka")
Savoka is the local name for the secondary vegetation that grows back after rainforest is cleared and burned. Generally vegetation consists of a limited number of weedy species some of which are exotic. Many plants and animals typically found in primary forests cannot survive in fragmented and disturbed ecosystems.
Examples: Much of the eastern rainforest has been replaced with secondary forest. You will find savoka around most national parks having moist forest.
Western scrublands
Dry deciduous forests in western Madagascar have been burned and replaced with scrub vegetation that is neither attractive nor supports much animal life. In the region between Bemaraha and Morondava, dry scrublands may have scattered surviving baobab trees.
Cactus scrub
In southern Madagascar cleared spiny forest gives way to introduced cacti. In the area around Berenty cactus is some abundant is some areas you would like it a local species.
WETLANDS
Lakes, marshes, swamps
Madagascar has many wetland ecosystems including lakes, marshes, swamps and lagoons. Typically found in coastal regions, these habitats support a disproportionate amount of Madagascar's birdlife.
Examples: Lake Alaotra, Bay de baly, Tsimanampetsotsa
Mangrove forests
According to the Bradt guide, Madagascar has the largest expanse of mangrove forests in the western Indian Ocean -- more than 300,000 ha. Mangrove forest is found in silt-rich, saline (brackish water) habitats worldwide, generally along large river deltas, estuaries, and coastal areas. It is characterized by low tree diversity, almost exclusively mangroves, with a low broken canopy. Mangroves are evergreen trees and shrubs that are well adapted to their salty and swampy habitat by having breathing roots (pneumatophores) that emerge from the oxygen-deficient mud to absorb oxygen.
Examples: Mahajanga, Marovoay.
CORAL REEFS
Coral reefs
Madagascar has some 1,000 km of coral reef. Many turtles. Many sharks and whales.
Examples: Islands north off northern Madagascar (Nosy Be and north); area around Fort Dauphin; Masoala; Ifaty region
Find a mistake? Want to submit pictures or content? Contact WildMadagascar.org
Almost all pictures on this site were taken with a Konica Minolta
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WildMadagascar.org aims to raise interest in Madagascar, a land of cultural and biological richness
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RECENT NEWS
Mining and biodiversity offsets in Madagascar
(08/30/2009) Rio Tinto's ilmenite mine in southeastern Madagascar is among the largest on the planet. At peak capacity, its owners say, it could produce as much as 2 million tons of the stuff—worth roughly $100 a ton—each year, to be shipped off and smelted abroad. What's left of it after refining—some 60 percent of the ore that arrives from Madagascar—will be sold for $2000 a ton as titanium dioxide, a pigment used in everything from white paint and tennis court lines to sunscreen and toothpaste.
Destruction worsens in Madagascar
(08/20/2009) Armed bands are decimating rainforest reserves in northeastern Madagascar, killing lemurs and intimidating conservation workers, despite widespread condemnation by international environmental groups.
Appalling photos reveal lemur carnage in Madagascar
(08/20/2009) New pictures released by Conservation International depict a troubling development in Madagascar: the emergence of a commercial bushmeat market for lemurs. In the aftermath of a March coup that saw Madagascar's president replaced at gunpoint by the capital city's mayor, Madagascar's reserves — especially in the northern part of the country — were ravaged by illegal loggers. Armed bands, financed by foreign timber traders, went into Marojejy and Masoala national parks, harvesting valuable hardwoods including rosewood and ebonies. Without support from the central government — or international agencies that pulled aid following the coup — there was no one to stop the carnage. But now it emerges that timber wasn't the only target.
Saving the tsingy forests in Madagascar
(08/17/2009) After the success of their Sahafina Forest project, Biodiversity Conservation Madagascar is now branching out to the tsingy forest of Beanka, a project set to launch in October this year. Biodiversity Conservation Madagascar (BCM) has been granted a 25-year lease on a 14,000-hectare area of dry hardwood forest, the Beanka tsingy, situated 75 km east of Maintirano in western Madagascar. 'Tsingy' are spectacular razor-sharp limestone pinnacles found on the west and north of the island, formed by acidic rain erosion. The deciduous forests that inhabit them are characterized by high plant and animal endemism. The Malagasy organization plans to apply the same principles here – protection of the forest, socio-economic development and forest restoration – that brought them success with their last project, the 2,500-hectare forest block of Sahafina on Madagascar’s east coast.
Lessons from the crisis in Madagascar, an interview with Erik Patel
(08/11/2009) On March 17th of this year the President of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana, resigned his post. This made way for Andry Rajoelina, mayor of Madagascar's capital, to install himself as president with help from the military. The unrest and confusion that usually accompanies such a coup brought disaster on many of Madagascar's biological treasures. Within days of Ravalomanana's resignation, armed gangs, allegedly funded by Chinese traders, entered two of Madagascar's world-renowned national parks, Marojejy and Masoala parks, and began to log rosewood, ebonies, and other valuable hardwoods. The pillaging lasted months but the situation began to calm down over the summer. Now that the crisis in Madagascar has abated—at least for the time being—it's time to take stock. In order to do so, Mongabay spoke to Erik Patel, an expert on the Critically Endangered Silky Sifaka and frequent visitor to Madagascar, to find out what the damage looks like firsthand and to see what lessons might be learned.
Despite violent protests and coup, Daewoo continues to hold cropland in Madagascar
(06/19/2009) Despite violent protests that have left more than 100 dead and led to the ouster of a democratically-elected president, Daewoo Logistics Corp. continues to hold 218,000 hectares of cropland in Madagascar, according to a new campaign by Rainforest Rescue.
Conservation success in Madagascar proves illusory in crisis
(06/12/2009) Despite the popularity he enjoyed abroad, domestic support for ousted president Marc Ravalomanana eroded rather quickly last February when he went head to head with Andry Rajoelina, the rookie mayor of Madagascar's capital. Rajoelina rallied disparate opposition groups to the cause and soon toppled the incumbent to become, at his own proclamation, President of the "High Authority of Transition." For the country as a whole, the results have not been encouraging. The tourism industry has shriveled to a shadow of itself, important donors have suspended non-humanitarian aid, and a power vacuum has set in in remote regions of the island, wreaking havoc on some of its most fragile and prized ecosystems.
Forest Recovery Programs in Madagascar
(06/01/2009) Despite being one of the last habitable land masses on earth to be settled by man, Madagascar has lost more of its forests than most countries; less than 10% of its original forest cover now remains, and much of that is degraded. Political turmoil that erupted earlier this year continues to rumble on and the ensuing lawlessness has created the opportunity for illegal logging syndicates to plunder national parks, most notably Marojejy and Masoala, for valuable hardwoods and wildlife.
Approximately 200 new frogs discovered in Madagascar threatened by political instability
(05/11/2009) Amid the amphibian extinction crisis—where amphibians worldwide are disappearing due to habitat loss, pollution, and a devastating fungal epidemic—the Spanish Scientific Research Council (CSIC) has announced some good news. In a survey of the island-nation of Madagascar they have identified between 129 and 221 new species of frogs. The discovery of so many new species nearly doubles the island's total number of frogs.
More news
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This portable guide offers a full survey of all Madagascar's mammals, both endemic and introduced, including many newly identified species. With vivid color photographs, line illustrations, and maps, Mammals of Madagascar: A Complete Guide is an essential book for any visitor.
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GEAR
Madagascar Wildlife T-shirt
Dancing lemurs T-shirt
Madagascar Chameleons Calendar
Madagascar wildlife bag
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Rainforests
Tsingy
Spiny forest
Savanna/grasslands
Deforestation
