Ecoregions of Madagascar

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Two maps of Madagascar, showing land cover on the left and topography on the right
Land cover (left) and topography (right) of Madagascar.

The ecoregions of Madagascar, as defined by the

habitat loss
.

Overview

sub-arid climate. Temperatures are highest on the west coast, with annual means of up to 30 °C (86 °F), while the high massifs have a cool climate, with a 5 °C (41 °F) annual mean locally. Geology features mainly igneous and metamorphic basement rocks, with some lava and quartzite in the central and eastern plateaus, while the western part has belts of sandstone, limestone (including the tsingy formations), and unconsolidated sand.[1]

Terrestrial ecoregions

Seven

spiny thickets in the southwest.[2]

Ecoregion Biome WWF code Map Image
Madagascar lowland forests or Madagascar humid forests
Tropical moist broadleaf forest: specifically seasonal (monsoon) tropical forest
AT0117
Madagascar subhumid forests
Tropical moist broadleaf forest
AT0118
Madagascar dry deciduous forests Tropical dry forest AT0202
Madagascar ericoid thickets Montane shrubland AT1011
Madagascar spiny thickets
or Madagascar spiny forests
Xeric shrubland AT1311
Madagascar succulent woodlands Xeric shrubland AT1312
Madagascar mangroves
Mangroves
AT1404

Freshwater ecoregions

Lake with forest in background and flying white waterbirds
Lake Ravelobe in Ankarafantsika National Park.

catchment
areas with a distinctive assemblage of species. In Madagascar, five ecoregions are distinguished:

Marine ecoregions

The seas around Madagascar are part of the Western Indian Ocean province in the Western Indo-Pacific realm. They are divided into two

marine ecoregions:[8]

  • Southeast Madagascar
  • Western and Northern Madagascar

References

  1. ^ Moat, J.; Smith, P. (2007). Atlas of the Vegetation of Madagascar/Atlas de la Végétation de Madagascar. Richmond, Surrey: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (English/French)
  2. ISBN 978-1559633642. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2016-11-01.
  3. ^ Madagascar Eastern Lowlands. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Accessed 20 November 2022.
  4. ^ Madagascar Eastern Highlands. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Accessed 20 November 2022.
  5. ^ Northwestern Madagascar. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Accessed 20 November 2022.
  6. ^ Western Madagascar. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Accessed 20 November 2022.
  7. ^ Southern Madagascar. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Accessed 20 November 2022.
  8. ^ Spalding, Mark D., Helen E. Fox, Gerald R. Allen, Nick Davidson et al. "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas". Bioscience Vol. 57 No. 7, July/August 2007, pp. 573–583.