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The biodiversity of Madagascar: one of the world's hottest hotspots on its way out

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

Jörg U. Ganzhorn ,
Porter P. Lowry II ,
George E. Schatz  and
Simone Sommer
Porter P. Lowry II
Affiliation:
Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, MO, USA and Laboratoire de Phanérogamie, Muséum National d'Historie Naturelle, Paris, France.
George E. Schatz
Affiliation:
Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, MO, USA.
Simone Sommer
Affiliation:
Institute of Zoology, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg. Germany. E-mail: ganzhorn@zoologie.uni-hamburg.de
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Abstract

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Madagascar is renowned not only for its high biodiversity and high degree of endemism, but also for ongoing loss of the original primary vegetation. Here we draw attention to the critical degree of vulnerability of Madagascar's littoral forest, western dry deciduous forest, and evergreen forests of the high plateau. Conservation efforts in these forest formations have been low compared to those in the evergreen rainforest of eastern Madagascar. Due to their fragmented nature these ecosystems urgently require reinforced conservation programmes.

Keywords

Conservationdry deciduous forestlittoral forestMadagascar.
Type
Short Communication
Information
Oryx , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , October 2001 , pp. 346 - 348
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 2001

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