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	Madagascar lowland forests - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The lowland forests extend from Marojejy in the north to the southeast corner of the island.
		To the east, at approximately 800 meters elevation, the lowland forests transition gradually to the Madagascar subhumid forests ecoregion.
		The lowland forests are characterized by dense evergreen forests, with a canopy exceeding 30 meters.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Madagascar_lowland_forests (463 words)

	CIPEC - Research Site - Madagascar
		These forests are among the world’s richest in endemic species but may be degraded throughout much of their former range, and may represent one of the most threatened Malagasy habitats.
		Furthermore, these forests mostly cover areas of low topographic relief and, unlike the remaining eastern rain forest that are afforded some inherent protection by steep slopes, the lack of topographic relief in the south leaves this unique habitat more vulnerable to clearing.
		Thus, stable forest (between 1973 and 1999/2000) is depicted as fl or dark gray in the multi-temporal composites, and unchanging savannah is generally bright gray or white.
	www.cipec.org /research/madagascar.html (1187 words)

	Encyclopedia :: encyclopedia : Madagascar (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		The principal institutions of the Republic of Madagascar are a presidency, a parliament (National Assembly and Senate), a prime ministry and cabinet, and an independent judiciary.
		Madagascar developed a recovery plan in collaboration with the private sector and donors and presented it at a "Friends of Madagascar" conference organized by the World Bank in Paris in July 2002.
		Madagascar's population is predominantly of mixed Asian and African origin, though those who are visibly Asian in appearance and culture are the minority, found in the highland regions.
	www.hallencyclopedia.com /Madagascar (4602 words)

	Biodiversity Hotspots - Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands - Human Impacts
		The Malagasy people came to Madagascar from Africa and Asia and imported agricultural methods, like rice cultivation, slash-and-burn agriculture, and cattle grazing, which are inappropriate for infertile, lateritic soils and devastating to the fragile ecosystems of the island.
		It is estimated that only about 17 percent of the original vegetation of Madagascar remains, with most remaining forests found along the eastern, western, and southern coasts.
		In the Comoros, which had the fourth highest deforestation rate in the world in the early 1990s (5.8 percent per annum), natural forests have been largely replaced with plantations, and the islands have lost at least 80 percent of their native vegetation.
	www.conservation.org /xp/Hotspots/madagascar/impacts.xml (438 words)

	Researchers help trace origin of Madagascar’s mammals
		CHICAGO—All of Madagascar's living Carnivora (an order of mammals that includes dogs, cats, bears, hyenas and their relatives) descended from a single species that dispersed from Africa to Madagascar, apparently floating across the ocean barrier aboard wayward vegetation about 24 million to 18 million years ago.
		One reason Madagascar's mammals could have survived a long voyage over the open sea without food or water might be that many of them have the ability to hibernate or maintain a state of torpor for long periods, the authors note.
		The carnivorans living in Madagascar today are commonly known as the fossa (resembling a puma), falanouc, Malagasy striped civet, and four kinds of Malagasy mongooses (resembling a ferret).
	www.eurekalert.org /pub_releases/2003-02/fm-rht020703.php (1131 words)

	A Student Guide to Tropical Forest Conservation
		Mangrove forests grow in the swampy, intertidal margin between sea and shore and are often considered part of the rain forest complex.
		Forests are biological communities-complex associations of trees with other plants and animals that have evolved together over millions of years.
		Forest nurseries must be established, and planting techniques and cultural practices (spacing and thinning, pruning, fertilization, insect and disease control, and genetic improvement) must be developed.
	www.fs.fed.us /global/lzone/student/tropical.htm (5254 words)

	Biodiversity Hotspots - Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa - Human Impacts (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		Much of the hotspot's original forests have been lost to agricultural conversion and urbanization, and only about 10 percent of the original vegetation - 29,125 km² - remains in pristine condition.
		The remaining forest covers about 2 km² along the Jubba River of Somalia, 787 km² in Kenya, 692 km² in Tanzania, and at least 4,778 km² in Mozambique.
		Forests close to tourist areas, such as Arabuko-Sokoke Forest near Malindi and Watamu in Kenya, suffer from the high demand for carving wood (Brachylaena huillensis) and timber for the construction of hotels, private residences and tourist attractions.
	www.biodiversityhotspots.org /xp/Hotspots/coastal_forests/impacts.xml (513 words)

	The Andringitra National Park in Madagascar
		The Andringitra mountains in southern Madagascar are a granite outcrop of the ancient Precambrian rock.
		Among the monocotyledons, of the 40 percent that are native to Madagascar, 7.7 percent are endemic to the Andringitra mountains.
		Madagascar does not have a natural herbivore fauna like that of the rest of tropical Africa and this niche is occupied by insects and introduced cattle.
	www.fao.org /docrep/x0963e/x0963e07.htm (2816 words)

	Ecosystems in Madagascar
		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.
		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.
		Madagascar's so-called spiny forests (or "spiny desert") are endemic to the arid southern tip of the island.
	www.wildmadagascar.org /overview/ecosystems.html (964 words)

	Tropical Rainforests of Madagascar
		The forest floor is the ground layer of the forest made up of the trunks of trees, fungus, and low growing vegetation.
		These layers are not always distinct and can vary from forest to forest, but serve as good model of the vegetative and mechanical structures of the forest.
		The forest floor is one of the principle sites of decomposition, a process paramount for the continuance of the forest as a whole.
	www.wildmadagascar.org /overview/rainforests.html (881 words)

	Megaflyover @ National Geographic Magazine (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		Once the forest is cut and the soil has slipped away, humans fashion that soil to retain water and engage in a highly intensive and productive agriculture that allows them to survive in a place that normally would no longer support much human life.
		If Madagascar concentrated its rice production and managed the rest of the land so that natural ecosystems could reestablish themselves, I venture to say that they could feed themselves and have a country that looked like a tropical paradise, with all the economic benefits and long-term human benefits that that entails.
		Madagascar is considered a hot spot for conservation because its unique flora and fauna are found nowhere else and there are tremendous population and resource pressures on the land.
	www7.nationalgeographic.com /ngm/megaflyover/october/dispatch_0410.html (8384 words)

	Madagascar Conservation
		In that short period of time, at least 70% of the forests were destroyed, as the people of Madagascar sought to survive.
		Forests were burned for coal, slashed down for agriculture, and flooded for rice cultivation.
		The zoo was a founding member of the Madagascar Fauna Group, a consortium of AZA institutions with a commitment to conservation in Madagascar.
	www.brookfieldzoo.org /pagegen/generate.asp?pageID=1117 (853 words)

	BBC News: Earth's cloud forests threatened
		Montane forest is often manifested as "cloud forest," forest that receives the majority of its precipitation from mist or fog that passes up from the moist, humid lowlands.
		Nevertheless, cloud forest trees are heavily burdened with epiphytes that thrive with the abundance of moisture from the passing fog.
		Apart from their utility, cloud forests are home to many species found nowehere else on Earth, including the mountain gorilla of Africa, the spectacled bear, and the resplendent quetzal, Guatemala's national symbol.
	www.mongabay.com /external/bbc_cloud_forests.htm (767 words)

	WWF Global 200 Ecoregions -- Madagascar Forests and Shrublands (10)
		Because the animals and plants in its moist forests have had no contact with African species for millions of years, they have evolved on their own into unique, or endemic, species that are found nowhere else on Earth.
		Madagascar has been separated from Africa for more than 150 million years, and its life forms are so distinctive that biogeographers think of it as a separate continent.
		Filled with flowering trees, fast-growing vines, flowers, and tree ferns, the forests are a feast for the senses and a storehouse of wondrous diversity.
	www.worldwildlife.org /wildworld/profiles/g200/g010.html (415 words)

	Biodiversity Hotspots - Guinean Forests of West Africa - Overview
		Logging, mining, hunting and human population growth are placing extreme stress on the forests, however, threatening species such as the Jentink’s duiker, pygmy hippopotamus, and scattered populations of western chimpanzees.
		The Guinean Forests of West Africa hotspot encompasses all of the lowland forests of political West Africa, stretching from Guinea and Sierra Leone eastward to the Sanaga River in Cameroon.
		The Guinean forests consist of a range of distinct vegetation zones varying from moist forests along the coast, freshwater swamp forests (for example, around the Niger Delta), semi-deciduous forests inland with prolonged dry seasons.
	www.biodiversityhotspots.org /xp/Hotspots/west_africa (349 words)

	birding facts Birding Resources by the Fat Birder
		Madagascar is truly one of the most amazing places on earth, both from the point of view of the naturalist and the anthropologist.
		Madagascar, a birding hotspot with 120 endemic bird species, has unprecedented levels of higher-order endemism including five bird families that are to be found nowhere else.
		Madagascar is one of the world`s highest conservation priorities because many of the animals and plants are in imminent danger of extinction, including three species of birds of prey.
	www.fatbirder.com /links_geo/africa/madagascar.html (3561 words)

	WWF - New national park inaugurated in Madagascar
		Located in north-eastern Madagascar, the Marojejy chain is one of the country's best-preserved mountain areas (1).
		WWF Programme Office in Madagascar collaborates with the National Association for the Protected Areas Management (ANGAP) and is supported by the Malagasy government, the German aid agency Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), and WWF-Germany.
		It was agreed with the government that the community would be allowed to manage a 400-hectare forest on its territory for a renewable period of three years.
	www.panda.org /about_wwf/what_we_do/forests/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=2021&uLangID=1 (554 words)

	Forests of the World - Outdoor Furniture
		The government of Bolivia has committed itself to the principles of sustainable forest management by declaring that it will be the leader in certified forests, and these forests currently exceed 1 million hectares.
		Forests stretch from the Andean Mountains to the lowland humid forests that start the Amazon basin and stretch eastward for thousands of miles.
		By supporting these products you are contributing to the health of our global forest resources for future generations as well as taking home a fine treasure that will be used and cherished by your family for generations.
	www.forestsoftheworld.com /Products/FurnitureHomeDec/OutdoorFurniture (338 words)

	Cloud Forests - Conservation Education
		Cloud forests, a type of rainforest, occur on high mountains in the tropics, generally between 2,000 and 3,500 meters, and experience very different environmental conditions.
		As one ascends in elevation, the hot steamy lowlands are left behind and several distinct vegetation zones occur, including lower montane forest, cloud forest or upper montane forest, and even an alpine zone if the mountain is high enough.
		On the other side of the globe, cloud forests can still be found in SE Asia, New Guinea, tropical Africa, Madagascar, and some islands in the South Pacific.
	www.sfbotanicalgarden.org /cf/cf/index.html (461 words)

	30/3/2006 -- Madagascar Protects Pristine Forests, Unique Species
		The unique biodiversity of Madagascar, with thousands of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth, has been under threat for decades from forest destruction, illegal wildlife trade and other problems.
		The latest expansion, under the leadership of Environment Minister Sylvain Rabotoarison, keeps Madagascar on track to fulfill the President's 2003 pledge to triple his nation’s total protected areas to six million hectares (14.82 million acres) by 2008.
		Madagascar’s program is a model for developing world governments faced with the choice of exploiting natural resources for a one-time payoff or conserving natural assets so the economy and local communities benefit from them in perpetuity, said Mittermeier.
	www.forests.org /articles/reader.asp?linkid=54619 (699 words)

	Lemur Conservation Foundation
		As you are well aware, Madagascar is considered one of the highest priorities for biological conservation in the world because the widespread and escalating destruction of its ecosystems endangers its remarkable species diversity.
		Tampolo Forest Station is one of the last fragments of littoral (coastal) forest dotting the eastern shore of Madagascar.
		The Betsimisaraka, have protected this forest mainly because of its sacred status as a home of the ancestors (evident by the multiple tombs present), but it also enjoys government protection because it is one of the last vestiges of Madagascar’s lowland tropical forests.
	www.lemurreserve.org /tampolo.html (1333 words)

	Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris: Africa - Madagascar 2007
		Although Madagascar is famous for the spectacular lemurs that have adapted to a daytime existence, a number of species of these primitive primates remain, like their African cousins, the galagos, denizens of the night.
		Among the highly sought-after forest birds are a number of species formerly considered to be restricted to the poorly accessible rainforests of the far northeast, such as Red-breasted Coua and Scaly Ground-Roller.
		Madagascar Serpent-Eagle, Madagascar Red Owl and the magnificent Helmet Vanga are on the list, but we would have to be very lucky to encounter any of these rare species.
	www.cheesemans.com /africa_m_oct07.html (5886 words)

	The Field Museum Information: Press Room
		Explaining Madagascar’s extraordinary levels of plant and animal endemism has been called “one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of natural history.” The long separation of Madagascar from Africa and India explains only some aspects of the island’s endemism.
		In some lowland areas of the island these animals tended to be isolated by the configuration of certain watersheds, and this isolation led to speciation, the evolution of new species.
		The new hypothesis explaining the evolutionary history of regional speciation in Madagascar’s forests is based a study of the island’s rivers and associated watersheds coupled with an analysis of 35,400 records of different modern animals.
	www.fieldmuseum.org /museum_info/press/press_madag.htm (629 words)

	Biotropica Volume 35 Number 2
		Secondary forests are of key interest due to their potential for sequestering carbon in relatively short periods of time.
		Replacement of tropical montane oak forest by secondary forest in Costa Rica has resulted in (1) a large reduction of tree fine root biomass; (2) a substantial decrease in depth of the organic layer (and thus in preferred rooting space); and (3) a great loss of soil carbon and nutrients.
		Whether old-growth Quercus forests maintain a very high fine root biomass because their ectomycorrhizal rootlets are less effective in nutrient absorption than those of VA mycorrhizal secondary forests, or if their nutrient demand is much higher than that of secondary forests (despite a similar leaf area and leaf mass production), remains unclear.
	www.atbio.org /btv35n2.html (6359 words)

	CELB - Conservation Carbon: The Makira Forest, Madagascar
		The Makira Forest Project, managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), is located in the northeastern region of Madagascar known as the Maroantesetra region.
		Within the forest, the level of species diversity is among the highest in the country including a number of critically endangered animals such as the Madagascar serpent eagle and at least two species of Malagasy lemurs including the Red Ruffed Lemur and the Silky Sifaka which are found only in Madagascar.
		The Makira Forest represents the largest remaining contiguous forest in eastern Madagascar and is of ut-most importance for long-term conservation especially in light of global climate changes.
	www.celb.org /xp/CELB/programs/climate/conservation_carbon_makira.xml (794 words)

	IUCN World Conservation Bookstore - IUCN Publications/Ecosystem Forests Backlist
		The lowland forest of the Congo Basin is the most species-rich forest in Africa.
		When a change of the forest tenure to a reserve threatened this community, they challenged the decision and were successful in having the decision rescinded.
		IUCN’s Temperate and Boreal Forest Programme (TBFP), which is part of the broader IUCN Forest Conservation Programme, has identified Russia as a top priority for the development of a country-level program to promote conservation and sustainable forest management initiatives in temperate and boreal countries.
	www.iucn.org /bookstore/forests-backlist.htm (2993 words)

	Grant aids CIIFAD efforts and Madagascar partners (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31)
		The Rockefeller Foundation has given a two-year, $35,000 grant to the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD) to assist institutional partners in Madagascar to evaluate methods for boosting rice yields in that country and to assess what limits farmers' adoption of newer agricultural practices.
		Joining CIIFAD and Tefy Saina in evaluating these methods are the faculty of agriculture at the University of Antananarivo and the Madagascar government's agricultural research and extension agency, FoFiFa.
		The heavy consumption of rice indicates Madagascar's poverty, said Norman Uphoff, director of CIIFAD and Cornell professor of international agriculture.
	www.news.cornell.edu /Chronicle/00/2.10.00/CIIFAD-Madagascar.html (465 words)

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