The Madagascar Rainforest Ecosystem
By: Chase Cheatham, Baptiste Saez, Natalie Tarbox, and Sidanth Venugopal
Location Of The Forest
~It is located at 18.7669°South and 46.8691° East
~This picture shows a small strip of green on the east which is the rainforest
~It occupies 112600 km squared of land
Temperature
~ Madagascar is hot
~ Cold in the mountains
~ 2 seasons rainy and dry season
~ Winter temperatures vary from 48 to 68 degrees fahrenheit (November to March)
~ Summer temperatures vary from 61 to 81 degrees fahrenheit ( April to October)
Temperature
~ Average annual precipitation is around 1000 to 1500 mm (39 to 59 inches)
~ Coastal region gets 2030mm to 3250 mm (80 to 120 inches)
Species
~Some of the most popular animals that live on Madagascar are the Fossa, Fanaloka, and various species of Lemurs.
~Most of the Lemurs feed on fruits, leaves, insects, bark, and flowers. There are three very popular carnivores, the Fossana, Fanaloka, and the narrow-striped mongoose. They mostly feed on almost any animal including insects, reptiles, rodents, and lemurs.
~Some of the reptiles of Madagascar are The nile crocodile, Day gecko, Uroplatus gecko, and the chameleon. Most of these reptiles eat insects and sometimes fruit, but the nile crocodile feeds on anything that gets in his path.
~Some of the most popular insects that live in madagascar are the comet moth, pill millipede, and the Flatid leaf bugs. They mostly feed on leaves and sometimes fruit.
Species
Habitat Destruction
~replace tropical rainforests into rice fields; forest is cut down and made into rice field; no nutrients in soil after doing this for many years; small plants that grow aren’t stable enough to keep soil in place; erosion happens
~timber logging; rainforest destroyed
Habitat Destruction
Threats to Local Species
~lemurs hunted/ kept as pets illegally
~chameleons, geckos, snakes, tortoises sold as pets illegally
~foreign fishing boats bring alien species which harm native species in rivers and lakes
~sharks, sea cucumbers, lobsters hunted so much that their population decreases drastically
Threats to Local Species
The Solution
~deforestation: government declare forest a reserve
~reason for deforestation is primary income is agriculture
~ The creation of reserve create jobs for locals
~ Making a reserve would cost a lot of money and money would be lost from lack of agricultural land
The Solution
~Erosion: plant native plants around the land used for agriculture, like any of the 9 varieties of the baobab tree
~Will slow down the erosion because plants will stabilize the ground with the roots and protect the soil from the direct contact with the wind
The Solution
~The government would have step in to solve the problems.
~Will be opposition from the farming companies and their workers, but the government need their compliance in order to create the reserve
~Cost a lot of money to create and maintain it, result in there having to have a tax increase for the people that live near the forest
Works Cited
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Carrère, Alizé. Erosion Problem. Digital image. National Geographic. N.p., 16 Dec. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
Chameleon. Digital image. Wildlife Tours. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
Chichlid Fish. Digital image. Tierfoto. N.p., 19 May 2014. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
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Harrison,A Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.
Grispo. Sign At Entrance To Ranomafana National Park. Digital image. Wikimedia Common. N.p., 25 Oct. 2009. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.
Calvin J. Sediment Laden Drainage. Digital image. Views of the Solar System. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
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Works Cited
"Madagascar Forests and Shrublands - A Global Ecoregion." WWF. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.
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"Madagascar." WWF. World Wildlife Fund. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.
Mongabay. "Forests in Madagascar." Mongabay.com. 09 June 2000. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.
Rice Cultivation in Madagascar. Digital image. Mada Magazine. Madagascar Information Magazine Network, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.
Sea Cucumber. Digital image. The Good Human. N.p., 2002. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
Slash and Burn Fire. Digital image. Lemur. WWF Madagascar, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
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Tree Planting. Digital image. Zhana. Zhana.org, 23 Dec. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
Vassen, Frank. Lowland rainforest, Masoala National Park, Madagascar. Digital image.Wikimedia Common. N.p., 7 Dec. 2008. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.
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Wothe, Konrad. Slash and Burn Agriculture. Digital image. FineArtAmerica. N.p., 4 Apr. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
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