Key Environments: Madagascar (eBook)

R. Albignac, A. Jolly, P. Oberle (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: PDF

2016 | 1. Auflage
259 Seiten
Elsevier Science (Verlag)
978-1-4832-8595-5 (ISBN)

Infos

In the forests of Madagascar, about nine-tenths of the plant and animal species are unique to the island. Their natural habitats range from true rainforest to the lunar landscape of the spiny desert, and the natural rock-gardens of the mountain tops. Madagascar is no oceanic island, but a fragment of continent a thousand miles long, wrenched loose from the side of Africa. In this Lost World, plants and animals have become a living museum of evolution. Aepornis, the largest bird which ever lived, became extinct on Madagascar in the last few hundred years. Many more Malagasy species are now following Aerpornis into extinction. This volume introduces Madagascar's unique fauna and flora to general readers - the first such handbook available in English, and the first book to combine articles by Malagasy, French, English and American scientists, writing in their own fields of expertise.

Inhalt

Front Cover 1
Key Environments: Madagascar 4
Copyright Page 5
Table of Contents 12
Foreword 8
General Preface 10
Introduction 14
The Editors 18
CHAPTER 1. Madagascar: A Micro-Continent between Africa and Asia 20
THE ANCIENT CRYSTALLINE BASEMENT 22
A MUSEUM OF MINERALS 27
THE COASTAL PLAINS 28
THE FOSSILS, WITNESS OF AN EXTINCT FAUNA 32
A VARIED CLIMATE 34
LAKES AND RIVERS 36
NATURAL LANDSCAPES IN CONSTANT RETREAT 38
MAN'S MARK ON THE GREAT ISLAND 41
ORIGINS OF THE FAUNA 44
CHAPTER 2. The Vegetation: An Extraordinary Diversity 46
THE HIGHLANDS: AN IMPOVERISHED FLORA 49
WESTERN SLOPES OF THE HIGHLANDS: "TAPIA" WOODS AND NATURAL ROCK GARDENS 50
THE MOUNTAINS: HEATH, LICHEN WOODLAND, MOSS FOREST 54
SAVANNAHS AND DRY FORESTS OF THE WEST: KINGDOM OF BAOBABS 57
THE SOUTHERN BUSH, A UNIQUE HABITAT 62
LUXURIANT FOREST OF THE EAST 63
THE COASTAL FLORA 72
REFERENCES 73
CHAPTER 3. Flora of the Malagasy Southwest 74
I. THE CLIMATE 74
II. SOILS 76
III. VEGETATION 76
IV. FLORAL COMMUNITIES 88
V, MEDICINAL PLANTS 92
CONCLUSION 92
REFERENCES 93
CHAPTER 4. The Invertebrates 94
WORMS AND GASTROPODS 94
SPIDERS AND SCORPIONS 95
CRUSTACEANS 96
MILLIPEDES AND CENTIPEDES 96
INSECTS 96
BIBLIOGRAPHY 107
CHAPTER 5. The Amphibians 108
1. INTRODUCTION 108
2. TAXONOMIC CLASSIFICATION 108
3. THE EASTERN RAINFOREST 109
4. THE WESTERN DECIDUOUS FOREST 121
5. WHERE THE FOREST HAS GONE 121
REFERENCES 122
CHAPTER 6. The Reptiles 124
CROCODILES 125
TORTOISES AND TURTLES 125
LIZARDS AND CHAMELEONS 127
SERPENTS 130
BIBLIOGRAPHY 132
CHAPTER 7. The Birds of Madagascar 134
INTRODUCTION 134
THE ENDEMIC FAMILIES 135
OTHER BIRDS (EXCEPTING MIGRANTS AND SEA BIRDS) 142
MIGRANTS 155
SEA BIRDS 155
SUMMARY 157
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 157
REFERENCES 157
APPENDIX Birds Breeding in the Present Time in Madagascar 158
CHAPTER 8. Introduction to the Mammals 170
UNGULATES: THE "LAMBO" OR MALAGASY WILD BOAR 171
SIRENIENS: THE SEA-COW OF TROPICAL WATERS 172
RODENTS: AN IMPOVERISHED FAUNA 172
CHIROPTERA: BATS WITH INDO-MALAYSIAN LINKS 172
CHAPTER 9. The Insectivores 174
I. INTRODUCTION 174
II. AN OVERVIEW OF THE TENRECIDAE 175
III. SOME CONSERVATIVE TRAITS OF THE TENRECIDAE 176
IV. REPRODUCTION 176
V. SPECIES ACCOUNTS 177
VI. CAPTIVE CARE 182
VII. CONCLUDING REMARKS 182
REFERENCES 182
CHAPTER 10. The Carnivores 186
THE FOSSINAE 187
THE GALIDIINAE 191
CRYPTOPROCTINAE 196
CHAPTER 11. The Lemurs 202
REFERENCES 221
CHAPTER 12. The Malagasy and The Chameleon: A Traditional View of Nature 224
BIBLIOGRAPHY 228
CHAPTER 13. Malagasy Economics and Conservation: A Tragedy Without Villains 230
CHAPTER 14. Nature Reserves and Nature Conservation in Madagascar 238
THE INTEGRAL NATURE RESERVES 238
THE NATIONAL PARKS 242
THE SPECIAL RESERVES 242
THE FORESTRY STATIONS 243
THE PRIVATE RESERVE OF BERENTY 245
THE PROTECTED ANIMALS 245
PROTECTION OF NATURE: A FUNDAMENTAL TASK 245
BIBLIOGRAPHY 246
Index 248

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 22.1.2016
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Limnologie / Meeresbiologie
• Themenwelt: Technik
• ISBN-10: 1-4832-8595-2 / 1483285952
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4832-8595-5 / 9781483285955