Madagascar is much less temperate than it seems to Westerns, for some reason. I had this perception before spending time there. It is tropical along the coasts as you would expect, more temperate inland, especially on some of its plateaus (north central mainly), however most of the south is arid. See distribution maps here ( http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320710000248).
So more than rainforest, I would say, the country is known for its dry and dry spiny forest types, endemic ecosystems dominated by succulents and yes, you guessed it, plants with incredible spine morphologies. Deforestation is a huge issue, to the ends of both charcoal production and livestock. However the dry forests, due to their dominance, are often affected. The Malagasy will burn Opuntia and related succulents to despine them to feed to their cattle during the dry season. Perhaps this is a practice common to cultures inhabiting drier climates, but this is the only place I've witnessed it. In all likelihood, then, the photo is not former rainforest. I don't know enough about locusts to say whether or not their infestation is land use related. AC. On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 11:25 AM, Martin Meiss <[email protected]> wrote: > I wonder if that landscape shown in the video is former rainforest. I saw > on a nature program recently that Madagascar has lost 80 percent of its > original forest cover. It's not hard to believe that could have something > to do with locust population dynamics. > > Martin M. Meiss > > 2013/3/28 David Inouye <[email protected]> > > > Here's an example of a current events science news story that I'll use at > > the beginning of my intro ecology/evolution course next week. > Particularly > > appropriate as we're starting to talk about population growth. I find > that > > students respond well to hearing a few minutes at the start of each > lecture > > about some current science news story, often new since the last lecture, > as > > it helps reinforce the point that what they are learning in this course > has > > applications outside the classroom. > > > > http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/27/**world/africa/madagascar-** > > locusts/index.html< > http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/27/world/africa/madagascar-locusts/index.html> > > > > Some impressive footage of an ongoing locust swarm in Madagascar, with a > > link to some similar video of the one in Israel and Egypt. > > > > David > > > > > > > > Dr. David W. Inouye, Professor > > Associate Chair, Director of Graduate Studies > > Dept. of Biology > > University of Maryland > > College Park, MD 20742-4415 > > > > Rocky Mtn. Biological Laboratory > > PO Box 519 > > Crested Butte, CO 81224 > > > > [email protected] > > 301-405-6946 > > > > 2013-14 President-elect, Ecological Society of America > -- Masters Candidate Landscape Architecture 2013 University of Minnesota - College of Design [email protected] - 608.469.9328
