Madagascar spiny forests

The Madagascar spiny thickets (also known as the Madagascar spiny forests) is an ecoregion in Madagascar. The vegetation type is found on poor substrates with low, erratic winter rainfall. An estimated 14,000 to 17,000 square miles (44,000 km²) is covered with this habitat, all in the southwest of the country. The ecoregion contains an outstanding proportion of endemic plant species.

Plant diversity

Many constituent plants show extreme adaptations to drought. Spiny plants of the endemic family Didiereaceae form a conspicuous component, especially towards the east. They are woody but distantly related to the Cacti (See Caryophyllales). The remaining component of the thickets is dominated by members of the Burseraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Anacardiaceae and Fabaceae families of plants, all which have representatives elsewhere.

Conservation

Existing reserves protect a maximum of 3% of remaining vegetation. The Andohahela National Park offers limited protection through its 'parcel 3' section. Elsewhere the spiny thicket habitat is under pressure from human exploitation. The main impacting activities are:

Burning for conversion to grazing land
Harvesting for charcoal and firewood
Logging for construction

References

For extent, fragmentation and intact sections, see: A refined classification of the primary vegetation of Madagascar based on the underlying geology, Du Puy and Moat, 1996.
For dominant plant families, see: Structure and floristic composition of the vegetation in the Réserve Naturelle Intégrale d’Andohahela, Madagascar, Rakotomalaza and Messmer, 1999.

Gallery

Alluaudia montagnacii
The endemnism of the Didiereaceae is centered on the spiny thickets.
The Madagascar octotillo, Alluaudia procera, is named after the similar but unrelated Ocotillo.
The Bottle tree, Moringa drouhardii, is found mainly in the spiny thickets.
Verreaux's Sifaka, a lemur species occurring, in part, in the spiny thickets
The Ring-tailed Lemur, another lemur species found in the spiny thickets
Grandidier's Mongoose, a range-restricted carnivore of the spiny thickets
The Chirping giant pill millipede sp., S. musicus, is endemic to the spiny thickets.

The Chirping giant pill millipede sp., S. musicus, is endemic to the spiny thickets.
The Subdesert Mesite is endemic to the spiny thickets.