Ecosystems

Savannahs of Madagascar

Madagascar is an island inhabited by many endemic plants and animals (i.e. existing only in specific areas) because of hundreds of millions of years of seclusion. The northern mountain ridge and the central plateaux act as barriers against the wet winds, thus determining areas with different plants: in the north there is a tropical forest, in the north-west a thick but low and deciduous forest. Finally in the south we found a baobab savannah (seven different species of baobab) that turns into a spiny forest of strange trees with the most bizarre shapes, such as bottle-shaped trees, dwarf baobabs and thick thorny bushes. The climate caused leaves to turn into thorns to avoid transpiration and keep the herbivores at bay, especially the endemic Didieraceae family, which look like the succulent plants of the deserts (cactuses or euphorbias). These plants make the spiny forest one of the most bizarre and fascinating habitats in the world. Madagascar is home to many particular animals, including: lemurs, chameleons, geckos, lizards and endemic snakes.