In 200 – 250 words, describe a hotspot somewhere in the world.
The Hotspot that I will be concentrating on for my learning activity is Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands. Even though Madagascar is relatively close to Africa, due to its isolation it has evolved its own unique flora and fauna. This results in the island having a lot of endemic species which means that animals found here only live here and nowhere else in the world. For example, 89% of the plants and 92% of the mammals found there only live in Madagascar. When humans first arrived on the islands, they hunted a lot of the animals for food which resulted in killing a lot of species there. A group of people called the Malagasy came from Africa and Asia and used harsh farming methods such as slash-and-burn agriculture and cattle grazing. These types of farming are not good for the land here because it is very infertile and hurts the fragile ecosystems. There is also a lot of deforestation occurring here and it is estimated that 80% of the natural vegetation has been lost. Forests are being destroyed in order to make way for coconut plantations and cinnamon exploitation. Another threat to the biodiversity on these islands is the growing population. With more people living here there is more hunting for food, cutting down more trees for wood to build houses, and small mining throughout these islands. If something doesn’t happen to stop humans threatening this ecosystem we will lose a lot of species only found in this part of the world.
Create a system diagram of how the hotspot has gotten to the state it is in today and what is being done to help. Explain the efforts to stop the threats on these islands in 150 – 175 words.
My diagram starts out with what I explained above and how Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands have become a hotspot. Currently, the government in Madagascar is trying to work on their five year program of conserving the land and sustainability. 2.7% of the land in Madagascar is officially protected such as national parks and reserves to protect certain species and ecosystems. The government here is getting money for these programs and efforts to help different species out through the international community and they are receiving a lot of funding so far. Some of this money has also created different programs that are breeding certain species in order to get their population back up. For example, one group is breeding lemurs, tortoises, a threatened bird species and many more. As you can see, Madagascar is trying very hard to save a lot of their endemic species while also protecting and conserving the land and hopefully their efforts pay off in the future.
2 thoughts on “Biodiversity in Madagascar”
Hey Molly! My name is Kayla and here is the link to my own blog post if you wanted to take a look: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/04/15/learning-assignment-module-10-biodiversity/
I really liked reading through the learning activity that you created! What really caught my eye was that you talked about Madagascar, which is not only an interesting island but also a great movie! I think it is very cool that the government is working to conserve the land and sustainability. There seems to be a lot of concern and action taking place, and I hope it pays off as well. Also, how cool would it be to help breed lemurs like King Julian in the movie?
Hello! I’m Tom and your post interested me because any place as biodiverse as Madagascar needs to preserve that and appreciate that. I would love to be able to see some of the unique plants and animals that have branched out on their own evolutionary tangent. I agree with you in thinking that it is good that their government has recognized this and made efforts to preserve the unique plants and animals that their country has to offer the world. Honestly, I was also interested in this post because Madagascar is a fantastic movie. Here is a link to my post: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/04/15/module-10-learning-activity/
Hey Molly! My name is Kayla and here is the link to my own blog post if you wanted to take a look:
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/04/15/learning-assignment-module-10-biodiversity/
I really liked reading through the learning activity that you created! What really caught my eye was that you talked about Madagascar, which is not only an interesting island but also a great movie! I think it is very cool that the government is working to conserve the land and sustainability. There seems to be a lot of concern and action taking place, and I hope it pays off as well. Also, how cool would it be to help breed lemurs like King Julian in the movie?
Hello! I’m Tom and your post interested me because any place as biodiverse as Madagascar needs to preserve that and appreciate that. I would love to be able to see some of the unique plants and animals that have branched out on their own evolutionary tangent. I agree with you in thinking that it is good that their government has recognized this and made efforts to preserve the unique plants and animals that their country has to offer the world. Honestly, I was also interested in this post because Madagascar is a fantastic movie. Here is a link to my post: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/04/15/module-10-learning-activity/