The Madagascar succulent woodlands are a

xeric shrublands Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

in southwestern and central western

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

. Native plants survive in the arid climate and long dry season with adaptations like succulent leaves, water storing trunks, photosynthetic stems, and dropping leaves during the dry season. The ecoregion is threatened by various human activities.

Geography

The succulent woodlands are found in the southwest and centre-west of Madagascar, in the

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is ca ...

region that receives less moisture than the east and the Central Highlands. The climate is tropical and dry, with rainfall ranging from 575 to 1,330 mm per year, and a marked dry season from May to October. To the north, the succulent woodlands make a transition into the

Madagascar dry deciduous forests The Madagascar dry deciduous forests represent a tropical dry forest ecoregion situated in the western and northern part of Madagascar. The area has high numbers of endemic plant and animal species but has suffered large-scale clearance for agric ...

, while to the south they border the even drier Madagascar spiny thickets, and to the east the

Madagascar subhumid forests The Madagascar subhumid forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion that covers most of the Central Highlands of the island of Madagascar. They are included in the WWF's Global 200 list of outstanding ecoregions. Most of the origin ...

. They are bounded on the west by the

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (french: Canal du Mozambique, mg, Lakandranon'i Mozambika, pt, Canal de Moçambique) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about l ...

Flora

The vegetation is similar to the dry deciduous forests to the north, but includes more dry-adapted,

xerophytic A xerophyte (from Greek ξηρός ''xeros'' 'dry' + φυτόν ''phuton'' 'plant') is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water, such as a desert such as the Sahara or places in the Alps or t ...

species. Forests and open-canopied woodlands, reaching in height, contain trees and shrubs of the families

Burseraceae The Burseraceae are a moderate-sized family of 17-19 genera and about 540 species of flowering plants. The actual numbers differ according to the time period in which a given source is written describing this family. The Burseraceae are also k ...

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as '' Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, ...

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

, and

Sapindaceae The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The Sapindaceae occur in temp ...

. Notable endemic and near-endemic plants include two species of

baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.T ...

, ''

Adansonia za ''Adansonia za'' is a species of baobab in the genus ''Adansonia'' of the family Malvaceae (previously included in the Bombacaceae). It was originally named in French as . Common names in Malagasy include , , , , , and , the last of which giv ...

'' and '' A. grandidieri'' (

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

and

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

, respectively), the endemic tree hazomalany (''

Hazomalania voyronii ''Hernandia voyronii'', commonly known as Hazomalany, is a species of plant in the Hernandiaceae family. It is endemic to Madagascar. Description ''Hernandia voyronii'' is a large tree which grows from 15 to 25 meters tall. Range and habitat '' ...

''), and succulents in the genus ''

Pachypodium ''Pachypodium'' is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Madagascar and Africa. It belongs to the family Apocynaceae. Genus characteristics All ''Pachypodium'' are succulent plants that exhibit, to varying degrees, ...

''.

Fauna

Between 60 and 90 bird species and eight

lemur Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagas ...

species are found in the ecoregion and a number of mammals, frogs, and reptiles are endemic to the area. Native mammals include the

red-tailed sportive lemur The red-tailed sportive lemur (''Lepilemur ruficaudatus''), or red-tailed weasel lemur, is native to Madagascar like all lemurs. It is a nocturnal species feeding largely on leaves, though they also eat some fruit. Individuals weigh around , ...

(''Lepilemur ruficaudatus''), large-eared tenrec (''Geogale aurita''),

lesser hedgehog tenrec The lesser hedgehog tenrec (''Echinops telfairi'') is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Echinops'' and is named in honour of Charles Telfair. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats a ...

(''Echinops telfairi''), and

Verreaux's sifaka Verreaux's sifaka (''Propithecus verreauxi''), or the white sifaka, is a medium-sized primate in one of the lemur families, the Indriidae. It lives in Madagascar and can be found in a variety of habitats from rainforest to dry deciduous forest ...

(''Propithecus verreauxi verreauxi''). Endemic mammals include the

narrow-striped mongoose The narrow-striped mongoose or narrow-striped vontsira (''Mungotictis decemlineata'') is a member of the family Eupleridae endemic to Madagascar. It inhabits the western Madagascar succulent woodlands and northern Madagascar spiny thickets in we ...

(''Mungotictis decemlineata''),

Malagasy giant rat The Malagasy giant rat (''Hypogeomys antimena''), also known as the votsotsa or votsovotsa, is a nesomyid rodent found only in the Menabe region of Madagascar. It is an endangered species due to habitat loss, slow reproduction, and limited ran ...

(''Hypogeomys antimena''), and endangered Madame Berthe's mouse lemur (''Microcebus berthae''), the world's smallest primate. Native limited-range birds include the

red-capped coua The red-capped coua (''Coua ruficeps'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunn ...

(''Coua ruficeps''), Appert's greenbul (''Xanthomixis apperti''),

white-breasted mesite The white-breasted mesite (''Mesitornis variegatus'') is a ground-dwelling bird endemic to Madagascar. One of three species in the mesite family, Mesitornithidae, it is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Natu ...

(''Mesitornis variegatus''), and

long-tailed ground roller The long-tailed ground roller (''Uratelornis chimaera'') is a species of bird in the ground roller family Brachypteraciidae, placed in the monotypic genus ''Uratelornis''. Endemic to arid spiny forests near the coast in southwestern Madagascar ...

(''Uratelorinis chimaera'').

Threats and conservation

The Madagascar succulent woodlands are threatened by burning, logging (which impacts species such as the endemic tree ''Hazomalania voyronii''), cattle and

goat farming Goat farming involves the raising and breeding of domestic goats (''Capra aegagrus hircus'') as a branch of animal husbandry. People farm goats principally for their meat, milk, fibre and skins. Goat farming can be very suited to producti ...

, and hunting of several mammals. 4.63% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include

Zombitse-Vohibasia National Park ''Zombitse-Vohibasia'' is a national park in the Atsimo-Andrefana region of south-west Madagascar. It is north-east of the town of Toliara, the site of the nearest airport, and the Welcome Office is at Sakaraha from the park entrance. The par ...

Kirindy Mitea National Park The Kirindy Mitea National Park is a national park on the coast of the Mozambique Channel, in south-west Madagascar. The park contains many endemic animals and plants and claims to have the greatest density of primates in the world. Geography Th ...

, Andranomena Special Reserve, and Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve. The

Menabe Antimena Menabe Antimena is a protected area in Menabe region of western Madagascar. Menabe Antimena is on the west coast of Madagascar, south of the Mania River. It covers an area of dry forest, succulent woodland, mangroves, and secondary grassland ...

protected area, located in the west of the ecoregion, includes the northern portion of the

Kirindy Forest Kirindy Forest or Kirindy Private Reserve is a private park situated in western Madagascar, More precisely, the reserve is situated 50 km northeast of the town of Morondava. The Forest goes through two apparent seasons throughout the year, th ...

. Large areas have been illegally logged, burned, and converted to

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

fields, which threatens the area's wildlife, including Madame Berthe's mouse lemur.

References

External links