Ecoregions of Madagascar


The ecoregions of Madagascar, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund, include seven terrestrial, five freshwater, and two marine ecoregions. Madagascar's diverse natural habitats harbour a rich fauna and flora with high levels of endemism, but most ecoregions suffer from habitat loss.

Overview

belongs to the Afrotropical realm. With its neighboring Indian Ocean islands, it has been classified by botanist Armen Takhtajan as Madagascan Region, and in phytogeography it is the floristic phytochorion Madagascan Subkingdom in the Paleotropical Kingdom. Madagascar features very contrasting topography, climate, and geology. A mountain range on the east, rising to at its highest point, captures most rainfall brought in by trade winds from the Indian Ocean. Consequently, the eastern belt harbours most of the humid forests, while precipitation decreases to the west. The rain shadow region in the southwest has a sub-arid climate. Temperatures are highest on the west coast, with annual means of up to, while the high massifs have a cool climate, with a annual mean locally. Geology features mainly igneous and metamorphic basement rocks, with some lava and quartzite in the central and eastern plateaus, while the western part has belts of sandstone, limestone, and unconsolidated sand.

Terrestrial ecoregions

Seven terrestrial ecoregions are defined by the World Wildlife Fund for Madagascar. They range from the very humid eastern lowland forests to the sub-arid spiny thickets in the southwest.
EcoregionBiomeWWF codeMapImage
Madagascar lowland forests or Madagascar humid forestsTropical moist broadleaf forest: specifically seasonal tropical forestAT0117
Madagascar subhumid forestsTropical moist broadleaf forestAT0118
Madagascar dry deciduous forestsTropical dry forestAT0202
Madagascar ericoid thicketsMontane shrublandAT1011
Madagascar spiny thickets or Madagascar spiny forestsXeric shrublandAT1311
Madagascar succulent woodlandsXeric shrublandAT1312
Madagascar mangrovesMangrovesAT1404

Freshwater ecoregions

s correspond to major catchment areas with a distinctive assemblage of species. In Madagascar, five regions are distinguished:
The seas around Madagascar are part of the Western Indian Ocean province in the Western Indo-Pacific realm. They are divided into two marine ecoregions: