Madagascar's record of biodiversity: 600 species discovered in a decade

WWF hails the scientific variety to be found on Madagascar but highlights the forces that could threaten it
Alok Jha The Guardian 6 Jun 11;

More than 600 new species have been discovered in Madagascar's unique habitats in the past decade, among them 385 plants, 42 invertebrates, 17 fish, 69 amphibians, 61 reptiles and 41 mammals, according to a report published by the conservation group WWF.

Eyecatching new species include Berthe's mouse lemur which is 10cm long and weighs only 30g, making it the smallest known primate. There's also a 4cm-long Komac's golden orb spider that spins webs up to a metre in diameter and the cork bark leaf-tailed gecko, which looks just like the bark of a tree, allowing it to hide effortlessly from predators.

Unfortunately, WWF also highlights that such remarkable diversity on Madagascar is fragile, as the country reels from political and economic turmoil in recent years.

"We blithely think that we have a really good understanding of the natural world and what's there, but the fact that we can go out to these places and find, on a regular basis, new species suggests that we don't know the world half as well as we think," said Mark Wright, conservation science adviser at WWF-UK. "That reinforces our desire to protect it because what we don't want to do is destroy these places before we even recognise it existed there."

Madagascar is a jewel in biodiversity terms because of its isolation from the major continents. "It split from Africa a long time ago and then subsequently split from the Indian block 80m years ago. It has had 80m years for evolution to have a bit of fun," said Wright. "It is a very odd island. In terms of its geography, it helps speciation. There's a mountain ridge down the middle, so on the east of the island you've got rainforest, but everything on the west is a rain shadow. So you get an enormous variety of environments from the very wet to the very dry. It's a fantastic range of environments into which species can adapt."

But such species that the unique conditions create is are vulnerable. The vast majority of people in Madagascar still use wood for heating, cooking and building, leading to enormous pressures on forest habitats. As the human population has expanded in recent years, there has been a rise in slash-and-burn agriculture. Over the past 20 years, Madagascar has lost more than 1 million hectares of forest, and in the aftermath of a coup in March 2009, the rainforests were pillaged for hardwoods such as rosewood, destroying tens of thousands of hectares of some of the island's most biologically diverse national parks – including Marojejy, Masoala, Makira and Mananara.

Protecting the island's biodiversity will have to involve locals, said Wright, and it will have to include incentives for them to look after their forests. "If they have no practical way of making a living, of course they are going to turn to the natural resources sector and see what they can get from that, and who wouldn't do it?"

Among the species finds on Madagascar are potential economic crops. "They've found six new species of coffee," said Wright. "Economically, it's phenomenally important and, at the same time, we know that with things like climate change, they will always be vulnerable. So it's great to have that store of new genetic stock that you can draw on. You have six new species that are quite diverse – some are hairy, some have beans twice as big as the Arabica beans that we normally use for coffee. Suddenly there is a whole new batch of genetic material that we could dip into in order to work on the coffees we use at the moment."

There is a long way to go, Wright added, but he was optimistic. "There are some signs that things are good – there are growing local groups who are trying to conserve biodiversity. There is a local recognition and a need to protect it for their own reasons – that is very healthy."

'Treasure Trove' of New Species Discovered in Madagascar
Andrea Mustain LiveScience.com Yahoo News 6 Jun 11;

Madagascar, the fourth-largest island in the world, has proved to be a taxonomist's dream in recent years. Since 1999, on a nearly weekly basis, scientists have uncovered a parade of 615 new species — from the colorful and cuddly to the downright bizarre.

The world's smallest primate, Berthe’s mouse lemur, a creature teeny enough to perch inside a shot glass at 3.5 inches (9 centimeters) tall and weighing in at just an ounce (30 grams), and a lizard that wears a tree-bark disguise are among the standouts of the hundreds of species to debut, all compiled in a new report from the conservation organization WWF. [See some of the amazing species discovered.]

And although some new species are more charismatic than others (a yam isn't quite as photogenic as a lemur), Nanie Ratsifandrihamanana, WWF Madagascar's conservation director, said it's hard to pick a favorite.

"All the species are so special, and many are unique to Madagascar," Ratsifandrihamanana told OurAmazingPlanet. "They don't exist anywhere else in the world."

Treasure trove of species

The island's treasure trove of unique species stems from its relative isolation. Madagascar has been separated from Africa and the Indian subcontinent for the last 80 million to 100 million years, allowing its plant and animal residents to evolve into fantastical forms. About 70 percent of its species are unseen anywhere else on the planet.

In total over the last 12 years, researchers have identified 17 fish, 41 mammals, 61 reptiles, 69 amphibians, 42 invertebrates and 385 plants new to science since 1999. And the pace of discovery shows no signs of slowing.

In fact, due to growing scientific interest in Madagascar's denizens, and thanks to technological advances that allow for faster identification, such as DNA coding, Ratsifandrihamanana said the onslaught of new species described could continue or even increase.

But the news isn't all good.

"The sad part is that there could be many species that will disappear before they are discovered," she said.

Many of the creatures discovered are already endangered and are losing habitat quickly.

Disappearing forests

Madagascar's forests, home to many of its unique species, were cleared at a rate of about 2 percent a year from 1950 to 1990. According to WWF, the island has lost 90 percent of its original forest cover.

That's because humans depend on the island's forests, too. About 80 percent of the Malagasy population uses wood as its main source of energy.

In addition, large swaths of forest are cleared for subsistence farming.

Although Ratsifandrihamanana said the rate of deforestation was cut in half from 1990 to 2005, the last year for which figures are available, she said it remains a serious problem.

"We're really trying to empower local communities so they are better managers of the resources, because they are the ones who make the daily decisions for how they will use the forest," Ratsifandrihamanana said, adding that one major piece of the puzzle is improving the population's economic situation.

The country is one of the poorest on the planet, and a 2009 coup further complicated the nation's already bleak financial situation. Since the political upheaval, international funding for the country's environmental program was cut off, and there's been an increase in trafficking in exotic animals and prized, rare trees.

However, despite its troubles, Ratsifandrihamanana said WWF and other international organizations continue conservation efforts on a local level in Madagascar.

"It's an extraordinary place," Ratsifandrihamanana said. "We need a lot of support now for the environment."