Candidatura Reserva da Biosfera - Santana Madeira Biosfera

oxygenated areas of interface between the marine environment and coastline, where the
combination of transport processes of nutrients to the shallow depth of the marine
substrate and availability of solar radiation, creating a conducive environment to the
development of various species of plankton, necton, algae, fish, crustaceans, mollusks
and many other life forms. The high biological richness, both in quantity and variability of
organisms that inhabit or visit these areas, provides a high efficiency in the maintenance
of transport cycles, nutrients recycling and clearance of contaminants, offered by the
high variability of trophic and metabolic strategies adopted the simplest life forms such
as bacteria and microalgae, to the most complex as fish, mammals and seabirds.
The marine abrasion is the process responsible for the creation of small isolated
islands, which form due to its greater resistance to erosion - the islets. These small
masses of rock, due to its low disturbance and isolation are important refuge areas for
some species of plants and invertebrates. Given the absence of introduced predators, the
islands are sanctuaries for many species of nesting seabirds, which in turn are important
vectors for fertilization of plants that inhabit the rocky substrate, by depositing nutrient
rich droppings, also contributing to the increase the of soil volume, usually scarce in the
islets.
Oceanic islands like Madeira and their coastal areas are extremely rich areas in food
sources for many pelagic marine species such as cetaceans, sea turtles and some fish
species like tuna, swordfish and marlins, providing them a guarantee of survival. It is
often observed, mainly between May and October groups of Atlantic spotted dolphins,
striped dolphins, common whales and Bryde's whales feeding on "bait balls". These rich
habitats located in the middle of the ocean, provide cetacean species of whales that feed
in deep waters as the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), short-finned pilot whale
(Globicephala machrorhynchus), pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps), important
feeding areas at depths lesser than 2000 meters, very rare in the middle of the ocean,
given the depth of the oceanic Atlantic abyssal plain. The fact that many species of
whales visit the coastal waters of Madeira in the period between pregnancy and lactation,
demonstrates the trophic importance that this site has for these species and hence for its
conservation on a global scale.
The highest rate of erosion exerted by marine abrasion processes in relation to
erosion caused by inland waterways caused that a significant portion of Madeira’s
98 Application of Santana, Madeira to Biosphere Reserve – UNESCO - MAB