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NATURE
Mad about Madagascar
Science has to struggle with the niches of each individual species
Bad news for
corals and divers
The tomato frog, Dyscophus antongilii, is a near-threatened endemic
from Antongili Bay in Madagascar’s north east. The species’ situation is
yet another example of gross negligence and lack of understanding, as
pet-traders profited from the export of vast numbers from the island.
Beautiful and endangered, like all of the unique wildlife of this great
natural nature reserve.
Jason L. Brown and his
fellow researchers from
Duke University (and City
College NYC), Queens,
Belfast and the Technical
University of Braunschweig have
studied the reptiles and amphibian
of Madagascar for years.
With Africa possessing some of
the most biodiverse hotspots on
earth, the large island, although
only having 0.5% of the land surface
on earth, surpasses its
continent in sheer isolated magnificence.
The processes that
made these endemic species
possible have now been recreated
using their mixed-spatial model.
The patterns of biodiversity
from 8,362 records of 745 species
were fed in. Using many possible
biogeographic movements, the
observed patterns seem to have
been influenced by many more
than one simple diversification
process. As the team say, One
size certainly does not fit all. The
conclusions would be that species
richness, endemism and the
similarity of different communities
can be used to explain the
Madagascan situation.
The main groups studied in
this paper differed from each
other in the response they made
to their magic environment. For
the future, climate change and
land use must now be taken into
account if we are to save the
many critically threatened habitats
and species on this extensive
natural nature reserve! To help,
other researchers are already
preparing papers on the unique
climate, geology and environment
of Madagascar. Just in time, as we
tend to lose the forests quickly in
the current political climate.
Ninety per cent of the animals
here are found nowhere else, as
you can tell when our stories on
Madagascar never fail to amaze
our staff, let alone the readers.
Large geckos have been
our stock-in-trade elsewhere
recently, while 50% of chameleon
species live here, feeding sometimes
on tiny iridescent frogs
and reducing their own size to
miniscule too.
The island situation largely
helped the survival of endemic
species by remaining stable
throughout thousands of years
and more. Now, global warming
has shifted the goalposts for
theses rare animals and plants.
Instead of useful models, science
The corals of Hawaii,
specifically in
Papahanaumokuakea
Marine National Monument,
represent the great majority
of coral with US jurisdiction.
They are represented largely
by Porites, mainly P. lobata
and P. Kompressa.
Montipora and Pocillopora
species make up most of
the other dominants on the
reefs. The loss of many corals
in the Pacific Ocean this
summer, due to warm sea
surface temperatures, is a
potential disaster. Recovery
is vital. The previous loss
of Caribbean corals, and of
course the multiple species
of animal and plant that
need the coral, are explained
in this article: Coral Cover’s
Deadly Decline.
Oahu has been badly hit
at numerous points, while,
even 1000 miles northwest,
mass bleaching has occurred
at Lisianski atoll, with lesser
events at Midway, Pearl and
Hermes atolls. Courtney
Crouch is a researcher at
Hawaii Institute of Marine
Biology, so when she calls the
situation dire, it’s probably
true! 35% of the sites have
been bleached.
The cause of bleaching
has to struggle with the niches
of each individual species to
investigate how best to preserve
both the habitat and their whole
environment in the cause of
conservation. Without these
creatures of the big island, our
hopes of maintaining the whole
planet become lower and lower.
We plunder scientific papers
on Madagascar almost daily, but
we find gems such as the tiny
chameleons (world’s smallest
is accepted nowadays as
being thermal and this was
the warmest summer for 50
years. The algal symbionts
within coral are lost after 8
weeks of high-temperatureinduced
stress but can
return if the bleaching
doesn’t continue too long.
Unfortunately, it will be
October before temperatures
lower, so more profound
deterioration is possible.
El Nino is held responsible,
moving the warm water
north as the summer
progresses.
The last time this
happened was in 2002 and
2004. Last week, along the
windward coasts of Oahu, the
Hawaii Department of Land
Resources rapid response
team examined the damage.
Among them administrator
Frazer McGilvray reported
the corals as appearing, snow
white.
This entails a moderate
to severe bleaching event,
needing careful monitoring
and avoidance of the corals
by ocean users such as
divers. Photographs will be
needed though, to keep the
authorities up-to-date with
the situation, day to day. –
www.earthtimes.org
reptile) on tiny islands in the
north: “Miniature chameleon
discovered in Madagascar”. This
new paper reveals much more
on these amazing reptiles and
others thanks to the author’s
hard work, published in Nature
Communications and entitled
“A necessarily complex model
to explain the biogeography of
the amphibians and reptiles of
Madagascar”. – www.earthtimes.
org
green+.2014, november-december 65