Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Selecting priority areas for the conservation of endemic trees species and their ecosystems in Madagascar considering both conservation value and vulnerability to human pressure

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biodiversity and Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Madagascar is one of the most biodiverse countries in Africa, due to its level of endemism and species diversity. However, the pressure of human activities threatens the last patches of natural vegetation in the country and conservation decisions are undertaken with limited data availability. In this study, we use free online datasets to generate distribution models of 1539 endemic trees and prioritise for conservation and restoration considering threat, alongside conservation value and cost. Threats considered include illegal logging, forest degradation and agriculture or slash and burns activities. We found that the areas with the highest potential concentration of species are along the north and south-east of the country where more than 400 tree species can be found. Most scenarios identify a common conservation and restoration priority area along the north east of the country. Our findings guide managers, conservation organizations or governments in decisions about where to invest their limited conservation resources.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allan JD, McIntyre PB, Smith SDP, Halperm BS, Boyer GL, Buchsbaum A, Burton GA, Campbell LM, Chadderton WL, Ciborowski JJH, Doran PJ, Eder T, Infante DM, Johnson LB, Joseph CA, Marino AL, Prusevich A, Read JG, Rose JB, Rutherford ES, Sowa SP, Steiman AD (2013) Joint analysis of stressors and ecosystem services to enhance restoration effectiveness. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110:372–377

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Alkemade R, van Oorschot M, Miles L, Nellemann C, Bakkenes M, Ten Brink B (2009) GLOBIO3: a framework to investigate options for reducing global terrestrial biodiversity loss. Ecosystems 12:374–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allnutt T, Asner G, Golden C, Powell G (2013) Mapping recent deforestation and forest disturbance in northeastern Madagascar. Trop Conserv Sci 6:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson R, Martínez-Meyer E (2004) Modeling species’ geographic distributions for preliminary conservation assessments: an implementation with the spiny pocket mice (Heteromys) of Ecuador. Biol Conserv 116:167–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson R, Dudík M, Ferrier S, Guisan A, Hijmans R, Huettmann F, Leathwick J, Lehmann A, Li J, Lohmann L (2006) Novel methods improve prediction of species’ distributions from occurrence data. Ecography 29:129–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aronson JC, Phillipson PB, Le Floc'h E, Raminosoa T (2018) Dryland tree data for the Southwest region of Madagascar: alpha-level data can support policy decisions for conserving and restoring ecosystems of arid and semiarid regions. Madag Conserv Dev 13:60–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin RA (2009) Use of maximum entropy modeling in wildlife research. Entropy 11:854–866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball IR, Possingham HP, Watts M (2009) Marxan and relatives: software for spatial conservation prioritisation. Spatial conservation prioritisation: quantitative methods and computational tools. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 185–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrios E, Valencia V, Jonsson M, Brauman A, Hairiah K, Mortimer PE, Okubo S (2018) Contribution of trees to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. Int J Biodivers Sci Ecosyst Serv Manag 14:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beech E, Rivers M, Oldfield S, Smith P (2017) GlobalTreeSearch: the first complete global database of tree species and country distributions. J Sustain For 36:454–489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett B (2011) Twenty-five economically important plant families. Encyclopedia of life support systems. https://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C09/E6-118-03.pdf. Accessed 22 May 2017

  • BGCI (2017) GlobalTreeSearch online database. Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Richmond, UK. https://www.bgci.org/globaltree_search.php. Accessed 17 Apr 2017

  • Brooks TM, Mittermeier RA, da Fonseca GA, Gerlach J, Hoffmann M, Lamoreux JF, Mittermeier CG, Pilgrim JD, Rodrigues AS (2006) Global biodiversity conservation priorities. Science 313:58–61

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown KA, Johnson SE, Parks KE, Holmes SM, Ivoandry T, Abram NK, Delmore KE, Ludovic R, Andriamaharoa HE, Wyman TM, Wright PC (2013) Use of provisioning ecosystem services drives loss of functional traits across land use intensification gradients in tropical forests in Madagascar. Biol Conserv 161:118–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown KA, Parks KE, Bethell CA, Johnson SE, Mulligan M (2015) Predicting plant diversity patterns in Madagascar: understanding the effects of climate and land cover change in a biodiversity hotspot. PLoS ONE 10:e0122721

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Callmander MW, Schatz GE, Lowry PP, Laivao MO, Raharimampionona J, Andriambololonera S, Raminosoa T, Consiglio TK (2007) Identification of priority areas for plant conservation in Madagascar using Red List criteria: rare and threatened Pandanaceae indicate sites in need of protection. Oryx 41:168–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardillo M, Purvis A, Sechrest W, Gittleman JL, Bielby J, Mace GM (2004) Human population density and extinction risk in the world's carnivores. PLoS Biol 2:e197

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cowling RM, Pressey RL, Rouget M, Lombard AT (2003) A conservation plan for a global biodiversity hotspot—the Cape Floristic Region. S Afr Biol Conserv 112:191–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Consiglio T, Schatz GE, Mcpherson G, Lowry PP, Rabenantoandro J, Rogers ZS, Rabevohitra R, Rabehevitra D (2006) Deforestation and plant diversity of Madagascar's littoral forests. Conserv Biol 20:1799–1803

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dewar RE, Richard AF (2007) Evolution in the hypervariable environment of Madagascar. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:13723–13727

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Du Puy DJ, Moat J (1996) A refined classification of the primary vegetation of Madagascar based on the underlying geology: using GIS to map its distribution and to assess its conservation status. In: de l’Orstom (ed) Proceedings of the international symposium on the biogeography de Madagascar, Paris. pp 205–218

  • Elith J, Leathwick JR (2009) Species distribution models: ecological explanation and prediction across space and time. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 40:677–697

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elith J, Phillips SJ, Hastie T, Dudík M, Chee YE, Yates CJ (2011) A statistical explanation of MaxEnt for ecologists. Divers Distrib 17:43–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esri GIS (2006) Mapping Software. ArcGIS. https://www.esri.com/software/arcgis

  • Ferraro PJ (2002) The local costs of establishing protected areas in low-income nations: Ranomafana National Park. Madag Ecol Econ 43:261–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franklin J (2010) Moving beyond static species distribution models in support of conservation biogeography. Divers Distrib 16:321–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Game ET, Watts ME, Wooldridge S, Possingham HP (2008) Planning for persistence in marine reserves: a question of catastrophic importance. Ecol Appl 18:670–680

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • García-Roselló E, Guisande C, Manjarrés-Hernández A, González-Dacosta J, Heine J, Pelayo-Villamil P, González-Vilas L, Vari PV, Vaamone A, Granado-Lorencio C, Lobo JM (2015) Can we derive macroecological patterns from primary Global Biodiversity Information Facility data? Glob Ecol Biogeogr 24:335–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner CJ, Nicoll ME, Birkinshaw C, Harris A, Lewis RE, Rakotomalala D, Ratsifandrihamanana AN (2018) The rapid expansion of Madagascar's protected area system. Biol Conserv 220:29–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garibaldi A, Turner N (2004) Cultural keystone species: implication for ecological conservation and restoration. Ecol Soc J 9:3

    Google Scholar 

  • GBIF.org (2016) GBIF occurrence download. https://www.gbif.org/country/MG/publishing. Accessed 14 Apr 2017

  • Goodman SM, Benstead JP (2003) Natural history of Madagascar. University of Chicago, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Global Roads Open Access Data Set (gROADS), v1 for Africa. https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/collection/groads/maps/gallery/search. Accessed 23 June 2017

  • Grantham HS, Wilson KA, Moilanen A, Rebelo T, Possingham HP (2009) Delaying conservation actions for improved knowledge: how long should we wait? Ecol Lett 12:293–301

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harper GJ, Steininger MK, Tucker CJ, Juhn D, Hawkins F (2007) Fifty years of deforestation and forest fragmentation in Madagascar. Environ Conserv 34:325–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IBM Corp (2016) IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 24.0. IBM Corp, Armonk

    Google Scholar 

  • IUCN (2016) A global standard for the identification of key biodiversity areas, Version 1.0, 1st edn. IUCN, Gland

    Google Scholar 

  • IUCN (2017) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2017-1. https://www.iucnredlist.org. Accessed 22 May 2017

  • Jiménez-Valverde A, Lobo JM (2007) Threshold criteria for conversion of probability of species presence to either–or presence–absence. Acta Oecol 31:361–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalogirou V (2012) GlobCover 2009 land cover map. Bremerhaven, Panagea

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein CJ, Tulloch VJ, Halpern BS, Selkoe KA, Watts ME, Steinback C, Scholz A, Possingham HP (2013) Trade-offs in marine reserve design: habitat condition, representation, and socioeconomic costs. Conserv Lett 6:324–332

    Google Scholar 

  • Kremen C, Cameron A, Moialen A, Philips SJ, Thomas CD, Beentje H, Drasnsfield J, Fisher BL, Glaw F, Good TC, Harper GJ, Hijmans RJ, Lees DC, Louis E, Nussbaum RA, Raxworthy CJ, Razafimpahanana A, Schatz GE, Vences M, Vieites DR, Wright PC, Zjhra ML (2008) Aligning conservation priorities across taxa in Madagascar with high-resolution planning tools. Science 320:222–226

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Langhammer PF, Bakarr MI, Bennun L, Brooks TM (2007) Identification and gap analysis of key biodiversity areas: targets for comprehensive protected area systems. IUCN, Gland

    Google Scholar 

  • Legendre P, Legendre L (1998) Numerical ecology. Elsevier, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Madaclim (2014) Free climate and environmental data for Madagascar. https://madaclim.cirad.fr/. Accessed 22 Apr 2017

  • Madagascar Catalogue (2017) Catalogue of the vascular plants of Madagascar. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, USA & Antananarivo, Madagascar https://www.tropicos.org/Project/Madagascar.html. Accessed 30 Apr 2017

  • Malabet M, Mario F (2017) Trees for the primates: a community-based assessment of crowned lemur (Eulemurcoronatus) habitat preferences and conservation in Northern Madagascar. Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 5028.

  • Margules CR, Pressey RL (2000) Systematic conservation planning. Nature 405:243

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marie CN, Sibelet N, Dulcire M, Rafalimaro M, Danthu P, Carrière SM (2009) Taking into account local practices and indigenous knowledge in an emergency conservation context in Madagascar. Biodivers Conserv 18:2759–2777

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mateo RG, Gastón A, Aroca-Fernández MJ, Saura S, García-Viñas JI (2018) Optimization of forest sampling strategies for woody plant species distribution modelling at the landscape scale. For Ecol Manag 410:104–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy DP, Donald PF, Schaarlemann JPW, Buchanan GM, Balmford A, Green JMH, Bennun LA, Burgess ND, Fishpool LDC, Garnett ST, Leonard DL, Maloney RF, Morling P, Schaefer HM, Symes A, Wiedenfeld DA, Butchart SHM (2012) Financial costs of meeting global biodiversity conservation targets: current spending and unmet needs. Science 338:946–949

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McConnell WJ (2002) Madagascar: Emerald isle or paradise lost? Environment 44:10–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe DJ, Sanchez AC, Curran PM, Haga JA, Kija HK, Kleynhans EJ, Kopp M, Korogone SU, Madindou IR, Minlend A, Ndagijimana F, Ndlovu TC, Acheampong EN, Nuttman C, Olsson KH, Rahrinjanahary D, Razafimanahaka HJ, Razafindramanana J, Rykowska Z, Sachdev R, Simpson L, Trevelan R (2007) Distribution and population structure of Adansonia rubrostipa in dry deciduous forest in western Madagascar. Afr J Ecol 45:464–468

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) (2017) Tropicos.org. https://www.tropicos.org. Accessed 7 Dec 2016

  • Mittermeier RA, Myers N, Thomsen JB, da Fonseca GA, Olivieri S (1998) Biodiversity hotspots and major tropical wilderness areas: approaches to setting conservation priorities. Conserv Biol 12:516–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mittermeier RA, Hawkins F, Rajaobelina S, Langrand O (2005) Wilderness conservation in a biodiversity hotspot. Int J Wilderness 11:42–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Moat J, Smith P (2007) Atlas of the vegetation of Madagascar vegetation. https://www.vegmad.org/datasets.html. Accessed 24 Apr 2017

  • Moilanen A, Kujala H, Leathwick JR (2009) The Zonation framework and software for conservation prioritization. Spatial conservation prioritisation: quantitative methods and computational tools. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 196–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers N, Mittermeier RA, Mittermeier CG, da Fonseca GAB, Kent J (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403:853–858

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Naidoo R, Balmford A, Ferraro PJ, Polasky S, Ricketts TH, Rouget M (2006) Integrating economic costs into conservation planning. Trends Ecol Evol 21:681–687

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olson DM, Dinerstein E (1998) The Global 200: a representation approach to conserving the earth’s most biologically valuable ecoregions. Conserv Biol 12:502–515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson RG, Raxworthy CJ, Nakamura M, Peterson A (2007) Predicting species distributions from small numbers of occurrence records: a test case using cryptic geckos in Madagascar. J Biogeogr 34:102–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips SJ, Anderson RP, Schapire RE (2006) Maximum entropy modelling of species geographic distributions. Ecol Model 190:231–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips SJ, Dudík M, Elith J, Graham CH, Lehmann A, Leathwick J, Ferrier S (2009) Sample selection bias and presence-only distribution models: implications for background and pseudo-absence data. Ecol Appl 19:181–197

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Phillipson P, Schatz G, Lowry P, Labat J (2006) A catalogue of the vascular plants of Madagascar. In: Ghazanfar, HJ Beentje (ed) Taxonomy and ecology of African plants, their conservation and sustainable use. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, pp 613–627.

  • Pressey RL, Mills M, Weeks R, Day JC (2013) The plan of the day: managing the dynamic transition from regional conservation designs to local conservation actions. Biol Conserv 166:155–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qin A, Liu B, Guo Q, Bussmann RW, Ma F, Jian Z, Xu G, Pei S (2017) MaxEnt modelling for predicting impacts of climate change on the potential distribution of Thujasutchuenensis, an extremely endangered conifer from southwestern China. Glob Ecol Conser 10:139–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Radosavljevic A, Anderson RP (2014) Making better MaxEnt models of species distributions: complexity, overfitting and evaluation. J Biogeogr 41:629–643

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rakotoarinivo M, Dransfield J, Bachman SP, Moat J, Baker WJ (2014) Comprehensive Red List assessment reveals exceptionally high extinction risk to Madagascar palms. PLoS ONE 9:e103684

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues RR, Lima RA, Gandolfi S, Nave AG (2009) On the restoration of high diversity forests: 30 years of experience in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Biol Conserv 142:1242–1251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers HM, Glew L, Honzák M, Hudson MD (2010) Prioritizing key biodiversity areas in Madagascar by including data on human pressure and ecosystem services. Landsc Urban Plan 96:48–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seddon N, Butchart S, Tobias J, Yount JW, Ramanampamonjy J, Randrianizahana H (2000) Conservation issues and priorities in the Mikea Forest of south-west Madagascar. Oryx 34:287–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swets JA (1988) Measuring the accuracy of diagnostic systems. Science 240:1285–1293

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tulloch VJ, Possingham HP, Jupiter SD, Roelfsema C, Tulloch AI, Klein CJ (2013) Incorporating uncertainty associated with habitat data in marine reserve design. Biol Conserv 162:41–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tulloch VJ, Klein CJ, Jupiter SD, Tulloch AI, Roelfsema C, Possingham HP (2017) Trade-offs between data resolution, accuracy, and cost when choosing information to plan reserves for coral reef ecosystems. J Environ Manag 188:108–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venter O, Sanderson EW, Magrach A, Allan JR, Beher J, Jones KR, Possingha HP, Laurance WF, Wood P, Fekete BM, Levy MA, Watson JEM (2016) Global terrestrial Human Footprint maps for 1993 and 2009. Sci Data 3:160067

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vieilledent G, Cornu C, Sanchez AC, Pock-Tsy JL, Danthu P (2013) Vulnerability of baobab species to climate change and effectiveness of the protected area network in Madagascar: towards new conservation priorities. Biol Conserv 166:11–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watch GF (2002) Global forest watch. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC. https://www.globalforestwatch.org. Accessed 23 Jun 2017

  • WDPA (2016) World database protected areas. https://www.protectedplanet.net/. Accessed 23 Jun 2017

  • Wood R, Stadler K, Bulavskaya T, Lutter S, Giljum S, de Koning A, Kuenen J, Schütz H, Acosta-Fernandez J, Usubiaga A, Simas M, Ivanova O, Weinzettel J, Scmidt JH, Merciai S, Tukker A (2015) Global sustainability accounting developing Exiobase for multi-regional footprint analysis. Sustainability 7:138–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WWF (2017) Madagascar. https://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/madagascar/. Accessed 22 May 2017

Download references

Acknowledgements

The Global Trees Campaign team at Madagasikara Voakajy and Fauna & Flora International provided the original idea of this study. Botanic Gardens Conservation International and Missouri Botanical Gardens researchers provided advice and knowledge about Madagascar and its endemic trees. This study has been completed under direction and support of the Life Science Department Imperial College London. Finally, thanks to Malin Rivers and Chris Birkinshaw for their insights on Madagascar.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecoacsa, Reserva de La Biodiveridad, Fundadores St Nº 25 Flat 3 Door C, 28028, Madrid, Spain

    Jesus Carrasco

  2. Vision Wild Ltd., Cambridge, UK

    Victoria Price

  3. British Columbia University, Vancouver, Canada

    Vivitskaia Tulloch

  4. Imperial College London, London, UK

    Morena Mills

Authors
  1. Jesus Carrasco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Victoria Price
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vivitskaia Tulloch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Morena Mills
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jesus Carrasco.

Additional information

Communicated by Daniel Sanchez Mata.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Electronic supplementary material 1 (DOCX 2459 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Carrasco, J., Price, V., Tulloch, V. et al. Selecting priority areas for the conservation of endemic trees species and their ecosystems in Madagascar considering both conservation value and vulnerability to human pressure. Biodivers Conserv 29, 1841–1854 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-020-01947-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-020-01947-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation