Eco blog

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Madagascar: amphibians and reptiles threatened with extinction because of climate change

Madagascar is a biodiversity hot spot of the world's most important being simultaneously inhabited by a large number of species and highly threatened by the destruction of natural habitats by man made. Destruction of habitat must now add the effects of climate change, as demonstrated by research conducted by scientists of the American Museum of Natural History, is having dramatic effects on many species of endemic amphibians and reptiles of Madagascar. This phenomenon has been observed in other parts of the world and is in perfect agreement with the observed and predicted on the basis of climatological models. The problem is that there is in Madagascar and the Himalayas, the same climate models that fully explain the observed shift, predict that within a few tens of years, the height of the mountains Malagasy no longer sufficient to guarantee the existence of climatic conditions suitable for the survival of many species. Now the challenge, in Madagascar, as elsewhere, is to rethink the planning of protected areas in order to take into account that the species of animals and plants, in order to survive, must be able to meet the changes taking place and which will take place. Via

Labels: animals, climatological, Species

posted by Hadson @ 8:34 PM