Madagascar dry deciduous forests

Seasonally dry forests found mainly in western Madagascar, where trees shed their leaves during the dry season. They support distinctive plant and animal communities, many found nowhere else.

Tropical dry forest: A tropical forest with a pronounced dry season that causes many trees to lose their leaves. This broader forest type describes the seasonal conditions shaping Madagascar’s western forests.
Deciduousness: The seasonal shedding of leaves by plants, often in response to drought or cold. Many trees reduce water loss by dropping leaves during the long dry season.
Kirindy Forest: A protected dry deciduous forest in western Madagascar, known for research and distinctive wildlife. It is a well-studied example of the region’s forests and conservation challenges.
Lemurs: A diverse group of primates native to Madagascar and the nearby Comoros, ranging from tiny mouse lemurs to large indri. Several lemur species depend on western dry forests for food and shelter.
Madagascar: An island country in the Indian Ocean, east of southern Africa, with exceptionally high biodiversity and endemism. The island’s isolation helps explain why so many forest species occur nowhere else.
Monsoon: A seasonal reversal of winds that produces pronounced wet and dry periods in some regions. Seasonal rainfall patterns help create the wet and dry cycles of western Madagascar.
Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park: A protected area in western Madagascar featuring limestone karst formations and dry forest habitats. Its forest and karst landscape protect a notable portion of western Madagascar’s biodiversity.
Fossa: A catlike carnivorous mammal native to Madagascar and the island’s largest living predator. This forest predator hunts lemurs and other mammals in western Madagascar.
Endemism: The restriction of a species or other taxon to a particular geographic area. Long isolation has produced many species restricted to Madagascar and its forests.
Madagascar spiny thickets: A dryland vegetation ecoregion in southwestern Madagascar dominated by thorny and succulent plants. This more arid neighboring vegetation contrasts with the deciduous forests farther north.

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