Madagascar Unique Plants, Animals Suffer from Habitat Loss and Climate Change; Researchers Discovered that 23 Million Years of Evolution Needed To Recover

Wildlife in Madagascar has suffered from climate change and habitat loss, in which some animals have become critically endangered.

New research raised concerns over the possible impact of extinction on Madagascar's biodiversity, showing that 23 million years of evolution would need to restore if wildlife there reaches a point of extinction.

Madagascar has been home to rare and unique wildlife, which some could only find there.

The ecosystems in Madagascar are important to many animals and plants. The rich area helps them to repopulate.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Madagascar is on the east coast of Africa and is a place for extraordinary wildlife systems.

The report said that Madagascar is the size of France. Meanwhile, WWF added that it seemed the size of Texas.

The population reaches 21 people from different cultures and ethnic groups.

The island has different plants and animals. WWF explained that there are about 11,000 endemic plant species there.

It is still a place for discovery as many biologists and scientists unlocked more species. The report noted that about 615 new species were unveiled in Madagascar from 1999 to 2010.

Although the place is abundant in biodiversity, many animals face threats of extinction and are listed as critically endangered.

For example, the Silky Sifaka is considered a unique animal, but at the same time, the mammal is critically threatened.

23 million years of evolution needed to restore

Published on the Phys.org website, the report explained that about 120 are considered endangered in Madagascar.

The country is also a place for lineages on Earth.

Although the island is rich in biodiversity and evolution, extinction could be the main concern for many researchers and scientists.

WWF explained that the region suffers from deforestation, forest degradation and rampant illegal wildlife trade threats.

As a result, the researchers looked into how the looming problem of extinction could affect the ecosystems in Madagascar and how many years it would take to restore the endangered animals.

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The study came up with datasets of known species of mammals that managed to live with humans in the said country for about 2,500 years.

The report had 219 alive mammal species, and 30 were considered extinct for many years.

From the gathered datasets, the study looked into how long the biodiversity could evolve to restore or replace the species of extinct mammals in Madagascar over 2,500 years.

The results of the datasets are alarming and surprising.

According to the models, it would need 23 million years to replace or rebuild the diversity in the region if endangered species become extinct.

Conservation efforts

The research raised concerns over the impact of endangered species and the urgent measures to conserve and protect them from threats of extinction.

Wildlife conservation in Madagascar is important because the area is rich in biodiversity and evolution.

However, the challenges that the researchers considered are the socio-economic and politics in Madagascar that could slow down or prevent the conservation of endangered animals.

The research was also published in Nature Communications journal.