Climate Change and Deforestation Could Decimate Madagascar's Rainforest Habitat by 2070

A new study in Nature Climate Change has found that, left unchecked, the combined effects of deforestation and human-induced climate change could eliminate Madagascar’s entire eastern rainforest habitat by 2070, impacting thousands of plants, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians that are endemic to the island nation. However, the study’s authors also found that protected areas will help to mitigate this devastation while environmentalists work toward long-term solutions for ending runaway greenhouse gas emissions and resulting climate change.

Madagascar — a biodiversity hotspot where 80% to 90% of its animal and plant species are exclusive to the area — has been devasted by decades of deforestation and overharvesting. The activities have destroyed much of the land cover that provides habitat for a variety of unique animals, including currently endangered varieties of lemurs. In particular, two species of ruffed lemurs are now critically endangered, and these animals play a central role in dispersing the seeds of a number of plant species that provide food and shelter for other animals across the rainforest.

“Because of their essential role as seed dispersers and their sensitivity to habitat degradation, ruffed lemurs serve as a critical indicator of the health of Madagascar’s entire eastern rainforest,” said Andrea Baden, a professor of anthropology at The Graduate Center, CUNY and Hunter College and the study’s primary investigator. “When we projected the impact of deforestation and climate change, we found that deforestation alone and climate change alone could reduce ruffed lemur habitat by over 50%. Even more alarming, these two factors together are projected to essentially decimate suitable rainforest habitat by the end of the century.”

Read more at The Graduate Center, CUNY

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