How do geological substrate and local climate affect biodiversity partitions and patterns of microendemism?; and finally, How can the knowledge gained from addressing questions one and two be applied towards establishing sound conservation priorities?.
Madagascar Madagascar is unique in many ways. Located east of Africa in the Indian Ocean, it is the worlds fourth largest island, about the size of Texas. Madagascar is home to 5% of the worlds biodiversity; a remarkable number considering that Madagascar itself composes only 0.4% of the earths landmass. Tropical regions typically show higher rates of diversification, although there is no clear explanation of why, but Madagascar exceeds even these trends. 80% of the organisms on Madagascar are endemic, which raises intriguing questions about their origins. Madagascar is geographically and physically isolated from any other land masses by deep ocean passages. 170 mya Madagascar was tucked within Gondwanaland, but as the supercontinent began to break up, Madagascar drifted away from what is now Africa in connection with what later became India, Australia and Antarctica. Current theories suggest some form of land bridge persisted between Madagascar and India, and Madagascar and South Amer
