Deforestation and Forest
Degradation in Madagascar:
600 A.D. to 3rd Millennium
Compton Tucker, Jeffrey Masek, Gerasimos
Michalitsianos, Katherine Melocik,
Jon Bergengren, Claire Porter, & Paul Morin
Madagascar--a wonder of
Biological diversity
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center & Univ. of
Minnesota
Lemurs: Order Primates Infraorder
Lemuriformes ~51 taxa, 33 species,
14 genera, 5 families
Western Grey
Bamboo Lemur
All endemic to Madagascar.
Radiation began ~60 M years ago.
16 species extinct: all larger, some
up to 200 kg. Demise from H.
sapiens’ hunting & habitat loss.
Birds: 33 of 37 genera endemic
Mammals: 90% of 115 species
endemic
Amphibians: 187 of 189 species
endemic
Reptiles: 290 of 300 species endemic
Central Plateau
Alaotra Reed Lemur
Slash & burn deforestation
Spiny Forest
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Deforestation and Habitat
Fragmentation in Madagascar:
600 A.D. to 3rd Millennium Part II
Departing from Harper et al. 2007
Massive use of commercial satellite data
2000-2001 Landsat-7 & 2013-14 Landsat-8
J. Bergengren’s potential veg. 1 km mapping
Madagascar Harper et al. 1950
to 2000 Forest Extent
• Aerial photos from 1950s (F.
Blasco)
• 1970s MSS Landsat data
• 1990 TM Landsat data
• 2000 ETM Landsat-7
• Limited field verification
Malagasy Forests > 3 km from “edge”
50 years of
deforestation
and habitat
fragmentation
Harper et al.
2007 Environ.
Cons.
Over flights
GIS-linked Digital Photography and Videography
 Digital photo and
video
 GPS link
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Madagascar Prehuman to 2014
Forest Extent
• Simulated data for prehuman
vegetation distributions
• Aerial photos from 1950s (F.
Blasco)
• 1970s MSS Landsat data
• 1990 TM Landsat data
• 2000 ETM Landsat-7
• 2014 OLI Landsat-8
Climatic simulation results
Malagasy Prehuman Forest Extent
>95% of endemic animals forest/woodland
dwelling (>90% all fauna endemic to island)
Grasslands species-poor (500 species/8%endemic)
Forests/woodlands: >90% endemic & very species
-rich (>10,000 endemic vascular plants)
Isolated forest patches throughout island
Pollen record shows max. forest pollen 600 A.D.
Humans arrived circa 600 A.D.
June Relative Humidity, Air Temperature,
and Precipitation
Coupled global vegetation-climate model
110 plant life forms -- groups of similar
physiognomic species
Equilibria predicted from monthly
temperature, humidity, and precipitation:
hottest month, coldest month, moisture
index, summer precip. fraction etc.
Competition for sunlight, fire, tree fall +
climate determines fractional cover
Bergengren et al. 2001 & 2011
Climatic simulation results
Evergreen
broadleaf trees
Arid
shrubs
Climatic simulation results
Field data
reconstruction
Tropical moist
forest
Simulation
Tropical dry
forests
Spiny
woodlands
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Climatic simulation conclusions
>90% of prehuman
Madagascar (circa 600 A.D.)
was forest or woodland using
present climate data.
Humans and fire have
degraded Madagascar’s
forests and woodlands.
Innovative Use of Commercial
Satellite Data
Team Members Paul Morin & Claire Porter of
Univ. of Minnesota
Good coverage
Mosaics for verification/accuracy determination
Unique Quantification of Forest Degradation
Working toward automated use
Commercial
Satellite
Panchromatic
Data Mosaic
1000 scenes
100 x 100 km
blocks
not blended
Commercial
Satellite
Panchromatic
Data Mosaic
1000 scenes
100 x 100 km
blocks
not blended
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Tropical Deciduous Forest
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Madagascar Landsat Forest
Mapping Verification
Explicit Forest Degradation
Explicit Forest Degradation
Fantastic Vegetation Mapping
Potential for Degradation
Near wall-to-wall verification &
NO CHANCE OF FALLING OUT!!
Ebola River
Hemorrhagic
Fever
Ebola outbreaks have occurred in
African gallery tropical forest
within a savanna matrix or in
continuous tropical rain forest
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Hypothesis: strong dry period at end of
rainy season followed by rapid recovery
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