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Mucuna Paniculata
''Mucuna paniculata'' is a species of flowering, woody vine in the family Fabaceae, the bean family. It is native to northern Madagascar where it is locally known in Malagasy as ''vohinkovika''. It flowers between June and August. Distribution and habitat ''Mucuna paniculata'' is found at elevations between sea level to in northern Madagascar. These vines can be found in both humid and sub-humid forests, usually near rivers and streams. Toxicity Species in the genus '' Mucuna'' are known to carry irritant hairs. These hairs contain mucunain, an enzyme which causes itching. This enzyme can be destroyed using heat. Cultivation This plant usually grows well in well-drained soil under shade. They are propagated with seeds. Conservation It is listed as ' least concern' by the IUCN. Threats Habitat destruction by slash-and-burn techniques pose a potential threat to the species. Protected areas The species is found in the protected areas of the Betampona Integral Natural Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gilbert Baker
John Gilbert Baker (13 January 1834 – 16 August 1920) was an English botanist. His son was the botanist Edmund Gilbert Baker (1864–1949). Biography Baker was born in Guisborough in North Yorkshire, the son of John and Mary (née Gilbert) Baker, and died in Kew. He was educated at Quaker schools at Ackworth School and Bootham School, York. He then worked at the library and herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew between 1866 and 1899, and was keeper of the herbarium from 1890 to 1899. He wrote handbooks on many plant groups, including Amaryllidaceae, Bromeliaceae, Iridaceae, Liliaceae, and ferns. His published works includ''Flora of Mauritius and the Seychelles''(1877) and ''Handbook of the Irideae'' (1892). He married Hannah Unthank in 1860. Their son Edmund was one of twins, and his twin brother died before 1887. John G. Baker was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1878. He was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1907. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Least Concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. They do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, or (before 2001) conservation dependent. Species cannot be assigned the "Least Concern" category unless they have had their population status evaluated. That is, adequate information is needed to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution or population status. Evaluation Since 2001 the category has had the abbreviation "LC", following the IUCN 2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1). Before 2001 "least concern" was a subcategory of the "Lower Risk" category and assigned the code "LR/lc" or lc. Around 20% of least concern taxa (3261 of 15636) in the IUCN database still use the code "LR/lc", which indicates they have not been re-evaluate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montagne D'Ambre National Park
Montagne d'Ambre National Park is a national park in the Diana Region of northern Madagascar. The park is known for its endemic flora and fauna, water falls and crater lakes. It is north of the capital, Antananarivo and is one of the most biologically diverse places in all of Madagascar with seventy-five species of birds, twenty-five species of mammals, and fifty-nine species of reptiles known to inhabit the park. Geography The park covers an area of on an isolated volcanic massif, of mostly basaltic rock, above the surrounding dry region. Attractions include spectacular waterfalls and several crater lakes. There are numerous rivers and streams and the park is a water catchment area for the town of Antsiranana, which is surrounded by dry, sparse forests and semi-desert with succulent plants. Annual rainfall in the park is compared with around the town. The area is named after the deposits of copal, a soft form of amber. Amber is one of the most accessible parks in northern M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masoala National Park
Masoala National Park, in northeast Madagascar, is the largest of the island's protected areas. Most of the park is situated in Sava Region and a part in Analanjirofo. Created in 1997, the park protects 2,300 square kilometres of rainforest and 100 square kilometres of marine parks. The Masoala Peninsula is exceptionally diverse due to its large size, and variety of habitats. Altogether, the park protects tropical rainforest, coastal forest, flooded forest, marsh, and mangrove. Three marine parks protect coral reefs and a dazzling array of marine life. Climate This is an exceptionally wet area of Madagascar. The driest part of the year is from September to December. As the park is accessible only by a three-hour boat journey, the cyclone season (January to March) is best avoided. Flora and fauna There are ten lemur species, including the red ruffed lemur, which is native to the peninsula. The island reserve of Nosy Mangabe is one of the best sites in Madagascar to try to glim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marojejy National Park
Marojejy National Park () is a national park in the Sava region of northeastern Madagascar. It covers and is centered on the Marojejy Massif, a mountain chain that rises to an elevation of . Access to the area around the massif was restricted to research scientists when the site was set aside as a strict nature reserve in 1952. In 1998, it was opened to the public when it was converted into a national park. It became part of the World Heritage Site known as the Rainforests of the Atsinanana in 2007. "Unique in the world, a place of dense, jungly rainforests, sheer high cliffs, and plants and animals found nowhere else on earth", Marojejy National Park has received plaudits in the ''New York Times'' and ''Smithsonian Magazine'' for its natural beauty and rich biodiversity that encompasses critically endangered members of the silky sifaka. To that end, a global consortium of conservation organizations, including the Lemur Conservation Foundation, Duke Lemur Center and Madagasca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manongarivo Special Reserve
Manongarivo Reserve is a wildlife reserve in the North-West of Madagascar in the region of Diana. Manongarivo is home to both the Sambirano mouse lemur and the Sambirano woolly lemur. Geography The reserve has a surface of 64,356 ha and is situated at 35 km from Ambanja. It has an elevation of 1013 metres. Flora and fauna The vegetation is composed of low- and mid-altitude dense humid forest. Low-altitude, dry-transitional forest covers 18% of the reserve, and is dominated by trees of ''Canarium'', ''Symphonia'' (and other species of Guttiferae), ''Terminalia'', ''Ravensara'' and species of Sapotaceae, with smaller trees such as ''Phyllarthron'' in the subcanopy. There are about sixty species of birds in the reserve, thirty of which are endemic to Madagascar. Some of the species found in the reserve are: Fauna * '' Eulemur macaco'' * '' Microcebus sambiranensis'' * '' Philepitta castanea'' * ''Ploceus sakalava'' Flora * '' Bazzania descrescens'' * '' Diplasiolejeunea co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betampona Reserve
Betampona Reserve is a nature reserve in Toamasina Province of Madagascar. It is located 40 km northwest of Toamasina Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ... and was established in 1927. The area of the reserve is 29.2 km. Like most of the geology of the central and eastern coasts of Madagascar, Betampona consists of metamorphic and igneous rocks of the precambrian basement. Betampona is typical of other Malagasy rainforests, which is characterized by a large variety of low canopies and small trees compared to rainforests in other parts of the world. A hot and humid climate prevails. References UNEP World Database on Protected Areas: Betampona Reserve [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protected Area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international organizations involved. Generally speaking though, protected areas are understood to be those in which human presence or at least the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood, non-timber forest products, water, ...) is limited. The term "protected area" also includes marine protected areas, the boundaries of which will include some area of ocean, and transboundary protected areas that overlap multiple countries which remove the borders inside the area for conservation and economic purposes. There are over 161,000 protected areas in the world (as of October 2010) with more added daily, representing between 10 and 15 percent of the world's land surface area. As of 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slash-and-burn
Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed vegetation, or "slash", is then left to dry, usually right before the rainiest part of the year. Then, the biomass is burned, resulting in a nutrient-rich layer of ash which makes the soil fertile, as well as temporarily eliminating weed and pest species. After about three to five years, the plot's productivity decreases due to depletion of nutrients along with weed and pest invasion, causing the farmers to abandon the field and move to a new area. The time it takes for a swidden to recover depends on the location and can be as little as five years to more than twenty years, after which the plot can be slashed and burned again, repeating the cycle. In Bangladesh and India, the practice is known as jhum or jhoom. Slash-and-burn is a type of shif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Habitat Destruction
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby reducing biodiversity and species abundance. Habitat destruction is the leading cause of biodiversity loss. Fragmentation and loss of habitat have become one of the most important topics of research in ecology as they are major threats to the survival of endangered species. Activities such as harvesting natural resources, industrial production and urbanization are human contributions to habitat destruction. Pressure from agriculture is the principal human cause. Some others include mining, logging, trawling, and urban sprawl. Habitat destruction is currently considered the primary cause of species extinction worldwide. Environmental factors can contribute to habitat destruction more indirectly. Geological processes, climate change, introdu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. IUCN's mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable". Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to sustainable development in its projects. IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation. It tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice and through building partnerships. The organization is best known to the wider ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mucunain
The proteolytic enzyme mucunain is a protein in the tissues of certain legumes of the genus ''Mucuna'', especially velvet bean (''Mucuna pruriens''). In these species the mucunain is found in stiff hairs, or trichomes, covering the seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ... pods. When the hairs rub off and come in contact with skin they cause severe itching and irritation. References Plant proteins Enzymes {{Enzyme-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
