Macaronesia
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robot Adding: [[da:Makaronesien]]
{{Unreferenced|date=August 2007}}
[[image:Macaronesia.jpg|thumb|240px|Macaronesia]]
{{distinguish|Micronesia}}
'''''Macaronesia''''' is a modern collective name for several groups of [[island]]s in the [[North Atlantic Ocean]] near [[Europe]] and [[North Africa]] belonging to three countries: [[Portugal]], [[Spain]], and [[Cape Verde]]. The name (which is often misspelt 'Macronesia') comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] for "[[Fortunate Isles|fortunate islands]]", a term used by [[Ancient Greek]] [[geographer]]s for islands to the west of the [[Straits of Gibraltar]].
Macaronesia consists of four [[archipelago]]s:
Europe (politically [http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#europe]):
* [[Azores]] ''([[Portugal]])''
* [[Madeira]], including [[Savage Islands]] and [[Desertas Islands]] ''([[Portugal]])''
* [[Canary Islands]] ''([[Spain]])''
Africa (politically [http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#africa]):
* [[Cape Verde]] ''([[Cape Verde]])''
The islands of Macaronesia are [[volcano|volcanic]] in origin, and are thought to be the product of several geologic [[Hotspot (geology)|hotspot]]s.
The [[climate]] of the Macaronesian islands ranges from [[Subtropics|subtropical]] to [[Tropics|tropical]]. The [[Portugal|Portuguese]] archipelagos of the [[Azores]] and [[Madeira]] have a generally cooler climate and higher rainfall than the [[Canary Islands|Canaries]] and [[Cape Verde]].
The islands have a unique [[biogeography]], and are home to several distinct plant and animal communities. None of the Macaronesian islands were part of a continent, so the native plants and animals reached the islands via long-distance dispersal. [[Laurel forest|Laurel-leaved forests]], called ''[[laurisilva]]'', once covered most of the Azores, Madeira, and parts of the Canaries between 400-1200 m altitude (the eastern Canaries and Cape Verde being too dry). These forests resemble the ancient forests that covered the [[Mediterranean]] basin and northwestern Africa before cooling and drying of the [[ice age]]s. Trees of the genera ''[[Apollonias]]'' ([[Lauraceae]]), ''[[Clethra]]'' ([[Clethra]]ceae), ''[[Dracaena (plant)|Dracaena]]'' ([[Ruscaceae]]), ''[[Ocotea]]'' ([[Lauraceae]]), ''[[Persea]]'' ([[Lauraceae]]), and ''[[Picconia]]'' ([[Oleaceae]]), which are found in the Macaronesian laurel forests, are also known from fossils to have lived around the Mediterranean before the ice ages.
Felling of the forests for timber and firewood, clearing vegetation for grazing and agriculture, and the introduction of exotic plants and animals by humans has displaced much of the native vegetation. The laurisilva has been reduced to small pockets. As a result, many of the endemic [[biota (ecology)|biota]] of the islands are seriously endangered or extinct.
The [[jumping spider]] genus ''[[Macaroeris]]'' is named after Macaronesia.
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[[Category:Islands of Macaronesia| ]]
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