Ver el código de «Macaronesia»

{{Short description|Collection of four archipelagos in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Europe and Africa}}
{{Distinguish|Micronesia}}

{{Coord|24|15|24|N|22|28|16|W|display=title|source:dewiki}}

[[Image:Macaronesia_location.svg|thumb|240px|Macaronesia]]
[[File:Flags of Macaronesia.svg|thumb|240px|Flags of Macaronesia]]
'''Macaronesia''' ([[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: ''Macaronésia'') is a collection of four [[archipelago|archipelagos]] in the [[Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic Ocean]] off the coast of the continents of [[Europe]] and [[Africa]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/where-is-macaronesia.html|title=Where Is Macaronesia?|website=WorldAtlas|language=en|access-date=2019-07-08}}</ref> Each archipelago is made up of a number of [[List of islands in the Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic oceanic islands]] formed by [[seamount|seamounts]] on the ocean floor with peaks above the ocean's surface. The Macaronesian islands belong to three countries: [[Portugal]], [[Spain]], and [[Cape Verde]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.international.ucla.edu/asc/countries/|title=Countries .::. UCLA Africa Studies Center|website=www.international.ucla.edu|accessdate=18 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/europe/european-union/spain/canary-islands/|title=Canary Islands - Spain|website=greenwichmeantime.com|accessdate=18 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.avcan.org/varios/MAKAVOL_Teneguia_Workshop.pdf |title=Makavol 2010 Teneguia Workshop |publisher=Avcan.org |accessdate=2013-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425232014/http://www.avcan.org/varios/MAKAVOL_Teneguia_Workshop.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Politically, the islands belonging to Portugal and Spain are part of the [[European Union]]. Geologically, Macaronesia is part of the [[African Plate]], including the Azores, which mark its edge at the meeting point with the [[Eurasian Plate|Eurasian]] and [[North American Plate|North American Plates]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://diapiro.ictja.csic.es/gt/ivone/research_AFEU.html|title=Africa-Eurasia plate boundary - I. Jimenez-Munt|website=diapiro.ictja.csic.es|access-date=2018-05-15}}</ref><ref name=WGSRPD/>

The [[European Union]] considers that the three European archipelagos (i.e. not including Cape Verde) conform a unique [[biogeographic realm|biogeographic region]] called the [[Macaronesian Biogeographic Region|Macaronesian Region]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/biogeog_regions/macaronesian/index_en.htm|title=The Macaronesian Region|website=ec.europa.eu|access-date=2019-07-08}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The name is derived from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] words for "[[Fortunate Isles|islands of the fortunate]]" ({{lang|grc|μακάρων νῆσοι}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|makárōn nêsoi}}), a term used by [[Ancient Greek]] [[geographer]]s for islands to the west of the [[Strait of Gibraltar]]. Macaronesia is occasionally misspelled "Macronesia" in false analogy with [[Micronesia]], an unrelated [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] archipelago containing, among other nations, [[Federated States of Micronesia|a country of the same name]].

== Archipelagos ==
Macaronesia consists of four main [[archipelago]]s. From north to south, these are:<ref name=WGSRPD>{{cite book |last=Brummitt |first=R.K. |year=2001 |title=World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions: Edition 2 |publisher=International Working Group on Taxonomic Databases For Plant Sciences (TDWG) |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/tdwg/TDWG_geo2.pdf |accessdate=2016-04-06 |p=37 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125135239/http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/tdwg/TDWG_geo2.pdf |archivedate=2016-01-25 }}</ref>

* the [[Azores]], an [[Autonomous Regions of Portugal|Autonomous Region]] of [[Portugal]]
* [[Madeira]] (also including the [[Savage Islands]]), an [[Autonomous Regions of Portugal|Autonomous Region]] of [[Portugal]]
* the [[Canary Islands]], an [[autonomous communities of Spain|Autonomous Community]] of [[Spain]]
* [[Cape Verde]], an independent [[West Africa]]n country

==Geography and geology==
{{unreferenced section|date=June 2018}}

[[File:Tephra Layers at Capelinhos volcano in Azores 2014.jpg|thumb|Macaronesian archipelagos were, and are still, created by volcanic activity. Layers of volcanic [[tephra]] formed by the 1957 eruption of [[Capelinhos]] volcano on the island of [[Faial Island|Faial]] in the Azores.]]

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 [[Maritime temperate climate|maritime temperate]], [[mediterranean climate|Mediterranean]] and [[humid subtropical climate|subtropical]] in the Azores and Madeira,  [[mediterranean climate|Mediterranean]] and [[humid subtropical climate|subtropical]] in some Canary islands to [[arid climate|arid]] in certain geologically older islands of the Canaries (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura), some islands of the Madeira Archipelago (Selvagens and Porto Santo) and Cape Verde (Sal, Boa Vista and Maio), and even [[Tropical climate|tropical]] in the younger islands of both southern archipelagos (Santo Antão, Santiago and Fogo in Cape Verde). In some cases there are variations due to the [[rain shadow]] effect. The ''[[laurisilva]]'' forests of Macaronesia are a type of mountain [[cloud forest]] with [[relict]] species of a [[vegetation type]] which originally covered much of the [[Mediterranean Basin]] when the [[climate]] of that region was more [[humidity|humid]]. The species have evolved to adapt to the islands’ conditions and many are [[endemic]].

The islands have a unique [[biogeography]], and are home to several distinct plant and animal communities. The [[jumping spider]] genus ''[[Macaroeris]]'' is named after Macaronesia. 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 and 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 the cooling and drying of the [[ice age]]s. Trees of the genera ''[[Apollonias]]'', ''[[Clethra]]'', ''[[Dracaena (plant)|Dracaena]]'', ''[[Ocotea]]'', ''[[Persea]]'', and ''[[Picconia]]'', which are found in the Macaronesian laurel forests, are also known from fossil evidence to have lived around the Mediterranean before the ice ages.

==Conservation issues==
[[File:Levada do Caldeirão Verde, Madeira (09611).jpg|thumb|Primeval laurisilva forest. Some remaining patches of this threatened original native nature in Macaronesia were protected by law in 2001, except in Cape Verde.]]

Felling of the forests for timber and firewood, clearing vegetation for grazing and agriculture, and the introduction of foreign plants and animals by humans have displaced much of the original native vegetation.{{when|date=May 2017}} The laurisilva [[habitat]] has been reduced to small disconnected pockets. As a result, many of the endemic [[biota (ecology)|biota]] of the islands are now seriously [[endangered]] or extinct. Alien predators &ndash; in particular domestic and feral cats &ndash; are currently one of the most serious threats to the endemic fauna. Despite the fact that cats prey mostly on introduced mammals, such as [[rodent]]s and rabbits, this feeding sustains a bigger feline population (thought to be a [[hyperpredation]] process), and has a further impact on the endemic reptiles and birds.{{clarify|date=June 2014}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://petsaspests.blogspot.com/2013/03/cat-diet-on-macaronesia-atlantic-ocean.html|title=Stray pets: Cat diet in Macaronesia (Atlantic Ocean)|first=|last=Jorge|date=28 March 2013|publisher=|accessdate=18 June 2019}}</ref>

In the European part of Macaronesia (Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands), conservation efforts include large areas protected by the [[Natura 2000]] regulations of the European Union, since 2001. All in all, 5000&nbsp;km² of land and sea are protected area in these three archipelagos.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/biogeog_regions/macaronesian/index_en.htm |title=The Macaronesian Region |publisher=European Commission |accessdate=17 May 2017}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Africa|Europe|Geography}}
* [[Fortunate Isles]]
* [[List of islands in the Atlantic Ocean]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Macaronesia}}
* [http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/info/pubs/docs/biogeos/Macaronesian.pdf European Union: Report on biodiversity in Macaronesia]
* [http://petsaspests.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/cat-diet-on-macaronesia-atlantic-ocean.html Review on cats' diet on Macaronesian islands]

{{Floristic regions}}

[[Category:Macaronesia| ]]
[[Category:Landforms of the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:Floristic regions]]
[[Category:Floristic provinces]]
[[Category:Phytogeography]]
[[Category:Geographical neologisms]]