Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
N
Mon Vallon
Legend
cultivation
hunting
reforestation
scrub_savannah
forest
Lakes
human_pop
024
8 216
Kilometers
Figure 8.1. Distribution of vegetation types in Mauritius.
area used for growing sugarcane decreased by 15 percent, to cover 45 percent
of the total land area. During the same period, urban land use increased by 215
percent, thereby significantly increasing its share of the total island land use.
Another significant change was the rapid growth, especially in the late 1980s,
of the tourist industry. Some 50 beach hotels now occupy almost 30 km of the
coastline, or about 2.9 km
2
. This is a small amount of total island land space,
but a very scarce land resource that included rare endemic mangrove vege-
tation. Lutz and Holm go on to state that, compared to these, other land use
changes during this period were minor.
Macaques in Mauritius
The macaques are located in three principal areas in Mauritius, broadly cor-
responding to three major massif complexes, and areas contiguous with them.
