Agent-mediated spatial storage effect in heterogeneous habitat stabilizes competitive mouse lemur coexistence in Menabe Central, Western Madagascar

Schäffler, Livia; Saborowski, Joachim; Kappeler, Peter M.

doi:10.1186/s12898-015-0040-1

Cited by 16 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 112 publications

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“…Although we do not fully understand the extent of mouse lemurs’ geographic range overlap, given the recent updates to their taxonomy we expect that habitat partitioning will probably play a larger role in order for species with overlapping niches to coexist as more habitat becomes degraded across Madagascar, and is already likely to be an important driver of population density (Schäffler et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; Schäffler et al. , Steffens & Lehman ). Mouse lemurs are even found in areas heavily affected by human activity, including secondary forests, agricultural lands, and highly disturbed forest edges (Lehman et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, mouse lemurs have not only been found exhibiting high densities in these degraded habitats (Schäffler et al. ) but also crowding into favourable habitat patches used by sympatric species when they have no other choice (Steffens & Lehman ). Given their flexibility in adapting to heterogeneous environments and conditions, we expect that the higher levels of habitat fragmentation and human activity in the western dry forests (Harper et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A biogeographical perspective on the variation in mouse lemur density throughout Madagascar

et al. 2017

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Madagascar is home to the smallest primates in the world, the mouse lemurs (Microcebus species). Twenty‐four species of mouse lemur are currently recognised and are found in variable ecosystems, from dry forests and spiny deserts to humid forests. Due to their widespread distribution and the large number of sympatric species, mouse lemurs can be used as a model to understand the linkages among species richness, population density, and habitat. As all lemurs are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, this information can also be used to inform conservation management. We hypothesise that on an island‐wide scale, we will find higher population densities in western dry forests than in eastern humid forests because the western dry forests exhibit lower species richness, more sympatric habitat use, and lower resource stability than the eastern humid forests. We conducted a literature review of population density estimates of known mouse lemur species, and used those data to conduct a meta‐analysis and estimate overall average population density by geographic region. Our findings suggest that mouse lemur species living in western dry forest generally exhibit higher densities than those in eastern humid forests. This may be partly explained by higher habitat fragmentation in western dry forests, where species co‐occur, but is likely to be a function of the magnitude and variability in seasonally available resources in each forest type. Higher seasonality results in less constant food availability and lower levels of environmental predictability, fostering species capable of coping with environmental change and maintaining high densities throughout periods of resource paucity. Our study highlights the importance of conducting Microcebus population density research that adheres to standardised methodological approaches. We point to the need for population density estimates for several species for which data are lacking. Such knowledge is important to assess the conservation status of these species, but also to enhance our ability to identify the macro‐biogeographical and local ecological drivers of interspecific and intraspecific variability in population density.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A biogeographical perspective on the variation in mouse lemur density throughout Madagascar

et al. 2017

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“…Notably, some species of mouse lemur can occur in high densities in degraded forests and along forest ecotones and can thrive in areas with invasive fruiting trees. Thus, of all of the endemic Malagasy primates, they are perhaps most likely to be robust to human-mediated landscape modification (32), although this ecological flexibility appears to be true for some, but not all, species (33). Despite their diminutive size, they have been observed to use terrestrial means for dispersal between trees.…”

Section: Why Mouse Lemurs?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Geogenetic patterns in mouse lemurs (genus Microcebus ) reveal the ghosts of Madagascar's forests past

Yoder

Campbell

Blanco

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

103

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Phylogeographic analysis can be described as the study of the geological and climatological processes that have produced contemporary geographic distributions of populations and species. Here, we attempt to understand how the dynamic process of landscape change on Madagascar has shaped the distribution of a targeted clade of mouse lemurs (genus Microcebus) and, conversely, how phylogenetic and population genetic patterns in these small primates can reciprocally advance our understanding of Madagascar's prehuman environment. The degree to which human activity has impacted the natural plant communities of Madagascar is of critical and enduring interest. Today, the eastern rainforests are separated from the dry deciduous forests of the west by a large expanse of presumed anthropogenic grassland savanna, dominated by the Family Poaceae, that blankets most of the Central Highlands. Although there is firm consensus that anthropogenic activities have transformed the original vegetation through agricultural and pastoral practices, the degree to which closed-canopy forest extended from the east to the west remains debated. Phylogenetic and population genetic patterns in a five-species clade of mouse lemurs suggest that longitudinal dispersal across the island was readily achieved throughout the Pleistocene, apparently ending at ∼55 ka. By examining patterns of both inter-and intraspecific genetic diversity in mouse lemur species found in the eastern, western, and Central Highland zones, we conclude that the natural environment of the Central Highlands would have been mosaic, consisting of a matrix of wooded savanna that formed a transitional zone between the extremes of humid eastern and dry western forest types.phylogeography | climate change | speciation | deforestation | ddRAD

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“…Spatial storage effect is one of potential mechanisms contributing to coexistence, particularly between closely related species (Schäffler, Saborowski, & Kappeler, 2015). The spatial storage effect operates when competing species exhibit different responses to spatial variation and the strength of competition varies spatially (Abrams & Holt, 2002;Jiang & Morin, 2007).…”

Section: Effects Of Habitat Orientation On Zooplankton Behavior Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat orientation alters the outcome of interspecific competition: A microcosm study with zooplankton grazers

Pan

Zhang

Sun

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Habitat orientation has recently been demonstrated to affect the foraging behavior, growth, and production of plankton grazers. Because the orientation effect may vary with species, we hypothesize that habitat orientation may alter interspecific interactions between animal species. We experimentally investigated how habitat orientation (placing cuboid chambers in three orientations with long, medium, and small side as the chamber height) affected the interaction between two common cladoceran species, Daphnia magna and Moina micrura, which competitively exploited green algae of Chlorella pyrenoidosa at two volume scales (64 and 512 ml). Results show that chamber orientation and volume additively affected the behavior and species performance of the grazers. Specifically, both grazer species generally decreased their average swimming velocity, grazing rate (on algal cells), body size, and survival and reproduction rates with increasing chamber height for both chamber volumes and with decreasing chamber volume regardless of chamber orientation. Nevertheless, the decrease magnitude was greater for M. micrura with increasing chamber height but was greater for D. magna with decreasing chamber volume. Correspondingly, when cocultured, the density ratio of D. magna to M. micrura increased with increasing chamber height but decreased with decreasing chamber volume. At the end of the experiment, none of D. magna individuals survived in the small and short (large‐based) chambers, and few M. micrura individuals survived in large and tall (small‐based) chambers. These results indicate that both habitat orientation and size affect the outcome of interspecific competition between grazer species. We suggest that variation in habitat orientation may improve community coexistence and species diversity in nature.

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Agent-mediated spatial storage effect in heterogeneous habitat stabilizes competitive mouse lemur coexistence in Menabe Central, Western Madagascar

Cited by 16 publications

References 112 publications

A biogeographical perspective on the variation in mouse lemur density throughout Madagascar

A biogeographical perspective on the variation in mouse lemur density throughout Madagascar

Geogenetic patterns in mouse lemurs (genus Microcebus ) reveal the ghosts of Madagascar's forests past

Habitat orientation alters the outcome of interspecific competition: A microcosm study with zooplankton grazers

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