Effects of Altitude on the Conservation Biogeography of Lemurs in SouthEast Madagascar

Lehman, Shawn M.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-8175-1_1

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…is higher than that for primates outside Madagascar (around 400 m a.s.l. ; Goodman & Ganzhorn 2004, Lehman 2014). The large data set accumulated over the last decade on lemur abundance and distribution at rainforest sites and the easy access to contextual ecological data offer the opportunity to explore this hypothesis with more robust analyses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Considering that the optimal conditions for plant productivity usually occur at intermediate elevations in the tropics and lemur diversity is known to be higher at intermediate elevations, we hypothesised that the maxima of population abundance for most lemur species also occur at intermediate elevations (600-1200 m a.s.l. ; Lehman 2014). We also hypothesised that small lemur species would show their maxima of abundance in lowland rainforests, since the ratio between energy expenditure and nutrient intake is disadvantageous for them at high elevations due to the increased costs of thermoregulation and locomotion in cool and harsh habitats (Caldecott 1980).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Elevation gradients of lemur abundance emphasise the importance of Madagascar’s lowland rainforest for the conservation of endemic taxa

et al. 2019

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1. Elevation gradients correlate with changes in several environmental conditions and are known to influence animal abundance. Animals in regions with a naturally limited extent of lowland rainforest are expected to have evolved adaptations to intermediate elevations that provided a stable environment during their evolution. 2. Since the lowland rainforest of Madagascar has a limited extent and suffers from increasing anthropogenic pressure, it is essential to understand how well species tolerate intermediate and high elevations. In this study, we aim to quantify the relationship between lemur abundance and elevation in the eastern rainforest of Madagascar. 3. We correlated abundance data on 26 lemur species (10 genera), including 492 records from 26 studies, with elevation. We analysed the consistency of correlations across species with a meta-analytical approach. We assessed the relationship between species' body mass and elevational gradients of abundance, and controlled for species' elevational range and median elevation. We then ran generalised linear mixed models to determine whether encounter rates were influenced by elevation, body mass, plant productivity, and anthropogenic disturbance. 4. Overall, the abundance of lemur species in Malagasy rainforests was negatively correlated with elevation, and species occupying broader elevational ranges showed stronger correlations. Body mass did not influence species' tolerance of high elevations. Even though several lemur species showed tolerance to the elevation gradient, the few remaining large patches of lowland rainforests host lemur species at greater abundances than other sites. Abundance across species was negatively related to body mass, elevation and seasonality in plant productivity, and positively related to plant productivity and anthropogenic disturbance. 5. Despite the ecological flexibility of many lemur species, the largest remnant patches of lowland rainforests host the highest levels of lemur abundance and are key to lemur conservation. It is crucial to preserve this priority habitat both for biodiversity conservation and for our understanding of lemur adaptations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevation gradients of lemur abundance emphasise the importance of Madagascar’s lowland rainforest for the conservation of endemic taxa

et al. 2019

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“…This means that Ravenala is primarily used as first materials for construction in Ambalabe commune, in addition to other construction materials like wood for posts or rafters. Indeed, it is almost the common use of the plant in the East Coast of Madagascar and villagers depend on Ravenala for shelter [ 22 ]. In Ambalabe community, the species is used for traditional housing which is encountered in most villages, and also for temporary houses in the field in which leaves are also used for walls (Figure 6 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnobotanical and economic value of Ravenala madagascariensisSonn. in Eastern Madagascar

Rakotoarivelo

Razanatsima

Rakotoarivony

et al. 2014

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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BackgroundKnown worldwide as the “traveler’s tree”, the Malagasy endemic species Ravenala madagascariensis Sonn. (Strelitziaceae) is considered as an iconic symbol of Madagascar. It is a widespread species in the eastern part of the country with four different varieties which are well represented in Ambalabe community. All of them are used for different purposes and the species represents an important cultural value in the lives of the local population. However, uses of Ravenala are only generally well known by local population. Thus, in this study, we report on the different uses of Ravenala and its importance to the Ambalabe local people.MethodsSemi-structured interviews among 116 people, 59 men and 57 women with ages ranging from 17 to 84 years old, free listing and market surveys were conducted in order to collect the vernacular names, the uses of Ravenala madagascariensis and the price of plant parts sold in local market. Then, the uses were categorized according to Cámara-Leret et al. classification.ResultsDifferent parts of the plant are currently used by local population, which are grouped as heart, trunk, leaves, petioles and rachis. Seven categories of use were recorded, most cited include: human food, utensils and tools, and house building. The most commonly used parts are trunk, heart, leaves and petioles for which the price varies between $3-15. Uses mentioned for construction (floor, roofs and wall), human food and utensils and tools are the most frequent and salient for local population. But the use of the plant as first materials for house building is revealed to be the most important for them.ConclusionsRavenala madagascariensis is very important to the Ambalabe communities because for local population, it represents the Betsimisaraka cultural and traditional use of the plant for house building. Moreover, none of its parts are discarded. The harvest and sale of R. madagascariensis for building materials can also provide an additional source of income to the family. Besides, using Ravenala in house construction reduces the use of slow growing trees and contributes to the sustainable use of natural forest resources.

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“…As a cautionary note, other studies have found species within survey sites only after years of survey effort. For example, Lehman (2014) unexpectedly observed a single Indri indri, which is also large and has conspicuous loud calls, when walking to camp but not during 1,318 km of surveys in the wet forests of Vohibola III in SE Madagascar.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species‐area relationships of lemurs in a fragmented landscape in Madagascar

Steffens

Lehman

2019

American J Primatol

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We used species-area relationships (SARs) to investigate the effects of habitat loss on lemur biogeography. We measured species richness via visual surveys on line transects within 42 fragments of dry deciduous forest at the Ambanjabe field site in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar. We measured human disturbance and habitat characteristics within 38 of the 42 fragments. We measured the distance between each fragment and the nearest settlement, continuous forest, and nearest neighboring fragment. We fit 10 candidate SAR models to the data using nonlinear least squares regression and compared them using Akaikeʼs Information Criterion (AIC). To determine how habitat characteristics, as well as area, influenced species richness, we ran a hierarchical partitioning procedure to select which variables to include in generalized additive models (GAMs) and compared them using AIC.Contrary to expectations, we found that lemurs form convex SARs, without a "small island effect", and with the power model being the most likely SAR model. Although we found that four variables (area, survey effort, and total human disturbance, and mean tree height) independently contributed greater than 10% of the variation in lemur species richness, only area was included in the most likely model. We suggest that the power model was the most likely SAR model and our inability to detect a "small island effect" are the result of Microcebus spp. being edge tolerant and capable of dispersing through matrix, scale issues in the study design, and low γ-diversity in the landscape. However, more study is needed to determine what role human disturbance plays in influencing species richness in lemurs. K E Y W O R D Sarea, habitat loss, patches, power model, sigmoidal model

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Effects of Altitude on the Conservation Biogeography of Lemurs in SouthEast Madagascar

Cited by 11 publications

References 78 publications

Elevation gradients of lemur abundance emphasise the importance of Madagascar’s lowland rainforest for the conservation of endemic taxa

Elevation gradients of lemur abundance emphasise the importance of Madagascar’s lowland rainforest for the conservation of endemic taxa

Ethnobotanical and economic value of Ravenala madagascariensisSonn. in Eastern Madagascar

Species‐area relationships of lemurs in a fragmented landscape in Madagascar

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