Life in a fragment: Evolution of foraging strategies of translocated collared brown lemurs, <i>Eulemur collaris</i>, over an 18‐year period

Donati, Giuseppe; Campera, Marco; Balestri, Michela; Barresi, Marta; Kesch, Kristina; Ndremifidy, Kelard; Rabenantoandro, Jonhy; Račevska, Elena; Randriatafika, Faly; Ravaolahy, Murielle; Ravoahangy, Andriamandranto; Roma, Marika; Rowe, Fiona; Santini, Luca; Serra, Valentina; Zander, S.; Tsagnangara, Cedric; Vincelette, Manon; Ramanamanjato, Jean‐Baptiste

doi:10.1002/ajp.23106

Cited by 10 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 112 publications

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“…Yet, Clidemia hirta allowed the frugivorous black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata) to survive in forest fragments after a cyclone had blown down their fruit trees (Ratsimbazafy et al 2002) and plays a major role in restoring rainforest in northern Madagascar (Martinez and Razafindratsima 2014). Similarly, guava (Psidium guajava) is invasive in parts of Madagascar, but this exotic plant was observed to play a key role in the survival of collared brown lemurs (Eulemur collaris) in the Mandena Conservation Zone, southeast Madagascar (Donati et al 2020;Kull et al 2012). Though not covered by the present study, the introduced Opuntia spp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Utilitarian Plants for Lemur Conservation

et al. 2021

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Nature and species conservation often conflict with intensive natural resource or land use. Many protected areas are too small for long-term conservation of viable vertebrate populations, especially in Madagascar, and forests are subject to exploitation for a variety of natural resources. Trying to exclude people from the use of these resources has not been successful during economic, natural, or political crises or when human population growth outruns any development effort. People need economic and other benefits, and conservation measures have to account for these needs. We compiled native and introduced tree, shrub, and herbaceous species used by both people and native vertebrates for three regions, covering the domains of the dry, transitional, and humid forest of Madagascar. We carried out semistructured interviews and group discussions in 12 different villages in each study region in November 2017. People listed 139 utilitarian plant taxa. Our literature search revealed that 72 of these plant species and 13 genera used by people, were also used by 208 different terrestrial vertebrates including 58 lemur species. Application of the Forest Landscape Restoration approach with a combination of exotic and native plant species used by both people and animals could increase the economic value of restored forest habitats for people, thus providing incentives for forest conservation. Plantations of mixed utilitarian trees and shrubs could be integrated into agricultural landscapes. Among land-living vertebrates, lemurs seem to benefit most from this approach. These measures might contribute to a successful array of biodiversity conservation in anthropogenic landscapes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Utilitarian Plants for Lemur Conservation

et al. 2021

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“…Fragmentation is also often associated with increased human accessibility, facilitating greater 3 opportunity for illegal hunting, resource extraction and disease transmission (Laurance et al 2006;Nunn et al 2016;Benítez -Lopez et al 2019). Yet, primate responses to fragmentation vary in the short term and the effects are not always adverse, as habitat change can provide initial ecological opportunity to some species (Raboy et al 2004;Merker et al 2005;Herrera et al 2011;McLennan et al 2017;Nekaris et al 2017;Donati et al 2020). Landscape level analyses have identified key functional traits (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population Dynamics of Nocturnal Lemurs in Littoral Forest Fragments: The Importance of Long-Term Monitoring

et al. 2021

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Habitat loss and fragmentation pose a significant threat to many primate species worldwide, yet community level responses are complex and nuanced. Despite repeated calls from primatologists and the wider conservation community to increase monitoring initiatives that assess long-term population dynamics, such studies remain rare. Here we summarise results from a longitudinal study set in the littoral forests of southeast Madagascar. Littoral forests are a useful model for monitoring lemur population dynamics, as they are relatively well-studied and their highly fragmented nature enables the effect of forest size and anthropogenic impacts to be examined. This study focuses on three Endangered nocturnal lemur species -Avahi meridionalis, Cheirogaleus thomasi and Microcebus tanosi -across three forest fragments of different size and with different usage histories. Between 2011 and 2018, we walked 285km of line transect and recorded 1,968 lemur observations. Based on Distance Sampling analysis our results indicate that nocturnal lemurs respond to forest patch size and to levels of forest degradation in species-specific ways. The largest species, A. meridionalis, declined in density and encounter rate over time across the three study forests. C. thomasi populations appeared stable in all three fragments, with densities increasing in the most degraded forest. M. tanosi encounter rates were extremely low across all study fragments but were lowest in the most heavily degraded forest fragment. Our results emphasise the importance of localised pressures and species-specific responses on population dynamics. Monitoring population trends can provide an early warning signal of species loss and species-specific responses can inform crucial intervention strategies.

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“…Some animals increase foraging intensity, but minimize movement and space use in fragmented systems by expanding their dietary niche (Chaves et al 2011). In fact, dietary niche expansion is a common response to fragmentation (Mergey et al 2011, Boyle et al 2012, Mekonnen et al 2017, Donati et al 2020), and is thought to be highly selected for in fragmented landscapes (Cheptou et al 2017). Given that birds in the fragmented landscape used smaller home ranges than those in the continuous landscape (Paxton et al unpubl2002) and exhibited greater day to day variability in activity strategy, dietary niche expansion is a plausible adaptation that could have important implications for persistence in the fragmented landscape.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Activity patterns of Hawaiian forest birds in a fragmented and continuous landscape

Smetzer

Paxton

Hart

et al. 2022

Journal of Avian Biology

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Activity patterns are a key component of avian life history and behavior, and decisions about how activity periods are structured can have important fitness implications. Despite the importance of activity patterns, individual variability in activity is poorly studied in small birds. We used automated radio telemetry to track Hawaiian forest birds from three dietary guilds in a continuous forest, and in a similar forest that was naturally fragmented in the 1800s by lava flows but supports stable populations of native birds. We generated kernel density profiles of activity (KDEs) over the full tracking period of each bird and used the KDEs to derive seven activity metrics that characterized daily activity patterns. We identified three distinct activity strategies using a cluster analysis of the activity metrics and assessed day‐to‐day variability in activity strategy to understand intraindividual consistency in activity behavior. We also evaluated the influence of landscape structure, dietary guild and sex on the suite of activity metrics using constrained ordination. Most birds (61%) exhibited high levels of sustained activity throughout the day, while 23% showed irregular activity most of the day followed by a peak in the late afternoon, and 16% were mainly active in the morning. Though activity patterns varied by sex and dietary guild, landscape structure had the strongest influence on activity patterns. Birds sustained high levels of activity throughout the day in the fragmented landscape regardless of dietary guild, suggesting they needed to be more active to obtain necessary resources. However, activity patterns of birds in the fragmented landscape varied more day‐to‐day, indicating they retained a method for adjusting behavior to match internal and external conditions. This study reveals how a diverse suite of tropical birds has adapted to long‐term fragmentation in Hawaiʻi and demonstrates the utility of automated radio telemetry for studying the activity strategies of birds.

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Life in a fragment: Evolution of foraging strategies of translocated collared brown lemurs, Eulemur collaris, over an 18‐year period

Cited by 10 publications

References 112 publications

Using Utilitarian Plants for Lemur Conservation

Using Utilitarian Plants for Lemur Conservation

Population Dynamics of Nocturnal Lemurs in Littoral Forest Fragments: The Importance of Long-Term Monitoring

Activity patterns of Hawaiian forest birds in a fragmented and continuous landscape

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