Use of space and home range characteristics of Lepilemur mittermeieri, an endangered sportive lemur endemic to the Ampasindava peninsula, north‐west Madagascar

Abstract

Lepilemur mittermeieri, a little‐studied sportive lemur of north‐west Madagascar, endemic to the Ampasindava Peninsula, faces habitat loss through forest degradation and rapid fragmentation. Understanding its habitat requirement is the first step toward preservation of this threatened forest‐dependent species. In this study, we gathered data on the use of space and home range characteristics of L. mittermeieri. We studied individuals from early March to the end of June 2015 and 2016, in three sites of the Ampasindava peninsula. We radio‐tracked 15 individuals to obtain detailed information on the size and location of home ranges (around 450 hr of tracking). Direct observation and morphometric measurements provided additional data sets. Both kernel density estimation (KDE) and minimum convex polygon (MCP) methods yielded similar home range sizes (an average of 2.01 ha with KDE method and 1.96 ha with MCP method). We did not find differences in home range size between males and females, with respect to forest type or proximity to the forest edge. Home ranges overlapped and individuals showed low levels of territoriality. We highlighted a sexually‐dimorphic trait: males have longer upper canine than females. Our results constitute the first set of ecological information on Lepilemur mittermeieri and could be the basis for a conservation strategy for this endangered species with a very small distribution area.

The influence of seasonality, anthropogenic disturbances, and cyclonic activity on the behavior of northern sportive lemurs (Lepilemur septentrionalis) at Montagne des Français, Madagascar

“…Increased deforestation may also lead to more densely populated fragments, in turn reducing home range size for NSLs found within them, especially since females have territorial and nonoverlapping home ranges. This study reported home range sizes from 0.63 to 2.58 ha, with an average home range size of 1.15 ± 0.64 ha, which are comparable and often times larger than many reported home ranges for other Lepilemur species (Ganzhorn et al, 2004; Hladik & Charles‐Dominique, 1974; Mandl et al, 2018; Rasoloharijaona et al, 2006; Ratsirarson & Rumpler, 1988; Stalenberg, 2019; Wilmet et al, 2019). Known Lepilemur spp.…”

“…Had we collected data from this individual who was located in such a highly anthropogenically utilized portion of MDF, we may have seen different results. However, other studies have indicated that Lepilemur species have shown the ability to persist in highly disturbed environments, despite reductions in habitat quality (Sawyer et al, 2017; Seiler et al, 2014; Wilmet et al, 2019). Most likely, NSLs exhibit similar abilities to persist in highly degraded and disturbed environments due to their ability to consume a diverse range of plant species and their solitary nature.…”

“…We calculated lemur home range (ha) from the GPS location point data, using UD kernel density estimates within the R‐package, ADEhabitatHR (Calenge, 2006) with a uniform smoothing parameter of h = 4.7, derived from the least‐squares cross‐validation method (LSCVh). However, following convention (e.g., Dinsmore et al, 2016; Wilmet et al, 2019), we did not utilize LSCVh to estimate home ranges because it can result in failure for points that are overlapping or tightly clustered, as was often the case for our study (Gitzen et al, 2006; Walter et al, 2011). We evaluated lemur home ranges at 95% contour, which gives the minimum area in which there is a 95% probability of finding the animal (Worton, 1989).…”

Ecotourism Disturbance on an Endemic Endangered Primate in the Huangshan Man and the Biosphere Reserve of China: A Way to Move Forward

“…The monkeys mainly inhabit forests and seldom have contact with humans [ 43 ]. The methods used were line transect sampling and camera traps in the second survey [ 45 , 46 , 47 ]. We divided the study area into 59 grids (2 km × 2 km) in ArcGIS (Version 10.4.1).…”

Time‐lagged effects of habitat fragmentation on terrestrial mammals in Madagascar

“…We assumed a constant population density for species across their AOH, thus ignoring potential edge effects. We consider this assumption justified because evidence suggests that Malagasy mammals (especially lemurs) are not edge sensitive (e.g., Lehman et al, 2006;Quemere et al, 2010;Wilmet et al, 2019). Because information on the population parameters (initial population density, population density at carrying capacity, intrinsic population growth rate, environmental stochasticity, and median dispersal distance) is lacking for many Malagasy mammals, we estimated these parameters based on allometric relationships (Appendix S1).…”