Feeding outside the Forest: The Importance of Crop Raiding and an Invasive Weed in the Diet of Gallery Forest Ring-Tailed Lemurs (Lemur catta) following a Cyclone at the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar

Abstract

In January 2005, a cyclone hit southern Madagascar, including the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, disrupting the flowering/fruiting cycle of Tamarindus indica, leaving Lemur catta without its major food resource during reproductive periods. We studied two adjacent groups of L. catta during the late gestation period, and both groups ventured outside the reserve to feed. The Red group (RG) fed daily on cultivated sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) leaves in a nearby field, and both groups consumed leaves and stems of the invasive terrestrial flowering herb Mexican prickly poppy (Argemone mexicana), growing outside the reserve. The Green group (GG) spent significantly more time feeding than did RG, and more time feeding inside the forest compared to outside. The members of RG spent half of their time feeding in the crops, and nearly half of their diet consisted of easy-to-process sweet potato leaves. Additionally, RG defended and restricted GG’s access to the crop territory. Of the two non-forest foods, A. mexicana leaves were higher in protein and most minerals (P, Mg, K and Na, but not Ca) and lower in fiber than sweet potato leaves, but sweet potato leaves were preferred by RG. L. catta is a markedly flexible primate with respect to diet, and switches to fallback foods from outside the forest during periods of low food availability. In the highly seasonal and unpredictable climate of southern Madagascar, such behavioral adaptations are important to the survival of this species.

Examining Visual Measures of Coat and Body Condition in Wild Ring-Tailed Lemurs at the Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar

“…Our results also correspond with those by other ring-tailed lemur studies, in which poor coat and/ or body condition may reflect female reproductive costs [Sauther, 1998;Pride, 2003;Jolly, 2009a;LaFleur, 2012]. Additionally, ring-tailed lemur health status may be impacted by factors such as seasonal variation in food availability or stochastic events resulting in reduced food availability, such as cyclones and/or droughts which occur commonly at BMSR [Sauther, 1998;Gould et al, 1999;LaFleur and Gould, 2009;Rasamimanana et al, 2012;Sauther et al, 2012]. Health status may also be impacted by factors that influence individual access to nutritional resources including social group size, habitat quality and/or severe dental impairment (a common occurrence among BMSR L. catta [Pride, 2005;Cuozzo and Sauther, 2006;Sauther et al, 2006]).…”

Seasonal Feeding Ecology of Ring-Tailed Lemurs: A Comparison of Spiny and Gallery Forest Habitats

“…However, this species persists in a suite of habitat types [Goodman et al, 2006] and is able to adjust to significant environmental perturbations LaFleur and Gould, 2009]. Comparative feeding ecology data from nongallery-forest habitats that are now emerging [Gould et al, 2011;LaFleur, 2012;Cameron and Gould, 2013;Gabriel, 2013;Kelley, 2013;LaFleur et al, 2014] are important for understanding the remarkable ecological flexibility of L. catta.…”

“…Tamarind trees occur in high densities in riverine forests, and only rarely in spiny forest (such as where there is accessible underground water) [Sussman and Rakotozafy, 1994;LaFleur, 2012]. Moreover, because tamarind trees produce leaves and fruits asynchronously at BMSR, they provide a reliable fallback resource across normal, noncyclone years [Sauther and Cuozzo, 2009;LaFleur and Gould, 2009]. Indeed during every month of our study at BMSR, tamarind leaf buds or fruits were among the top 5 foods and provided between 5.4 (fruit) and 64.1% (leaf buds) crude protein ( table 1 ).…”

Hurricanes and coastlines: The role of natural disasters in the speciation of howler monkeys

“…After Hurricane Iris hit Monkey River there was a 52 per cent loss of major fruit trees and an 18 month absence in all fruit production forcing resident A. pigra groups to rely on a completely folivorous diet Behie and Pavelka, in press). Following natural disturbances ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta;LaFleur and Gould, 2009;Ratsambazafy et al, 2002), ruffed lemurs (Varecia v. editorium;Ratzimbazafy, 2006) lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus; Menon and Poirer, 1996) and black howlers (Alouatta pigra; Behie and Pavelka, 2005) altered their diets to include plant parts and species not previously ingested, some of which were exotic to the region or were located outside of the regular forest habitat.…”