Structure of Microhabitats Used by Microcebus rufus Across a Heterogeneous Landscape

Ramananjato, Veronarindra; Razafindratsima, Onja H.

doi:10.1007/s10764-021-00224-4

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…obs. ), knocking down smaller trees that mouse lemurs often prefer (Ramananjato & Razafindratsima, 2021 ), and may have reduced the number of tree holes available for mouse lemurs. The dead log on the burrow entrance may have come from such fallen trees and temporarily provide shelter for opportunistic animals such as the mouse lemurs, which are known to use degraded habitats as long as habitat structure and food are maintained (Knoop et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…RNP is an evergreen montane rainforest composed of native plant species under a tropical humid climate with an annual average temperature of 12–30°C and an annual average precipitation of 1500–2400 mm (Dunham et al, 2011 ). We sampled in Valohoaka (47°26′20.62″E, 21°17′48.52″S, 1182 m altitude), which is considered as a primary forest with relatively intact habitats (Ramananjato & Razafindratsima, 2021 ; Razafindratsima, 2017 ; Wright et al, 2012 ). During our expedition, the average temperature was 9–15°C with an average precipitation of 1200 mm (Centre Valbio, unpublished data).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We sampled in Valohoaka (47°26′20.62″E, 21°17′48.52″S, 1182 m altitude), which is considered as a primary forest with relatively intact habitats (Ramananjato & Razafindratsima, 2021;Razafindratsima, 2017;Wright et al, 2012). During our expedition, the average temperature was 9-15°C with an average precipitation of 1200 mm (Centre Valbio, unpublished data).…”

Section: Study Site and Periodmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Arboreal mouse lemurs discovered sleeping in a burrow on the ground

Ramananjato

Randimbiarison

Rabarijaonina

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Finding sleeping sites is important for the fitness of many mammal species. Like most nonhuman primates, Madagascar's mouse lemurs (genus: Microcebus ) are thought to exclusively use arboreal sleeping sites. The rufous mouse lemurs ( Microcebus rufus ) in Ranomafana National Park (southeastern Madagascar) have always been documented to sleep in either tree holes or leaf nests. However, in our recent field expedition, we observed, with the help of telemetry technologies, an unprecedented event of M. rufus sleeping in a burrow on the rainforest ground, curled up with a very slow heartbeat. Thus far, such behavior has not been observed in any other Microcebus species but is common in high‐altitude dwarf lemurs (genus: Cheirogaleus ), a closely related genus to the mouse lemurs. We believe that this discovery could illustrate an ecophysiological response strategy to habitat changes, which warrants further investigation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Site and Periodmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Arboreal mouse lemurs discovered sleeping in a burrow on the ground

Ramananjato

Randimbiarison

Rabarijaonina

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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“…In contrast, the edge habitat is frequented by small-sized omnivorous and folivorous lemurs (such as Microcebus and Avahi) and by the large-sized folivorous Indri indri (Supplementary Table 2). Species within the genera Microcebus and Avahi have been found to have a flexible diet and high tolerance to different types of forest, such as disturbed habitats (Rendigs et al, 2003;Murphy et al, 2016;Knoop et al, 2018;Ramananjato et al, 2020;Ramananjato and Razafindratsima, 2021), and they are frequently observed to forage in forest edge habitats. Primate species that have a high proportion of leaves in their diet, such as Indri indri, are also often less vulnerable to habitat disturbance than species with a diet dominated by fruits because of the relatively high density and quality of foliage that is often available in disturbed habitats (Glessner and Britt, 2005;Irwin et al, 2010;Seaman et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simplified Communities of Seed-Dispersers Limit the Composition and Flow of Seeds in Edge Habitats

et al. 2021

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Edge effects, driven by human modification of landscapes, can have critical impacts on ecological processes such as species interactions, with cascading impacts on biodiversity as a whole. Characterizing how edges affect vital biotic interactions such as seed dispersal by frugivores is important for better understanding potential mechanisms that drive species coexistence and diversity within a plant community. Here, we investigated how differences between frugivore communities at the forest edge and interior habitats of a diverse tropical rainforest relate to patterns of animal-mediated seed dispersal and early seedling recruitment. We found that the lemur communities across the forest edge-interior gradient in this system showed the highest species richness and variability in body sizes at intermediate distances; the community of birds showed the opposite pattern for species richness. Three large-bodied frugivores, known to be effective dispersers of large seeds, tended to avoid the forest edge. As result, the forest edges received a lower rate of animal-mediated seed dispersal compared to the interior habitats. In addition, we also found that the seeds that were actively dispersed by animals in forest edge habitats were smaller in size than seeds dispersed in the forest interior. This pattern was found despite a similarity in seed size of seasonally fruiting adult trees and shrubs between the two habitats. Despite these differences in dispersal patterns, we did not observe any differences in the rates of seedling recruitment or seed-size distribution of successful recruit species. Our results suggest that a small number of frugivores may act as a potential biotic filter, acting on seed size, for the arrival of certain plant species to edge habitats, but other factors may be more important for driving recruitment patterns, at least in the short term. Further research is needed to better understand the potential long-term impacts of altered dispersal regimes relative to other environmental factors on the successional dynamics of edge communities. Our findings are important for understanding potential ecological drivers of tree community changes in forest edges and have implications for conservation management and restoration of large-seeded tree species in disturbed habitats.

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Where the small things are: Modelling edge effects on mouse lemur population density and distribution in northwestern Madagascar

Malabet,

Ramsay,

Chell

et al. 2024

American J Primatol

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Edge effects result from the penetration to varying depths and intensities, of abiotic and biotic conditions from the surrounding non‐forest matrix into the forest interior. Although 70% of the world's forests are within 1 km of a forest edge, making edge effects a dominant feature of most forest habitats, there are few empirical data on inter‐site differences in edge responses in primates. We used spatially explicit capture‐recapture (SECR) models to determine spatial patterns of density for two species of mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus and Microcebus ravelobensis) in two forest landscapes in northwestern Madagascar. The goal of our study was to determine if mouse lemurs displayed spatially variable responses to edge effects. We trapped animals using Sherman live traps in the Mariarano Classified Forest (MCF) and in the Ambanjabe Forest Fragment Site (AFFS) site within Ankarafantsika National Park. We trapped 126 M. murinus and 79 M. ravelobensis at MCF and 78 M. murinus and 308 M. ravelobensis at AFFS. For M. murinus, our top model predicted a positive edge response, where density increased towards edge habitats. In M. ravelobensis, our top model predicted a negative edge response, where density was lower near the forest edges and increased towards the forest interior. At regional and landscape‐specific scales, SECR models estimated different density patterns between M. murinus and M. ravelobensis as a result of variation in edge distance. The spatial variability of our results using SECR models indicate the importance of studying the population ecology of primates at varying scales that are appropriate to the processes of interest. Our results lend further support to the theory that some lemurs exhibit a form of ecological flexibility in their responses to forest loss, forest fragmentation, and associated edge effects.

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Structure of Microhabitats Used by Microcebus rufus Across a Heterogeneous Landscape

Cited by 4 publications

References 50 publications

Arboreal mouse lemurs discovered sleeping in a burrow on the ground

Arboreal mouse lemurs discovered sleeping in a burrow on the ground

Simplified Communities of Seed-Dispersers Limit the Composition and Flow of Seeds in Edge Habitats

Where the small things are: Modelling edge effects on mouse lemur population density and distribution in northwestern Madagascar

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