Tamarind Recruitment and Long-Term Stability in the Gallery Forest at Berenty, Madagascar

Blumenfeld-Jones, Kathryn; Randriamboavonjy, Tahirihasina M.; Williams, Gareth T.; Mertl-Míllhollen, Anne S.; Pinkus, Susan; Rasamimanana, Hantanirina

doi:10.1007/978-0-387-34126-2_6

Cited by 72 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Tamarind leaves and seed pods are heavily utilized by L. catta, one of the more important food sources in their diet (Blumenfeld-Jones et al 2006). At least 109 species of plants have been found in the diet of L. catta at Berenty (Simmen et al 2006b).…”

Section: Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Lemur catta (Primates: Lemuridae)

Wilson

Hanlon

2010

Mammalian Species

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Section: Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Lemur catta (Primates: Lemuridae)

Wilson

Hanlon

2010

Mammalian Species

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“…The distribution of Tamarindus in our plots is more heavily skewed toward the east (22 trees in P1, 4 in P2; table 1 ) [Sussman and Rakotozafy, 1994]. As others have noted, ring-tailed lemur densities appear to be correlated with Tamarindus abundance in gallery forests [Gould et al, 2003;Blumenfeld-Jones et al, 2006], and their density has been found to be higher along the river in P1 [Axel and Maurer, 2010]. Similarly, the majority of the plant species in table 1 eaten by sifakas are found in the western half of P1 and in P2 [Yamashita, 2002], which coincides with their higher densities in those locations [Axel and Maurer, 2010].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…The behavioral ecology of wild ring-tailed lemurs has been intensively studied in the gallery forests of Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve (BMSR) and Berenty Private Reserve that are dominated by Tamarindus indica [Jolly, 1966;Sauther et al, 1999;Gould et al, 2003;Blumenfeld-Jones et al, 2006]. The tamarind fruits in these forests constitute the major food item annually for the lemurs, yet Tamarindus may be an exotic species to Madagascar, and reliance on its fruit may be of recent origin [Sauther and Cuozzo, 2009].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the Gallery Forest: Contrasting Habitat and Diet in Lemur catta Troops at Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve

Yamashita¹,

Sauther²,

Cuozzo³

et al. 2015

IJFP

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Ring-tailed lemurs have been studied intensively in the Parcel 1 gallery forest of Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve. Here, we report on lemur groups in a mixture of deciduous dry forest and spiny forest just 5 km to the west. Compared to Parcel 1, Parcel 2 (P2) has a lower density of Tamarindus indica, a major dietary plant species for gallery forest lemurs. Recent studies in drier habitats have called into question the association of lemur density and tamarind presence. In order to address this question, we measured forest structure and composition of plant plots between parcels and conducted lemur feeding observations. The trees and shrubs within the parcels did not differ in height or diameter at breast height, but the frequencies of plant species that were common between parcels were significantly different. Numbers of feeding observations on foods common to both parcels did not differ, but their relative rankings within parcels did. Frequencies of food plants corresponded to earlier reports of lemur population densities. However, we found that the ring-tailed lemur diet is a mixture of plants that are eaten in abundance regardless of frequency and those that are locally available. In terms of their reliance on Tamarindus, P2 animals appear intermediate between those in gallery forests and nontamarind sites.

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“…Reduced numbers of this important food resource will surely impact the ability of Berenty Reserve to support its high populations of lemurs. As we suggest elsewhere (Blumenfeld-Jones et al 2006), an important factor contributing to poor overall tamarind regeneration in aging gallery forests may be the production of allopathic chemicals by mature T. indica. Laboratory data indicate that tamarind roots, leaves, bark, and seeds produce allopathic chemicals that inhibit growth (Parvez et al 2003a(Parvez et al , b, 2004.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Although the 200-ha Berenty Reserve is among the richest of these gallery forests (Sussman et al 2003;Jolly et al 2006a), it is in decline. Mature tamarind trees are dying, and few young trees are replacing them (Jolly et al 1982;Blumenfeld-Jones et al 2006;Koyama et al 2006). Reduced numbers of this important food resource will surely impact the ability of Berenty Reserve to support its high populations of lemurs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Tamarind tree seed dispersal by ring-tailed lemurs

et al. 2011

Self Cite

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In Madagascar, the gallery forests of the south are among the most endangered. Tamarind trees (Tamarindus indica) dominate these riverine forests and are a keystone food resource for ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). At Berenty Reserve, the presence of tamarind trees is declining, and there is little recruitment of young trees. Because mature tamarinds inhibit growth under their crowns, seeds must be dispersed away from adult trees if tree recruitment is to occur. Ring-tailed lemurs are likely seed dispersers; however, because they spend much of their feeding, siesta, and sleeping time in tamarinds, they may defecate a majority of the tamarind seeds under tamarind trees. To determine whether they disperse tamarind seeds away from overhanging tamarind tree crowns, we observed two troops for 10 days each, noted the locations of feeding and defecation, and collected seeds from feces and fruit for germination. We also collected additional data on tamarind seedling recruitment under natural conditions, in which seedling germination was abundant after extensive rain, including under the canopy. However, seedling survival to 1 year was lower when growing under mature tamarind tree crowns than when growing away from an overhanging crown. Despite low fruit abundance averaging two fruits/m(3) in tamarind crowns, lemurs fed on tamarind fruit for 32% of their feeding samples. Daily path lengths averaged 1,266 m, and lemurs deposited seeds throughout their ranges. Fifty-eight percent of the 417 recorded lemur defecations were on the ground away from overhanging tamarind tree crowns. Tamarind seeds collected from both fruit and feces germinated. Because lemurs deposited viable seeds on the ground away from overhanging mature tamarind tree crowns, we conclude that ring-tailed lemurs provide tamarind tree seed dispersal services.

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Tamarind Recruitment and Long-Term Stability in the Gallery Forest at Berenty, Madagascar

Cited by 72 publications

References 19 publications

Lemur catta (Primates: Lemuridae)

Lemur catta (Primates: Lemuridae)

Beyond the Gallery Forest: Contrasting Habitat and Diet in Lemur catta Troops at Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve

Tamarind tree seed dispersal by ring-tailed lemurs

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