Journal Article

Ecological Flexibility as Measured by the Use of Pioneer and Exotic Plants by Two Lemurids: Eulemur collaris and Hapalemur meridionalis

Campera, Marco, Randriatafika, Faly, Eppley, Timothy M., Balestri, Michela, Ramanamanjato, Jean-Baptiste, Rabenantoandro, Johny, Ganzhorn, Jörg U., Donati, Giuseppe

2017

Overview

Primate responses to habitat alteration vary depending on the species’ dietary guild and forest type. Leaves from secondary vegetation can provide nutritious resources to folivorous primates, whereas frugivores, burdened with a scattered spatial and temporal distribution of fruiting resources, require larger home ranges, potentially limiting their ability to cope with altered landscapes. Within coastal southeastern Madagascar, we sought to determine whether two lemur species occupying contrasting ecological niches respond differently to the changing features of their degraded and fragmented habitat. We conducted behavioral observations between 2011 and 2013 on frugivorous collared brown lemurs ( Eulemur collaris ) and folivorous southern bamboo lemurs ( Hapalemur meridionalis ). To estimate the ability of lemurs to use pioneer species, we categorized all plants used for feeding and resting as fast growing, mid-growing, or slow growing. We fitted general linear mixed-effects models, one for each plant growth category with monthly proportional use rates as the dependent variable, and included species ( E. collaris and H. meridionalis ), activity (feeding and resting), and season (dry and wet) as fixed effects. Our results show that E. collaris used both slow- and mid-growing plant species most often, while H. meridionalis were more likely to use fast-growing plants, which indicated an ability to use secondary/disturbed vegetation. Frugivorous E. collaris appear more limited by climax plants, while folivorous H. meridionalis appear to be slightly more adaptable, a finding that is consistent with that for other primate folivores.

• Publisher: Springer US,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Ability / Animal Ecology / Animal Genetics and Genomics / Anthropology / Bamboo / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Dependent variables / Ecological niches / Evolutionary Biology / Feeding / Flexibility / Flowers & plants / Frugivores / Fruits / Home range / Human Genetics / Introduced plants / Introduced species / Landscape / Life Sciences / Monkeys & apes / Niches / Plant growth / Plant species / Primates / Resting / Spatial distribution / Species / Temporal distribution / Vegetation / Zoology