Sharing Space: Habitat Use and Spatial Relationships of Frugivorous Lemurs in Fragmented Forests
Abstract
I studied the habitat use and interspecific association patterns of red-bellied, red-fronted, and black-and-white ruffed lemurs at Kianjavato, Madagascar. I also investigated the flexible intraspecific association patterns of black-and-white ruffed lemurs. These studies took place in two forest patches of different sizes and disturbance levels within a largely-deforested landscape. Results sometimes differed across forest fragments, indicating potential impacts of fragment size and/or vegetation structure on habitat use and association patterns. All three species used trees with broader crowns more heavily, underscoring the importance of this limited resource. Fruit availability also influenced ruffed lemur habitat use and subgroup size. This species also showed some avoidance of the forest edge and tended to form larger groups of adults when offspring were present. Both red-bellied lemurs and red-fronted lemurs showed avoidance of ruffed lemur core use areas, though they did not avoid one another spatiotemporally. Red-fronted lemurs actually showed positive spatiotemporal associations with both ruffed lemurs and red-bellied lemurs. This was positively related to the amount of core area overlap between groups, and may have been related to the resources and predators shared by these three species. Currently, spatial avoidance of core areas and small differences in diet may facilitate the coexistence of these three species, though red-bellied lemurs may be limited to more marginal habitat in some cases. Future changes to the forest (i.e., deforestation or reforestation) should be monitored, as they may alter both habitat use and association patterns.
Description
Keywords
Forestry and Wildlife, Ecology, Zoology
Citation
Holmes, S. M. (2017). Sharing Space: Habitat Use and Spatial Relationships of Frugivorous Lemurs in Fragmented Forests (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27773