Structural and compositional differences in gallery and spiny forests of Southern Madagascar: Implications for conservation of lemur and tree species

Author:

Mondragón-Botero AriadnaORCID,Riera Bernard,Rasamimanana HantanirinaORCID,Razafindrakoto Suzy,Warme Eric,Powers Jennifer S.

Abstract

Madagascar’s unique dry forests, particularly gallery and spiny forests, face severe threats and are significantly understudied, leaving only a fraction of the original extent intact. Thus, there is a critical need for characterizing, conserving, and restoring this diverse forest ecosystem. Conducting extensive floristic surveys and environmental analyses, we investigated structural and compositional differences between the gallery and spiny forests, as well as within distinct gallery forest sites in Berenty Reserve in the south of the island. We also evaluated differences in habitat quality between the spiny and gallery forests for three species of diurnal lemurs in the reserve, and analyzed the current population trend of the tamarind trees, a species of ecological and cultural importance in Madagascar. Our findings revealed that the spiny and gallery forests differed in composition and structure, confirming the unique ecological characteristics of gallery forests and the underexplored richness of spiny forests. Spiny forests exhibited higher species richness despite a comparatively lower sampling effort, emphasizing the need for focused conservation efforts in these overlooked ecosystems. Tamarind populations, vital for lemur nutrition, showed signs of inadequate regeneration suggesting a recruitment bottleneck, possibly due to factors like a lowering water table, brown lemur foraging habits, or shifts in environmental conditions. Urgent interventions, including enrichment plantations, were recommended to ensure the survival of this keystone species. Contrasting botanical and lemur-centric perspectives revealed that while spiny and gallery forests differed botanically, they offered comparable habitat quality for ring-tailed and sifaka lemurs. However, brown lemurs exhibit a preference for the gallery forest, highlighting the intricate relationship between plant composition and lemur habitat choices. Our study underscores the urgency of expanding our knowledge of Madagascar´s dry forests, and Berenty Reserve, as one of the few remaining protected areas with gallery and spiny forests, serves as a reference for future research in Madagascar’s understudied ecosystems.

Funder

Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota

Graduate School, University of Minnesota

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3