Lemurs in evergreen littoral forest fragments

The aim of this project was to provide baseline data for long-term monitoring studies to identify the effects of habitat fragmentation and degradation on the population dynamics of lemurs in the littoral forests of southeastern Madagascar. Populations of the various lemur species responded differently to habitat fragmentation and degradation. The larger species, Eulemur collaris and Avahi meridionalis, showed strong, negative population responses (population decline, reduced group size) in degraded habitats, and eventually disappeared from smaller fragments. Microcebus spp. populations fluctuated non-systematically between fragments with localized declines and recoveries.