Variation in responses to forest disturbance and the risk of local extinction: A comparative study of wild Eulemurs at Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar

The main goal of my investigation of behavioral responses to habitat change and the risk of local extinction was to enhance the conservation of endangered species. I investigated relationships between habitat disturbance, behavior and extinction risk in for Eulemur rubriventer the context of the Emergency Life History Stage model that links behavioral and energetic variables to susceptibility to habitat disturbance. My comparisons of female E. rubriventer living in disturbed and undisturbed sites revealed many behavioral similarities. Females from the two sites rested the majority of the time (∼75%) and their time budgets and activity levels were similar. Females also had comparable daily path lengths and feeding bout durations. The time-minimizing strategy used by this species may reduce their sensitivity to habitat disturbance. Despite similarities in overall diet breadth, females at the disturbed site ate fewer species per hour of feeding, and consumed more unripe fruit and different plant species than did females at the undisturbed site. There was also greater temporal synchrony in activity at the disturbed site, suggesting that habitat disturbance may lead to a more ultradian or cathemeral activity pattern. The diet at the disturbed site potentially imposes costs on the time and energy of females that are mitigated by cathemerality. Behavioral plasticity was important for E. rubriventer energetic strategies in this disturbed environment. A full understanding of risks for local extinction, and hence conservation management, can benefit from detailed behavioral studies in addition to demographic and biogeographical indicators.