Comparing Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) Presence and Distribution between Degraded and Non-Degraded Forest within Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar

Publisher： Karger

E-ISSN： 1421-9980|82|2|94-106

ISSN： 0015-5713

Source： Folia Primatologica, Vol.82, Iss.2, 2011-08, pp. : 94-106

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

The aye-aye is considered the most widely distributed lemur in Madagascar; however, the effect of forest quality on aye-aye abundance is unknown. We compared aye-aye presence across degraded and non-degraded forest at Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. We used secondary signs (feeding sites, high activity sites) as indirect cues of aye-aye presence and Canarium trees as an indicator of resource availability. All 3 measured variables indicated higher aye-aye abundance within non-degraded forest; however, the differences across forest type were not significant. Both degraded and non-degraded forests showed a positive correlation between feeding sites and high activity sites. We found that Canarium, an important aye-aye food source, was rare and had limited dispersal, particularly across degraded forest. This preliminary study provides baseline data for aye-aye activity and resource utilization across degraded and non-degraded forests.