Undergraduate Research at FIU (URFIU) Conference

Distribution and Habitat Preference of the Nosy Be Sportive Lemur

Madagascar is the only home to one of the most unique and endangered primates, the lemur. Effects of anthropogenic disturbances such as hunting, poaching, the pet trade, and most notably, deforestation pose a major threat to the survival of this primate. In this study, the abundance and habitat preference of the Nosy Be Sportive lemur was measured in order to understand how deforestation might affect this species. This was done by conducting research on forest patches in and around Lokobe National Park and conducting 27 line transect surveys during the day and nighttime in order to calculate encounter rates of this lemur. Along with encounter data, vegetation and habitat surveys were conducted upon encountering a lemur and throughout the transect in order to determine what habitat the lemur prefers and to see which predictors can explain the distribution of these lemurs. It was found that most encounters happened during the nighttime, and most lemurs were found in primary forests. As for the predictors measured, the effect size of the variables was small and lemur abundances were affected about equally by all predictors. This research can help gain an understanding of (as to) why these primates' populations are declining and can help aid(e) in bringing them back up.