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Publications
Publications (31)
Primate encounter rates often vary throughout the year due to seasonal differences in activity, ecology, and behaviour. One notably extreme behaviour is continuous hibernation. Although a rare adaptation in primates, the dwarf lemurs of Madagascar (genus Cheirogaleus) enter obligate hibernation each year during the dry season, after spending the we...
The destruction and degradation of forest habitats are the biggest drivers of primate population decline and extirpation. Enormous areas of what were once widespread and continuous tropical forest are today highly fragmented, and the populations of many primates are now isolated due to their inability to cross the large open spaces between forest p...
This report summarizes the preliminary findings from the project: Spatial, behavioural and physiological responses of nocturnal lemurs (Cheirogaleidae and Lepilemuridae) to habitat fragmentation in north western Madagascar.
Global climate change is continuing to occur at an alarming rate. In addition to increases in global weather extremes, melting of polar ice caps, and subsequent sea level rises, climate change is known to directly impact the life cycles and ecolo-gies of many animals and plants. While climate change is projected to result in substantial geographic...
Over the past decades, primate populations have been declining. Four years ago, >60% of species were listed as threatened. As the rate of loss accelerates and new IUCN assessments are being published, we used IUCN Red List assessments and peer-reviewed literature published within the last 5 yr to evaluate the status of primates globally, by region...
This dataset contains a zip file with all thinned occurence point datasets (CSV) for each of the four forest types. A zip file containing all raster layers for the current and future time scenarios, and under both climate trajectories, and a zip file of bias files for each of the four forest types can be downloaded directly from Dryad.
Reforestation in Madagascar often relies on a few tree species with known properties. Species selection may consider aspects like human use, growth characteristics and animal use. Here, we investigated the use of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) as a food source for vertebrates during the dry season in North West Madagascar. We observed 21 native v...
1. To be effective, the next generation of conservation practitioners and managers need
to be critical thinkers with a deep understanding of how to make evidence-based decisions and of the value of evidence synthesis.
2. If, as educators, we do not make these priorities a core part of what we teach, we
are failing to prepare our students to make an...
1. To be effective, the next generation of conservation practitioners and managers need to be critical thinkers with a deep understanding of how to make evidence‐based decisions and of the value of evidence synthesis. 2. If, as educators, we do not make these priorities a core part of what we teach, we are failing to prepare our students to make an...
Developing an optimal diet for rearing endangered white-clawed crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes is important for captive breeding success prior to wild release. Four ex situ, 40-day experiments assessed survival and growth of crayfish fed different treatment diets. Two experiments (A and B) were undertaken with hatchlings, to determine if live fo...
We provide an anecdote of daytime activity within the northern giant mouse lemur (Mirza zaza), a small threatened primate that has always been considered strictly nocturnal, in the Anabohazo forest of northwestern Madagascar. During the dry season, we witnessed two individual M. zaza travelling separately in the afternoon period of three different...
Assessing the impact of conservation campaigns is of critical importance to optimise the use of limited resources. Lists of threatened species are often employed as media outreach tools, but their usefulness is rarely tested. We investigated whether the inclusion of a species in the list “World's 25 Most Endangered Primates”, published biannually b...
The Sanje mangabey (Cercocebus sanjei) is endemic to the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania, and is classified as Endangered due to its putatively declining population size, habitat degradation and fragmentation. Previous population size estimates have ranged from 1,350 to 3,500 individuals, with the last direct survey being conducted 15 years before the...
The Critically Endangered blue-eyed black lemur Eulemur flavifrons of north-western Madagascar is one of the most threatened primates. The majority of research and conservation efforts for the species have been restricted to the Sahamalaza Peninsula but there are unstudied and unprotected populations farther inland. The dearth of information regard...
Primate Research and Conservation in the Anthropocene - edited by Alison M. Behie January 2019
Cambridge Core - Ecology and Conservation - Primate Research and Conservation in the Anthropocene - edited by Alison M. Behie
Assessing the impact of conservation campaigns is of high importance for optimizing the use of limited resources. Lists of threatened species are often used as media outreach tools, but their usefulness is rarely tested. We investigated whether the inclusion of a species in the list "World's 25 Most Endangered Primates", published biannually by the...
With recent advances in aquaculture techniques, captive‐breeding of the endangered white‐clawed crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes for restocking is becoming a widespread conservation method. Establishing optimal stocking densities for aquaculture is essential in maximizing productivity, and increases the likelihood of crayfish survival when releas...
Crayfish growth rates can vary considerably among individuals from the same brood, and social dominance hierarchies in crustacean species occur frequently. These hierarchies can reduce growth and survival when rearing communal groups. Size‐grading and single‐sex culturing are the methods used to combat this. A 160‐day experiment took place on 288 y...
Current levels of bushmeat hunting in west and central Africa are largely unsustainable, and will lead to the loss of an important natural resource and cause the extinction of threatened species. Worryingly, great apes are hunted for their meat despite being protected across their range. In this paper, we highlight the main actors involved in the t...
Individual identification of the endangered white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) can provide valuable information when assessing long-term survival of animals released into the wild; currently the most effective method is the use of passive integrated transponders (PIT) tags. A 360 days ex situ experiment was undertaken on 20-month, ca...
Infant mortality is a fundamental factor influencing population growth. This study examines the distribution of infant mortality in relation to seasonality for the endangered Sanje mangabey, Cercocebus sanjei, endemic to the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania. Data were collected over 40 continuous months (August 2008 to November 2011). Censuses conducte...
Primates require secure sleeping sites for periods of rest, but despite their importance, the characteristics of desired sleeping sites are poorly known. Here we investigated the sleeping ecology of a radio-collared population of the Sambirano mouse lemur, Microcebus sambiranensis, during the nonreproductive season in the Anabohazo forest, northwes...
Primate vocalizations convey a variety of information to conspecifics. The acoustic traits of these vocalizations are an effective vocal fingerprint to discriminate between sibling species for taxonomic diagnosis. However, the vocal behavior of nocturnal primates has been poorly studied and there are few studies of their vocal repertoires. We compi...
The reproductive seasonality model states that it is adaptive for species in seasonally variable environments to temporally cluster reproductive events around periods of resource availability. Many studies have examined links between seasonal reproduction and phenological events, though few studies have fully tested the adaptive hypothesis by exami...
Projects
Projects (2)
In this project, the sleeping site ecology, ranging behaviour and vocal repertoire of the small-bodied Sambirano mouse lemur was investigated. Furthermore, an acoustic survey was used to investigate the habitat preference of this species within the Anabohazo forest of the Sahamalaza-Iles Radama National Park in north west Madagascar.
Many nocturnal lemur species have small population distributions and restricted geographic ranges. Their remaining forest habitat is highly fragmented and degraded and their small bodies prevent their dispersal between isolated forest fragments. Therefore, an understanding of the impacts of habitat fragmentation and degradation (and associated edge-effects) on their demography and behaviour is urgently needed for their conservation, or their future survival has a poor prognosis. This project will assess the responses of four nocturnal lemur species (Mirza zaza, Lepilemur sahamalaza, Microcebus sambiranensis and Cheirogaleus medius) to habitat degradation and fragmentation within two forested areas of the Sahamalaza-Iles Radama National Park, north-western Madagascar. Data on demography, behaviour and physical health will be collected and compared among forest fragments of varying size and habitat quality to gauge the lemur’s habitat requirements and their behavioural flexibility to habitat degradation. Results will be used by local and global conservation organisations to facilitate long-term reforestation efforts and inform species-specific conservation action plans.
