Considering Climate Change Effects in Lemur Ecology and Conservation

Abstract

Lemurs are a diverse and varied group of primates of over 70 species which occupy a wide variety of niches (Richard and Dewar, 1991; Wright, 1999; Mittermeier et al., 2006). The niche breadth is even greater if the subfossil lemurs are considered (Godfrey et al., 1997; Simons, 1997; Jungers et al., 2002). Lemurs show many “special” traits not seen in other primates, such as hibernation (Wright and Martin, 1995; Schmid, 1998a; Dausmann et al., 2004), female dominance (Jolly, 1966, 1984; Pollock, 1979; Young et al., 1990; Radespiel and Zimmerman, 2001; Pochron et al., 2003), low basal metabolic rate (Schmid and Ganzhorn, 1996; Schmid, 1998b), and long lifespan coupled with high infant mortality (Overdorff et al., 1999; Sauther et al., 2001; Gould et al., 2003; Pochron et al., 2004; King et al., 2005). The breadth of the primate niche and the peculiar characteristics of these more primitive primates may be a result of their long isolation sympatric with a special subset of taxa on this micro-continent (Wright, 1999). This paper reviews what we have learned from studying Madagascar plant phenology, weather patterns, and effects on lemur behavior and