Habitat use and social structure of a brown lemur hybrid population in the Berenty Reserve, Madagascar

Abstract

The population of brown lemurs has rapidly grown since their founders were introduced to the Berenty Reserve. The founders consist of two species (Eulemur fulvus rufus and E. collaris). To characterize the behavior of the population and to examine whether these characteristics affect population growth, I investigated the habitat use and social structure of the population of brown lemurs at Berenty (Berenty Eulemur). Behavior data were collected focusing on horizontal and vertical habitat use, activity rhythms, and intergroup relationships. These data were compared with the data of E. fulvus in other areas, with the previous studies done at Berenty, and with data on Berenty Lemur catta. Berenty Eulemur maintained a home range size comparable to E. f. rufus in the western deciduous dry forest, but was found at a lower level of the forest and had larger overlapping home ranges. Berenty Eulemur use food resources earlier in the morning than L. catta, intergroup conflict was avoided by vocal communication, and Berenty Eulemur made suitable use of their limited habitat. I suggest that a number of behavioral characteristics of Berenty Eulemur may contribute to their population growth.