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Improved recruitment of a lemur-dispersed tree in Malagasy dry forests after the demise of vertebrates in forest fragments

  • Ecosystem Ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine how the processes of seed dispersal and seed predation were altered in forest fragments of the dry forest of Madagascar, where the usual seed dispersers and vertebrate seed predators were absent, using a lemur-dispersed tree species (Strychnos madagascariensis; Loganiaceae) as an example. We then assessed how the changes in vertebrate community composition alter the regeneration pattern and establishment of this tree species and thus, ultimately, the species composition of the forest fragments. By using size-selective exclosures, data from forest fragments were compared with results from continuous forest where vertebrate dispersers and predators were abundant. Visits to the exclosures by mammalian seed predators were monitored with hair traps. In the continuous forest up to 100% of the seeds were removed within the 7 days of the experiments. A substantial proportion of them was lost to seed predation by native rodents. In contrast, practically no predation took place in the forest fragments and almost all seeds removed were dispersed into the safety of ant nests by Aphaenogaster swammerdami, which improves chances of seedling establishment. In congruence with these findings, the abundance of S. madagascariensis in the forest fragments exceeded that of the continuous forest. Thus, the lack of vertebrate seed dispersers in these forest fragments did not lead to a decline in regeneration of this animal-dispersed tree species as would have been expected, but rather was counterbalanced by the concomitant demise of vertebrate seed predators and an increased activity of ants taking over the role of seed dispersers, and possibly even out-doing the original candidates. This study provides an example of a native vertebrate-dispersed species apparently profiting from fragmentation due to flexible animal-plant interactions in different facets, possibly resulting in an impoverished tree species community.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Commission Tripartite of the Malagasy Government, the Laboratoire de Primatologie et des Vértebrés de l’Université d’Antananarivo and the Ministère pour la Production Animale and the Départment des Eaux et Forêts for permits to work in Madagascar. We also thank the Centre de Formation Professionelle Forestière de Morondava for their hospitality and permission to work on their concession. The late B. Rakotosamimanana, R. Rasoloarison and L. Razafimanantsoa supported the field project in numerous ways. Aid from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Ga 342/3-1, 3-2) and the German Primate Centre is gratefully acknowledged. All experiments comply with the laws of Madagascar.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biozentrum, Am Hubland, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, 97074, Würzburg, Germany

    K. H. Dausmann & K. E. Linsenmair

  2. Department of Animal Ecology and Conservation, Biozentrum Grindel, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    K. H. Dausmann, J. Glos & J. U. Ganzhorn

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  1. K. H. Dausmann
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  2. J. Glos
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  3. K. E. Linsenmair
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  4. J. U. Ganzhorn
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Correspondence to K. H. Dausmann.

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Communicated by Jacqui Shykoff.

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442_2008_1070_MOESM1_ESM.doc

MOESM1 Fig. S1a Opened fruit of Strychnos madagascariensis, showing the arrangement of several seeds with closely attached pulp inside. b Fruit of S. madagascariensis being dispersed by the lemur Eulemur fulvus rufus. c Seed of S. madagascariensis being transported by several ants (Aphaenogaster swammerdami) into their nest (DOCX 1877 kb)

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Dausmann, K.H., Glos, J., Linsenmair, K.E. et al. Improved recruitment of a lemur-dispersed tree in Malagasy dry forests after the demise of vertebrates in forest fragments. Oecologia 157, 307–316 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-1070-6

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