THE HUMAN FACTOR IN MOUSE LEMUR (MICROCEBUS GRISEORUFUS) CONSERVATION: LOCAL RESOURCE UTILIZATION AND HABITAT DISTURBANCE AT BEZA MAHAFALY, SW MADAGASCAR A Dissertation Presented by EMILIENNE RASOAZANABARY Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY February 2011 Anthropology © Copyright by Emilienne Rasoazanabary 2011 All Rights Reserved THE HUMAN FACTOR IN MOUSE LEMUR (MICROCEBUS GRISEORUFUS) CONSERVATION: LOCAL RESOURCE UTILIZATION AND HABITAT DISTURBANCE AT BEZA MAHAFALY, SW MADAGASCAR A Dissertation Presented By EMILIENNE RASOAZANABARY Approved as to style and content by: _______________________________________ Laurie R. Godfrey, Chair _______________________________________ Lynnette L. Sievert, Member _______________________________________ Todd K. Fuller, Member ____________________________________ Elizabeth Chilton, Department Head Anthropology This dissertation is dedicated to the late Berthe Rakotosamimanana and Gisèle Ravololonarivo (Both Professors in the DPAB) Claire (Cook at Beza Mahafaly) Pex and Gyca (Both nephews) Guy and Edmond (Both brothers-in-law) Claudia and Alfred (My older sister and my older brother) All of my grandparents Rainilaifiringa (Grandpa) All of the fellow gray mouse lemurs ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation has been more a process than a document; its completion is long anticipated and ever-so-welcome. So many people participated in and brought to me the most precious and profoundly appreciated support – academic, physical, and emotional. I would not have been able to conduct this work without leaning on those people. I am very grateful to every single one of them. In case you read the dissertation and find your name unlisted, just remember that my gratitude extends to each one of you. I am extremely grateful to Dr. Todd Fuller and Dr. Lynnette Sievert for agreeing to be members of my committee. I also thank Dr. Laurie Godfrey, the committee chair. Having you all together, I have the greatest committee members, and I would like to express my gratitude to each one of you. Thank you very much for your commitment to my dissertation and your instruction. Your comments and constructive criticism have been very helpful in improving the contents and format of the dissertation. Thank you very much for your encouraging words. Without your huge understanding, this dissertation would not be possible. I am the most fortunate student to be channeled by a very humble person, Dr. Laurie Godfrey. My first meeting with Laurie was in 1999 during the 17th International Conference on Primate Life Histories in Göttingen when I had not yet recovered from a car accident. On speaking to me and understanding my ambition, she became convinced that she wanted to help me in my doctoral studies. Twenty months later, I came to the US thanks to her. She set me on the path nine years ago, while I faced the very first challenge of my student life here in the US – learning scientific English. My endless thanks to you Laurie for the guidance, support, patience, and indeed the opportunity you v have given me to achieve my goal through this arduous journey. From the training that you have provided me during my studies at the University of Massachusetts, I hope I can carry myself throughout my professional career in a way that will make you proud. I owe a considerable part of my professional development to your terrific mentorship. The pages are not enough to list every step you have done for me. My words are not strong enough to explain how much I learned from your incomparable social skills and terrific academic abilities. I can’t stress enough, Laurie, how well you trained me to analyze data and interpret even the minutest pieces of the results. I indeed had fun with our 4 a.m. statistics parties. There are also many other invaluable people who participated in analyzing my data. Dr. Mike Sutherland was always there any time I needed him for my statistical challenges. He provided me his profound skills free of charge. Mike did the impossible to make my data speak to me. I am deeply grateful to you, Mike, for your passion, time, and tolerance. I met Dr. Peter Kappeler in 1998 and he wanted me to be one of his students. He gave me the opportunity to conduct my very first field research and get trained by Dr. Manfred Eberle, one of his students at that time. I cannot thank these people enough. This work is the result of what you both taught me when I was a Malagasy student and beginner-researcher. I would like to address my gratitude to Dr. Steve King and his wife Meg Gage for hosting me during my stage of data entry and dissertation writing. I am the luckiest student in the world. Thank you very much for showing me the sweetness of your heart and your generosity. “Sitraka ho enti-matory, valiana raha mahatsiaro”. vi I would like to thank Dr Anne Axel for granting me permission to utilize her maps, Dr. Brooke Crowley for her company and help during capture-recapture in 2006, and Kathryn Curran (Doctoral candidate) for helping me with the GIS map. I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my department, the Anthropology Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for giving me the opportunity to study here. The department facilitated this by granting me a Sylvia Forman Fellowship during my very first semester. The department also provided me support and training during my many years here. Also, I thank Dr. Brooke Thomas and Dr. Robert Paynter for serving on my MA committee. My fellow students in the Anatomy laboratory deserve special mention. Dr. Marina Blanco allowed me to use her unpublished data, and I thank her for our collaboration. Thanks also go to Idalia Rodriguez for our collaboration on mouse lemur parasites. With both Marina and Idalia, I lived a special “laboratory life” – all those “eats” and “laughs” and “tears” that we shared all those years will never leave me. Thanks also go to Stacey Matarazzo for the special help that she gave me, particularly when I needed to fill her shoes as Laboratory Coordinator. I also extend my thanks to all my graduate student labmates: Chanika, Lindsay, Cortni, and Kristen, and the occasional visitors to the lab – especially Kierstin Catlett (from Arizona State University). Erin, Kate, Melissa, and Bill, I thank you for your presence in the lab and the time we spent together. Thanks also go to the Department of Paleontology and Biological Anthropology (DPAB) at the University of Antananarivo, the department of Animal Biology at the University of Toliara, and the University of Fianarantsoa for providing me with excellent vii student assistants. I am very grateful to Roger Ramarokoto, Viviane Olivia Rasoarimalala, Tsibara Mbohoahy, and Edouard for your boundless enthusiasm and effort during our field work. Ruth Steel, a student then from Hampshire College (and now at Duke University), joined my team in Madagascar for several months, to the delight of everyone at Beza. Without relying on all of you, I would not have been able to get this work done. It is hard to be away from one’s family “manina ny any aminay izaho…”, but you all did it very graciously and with open minds. I am very grateful to all of you, and now it is your turn. Thanks also go to the department of Agronomy, Water, and Forestry; the ESSA (École Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques); and ANGAP (Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées) for facilitating my project to be conducted at Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve. I thank Dr. Joelisoa Ratsirarson for his guidance on how to be at Beza Mahafaly. Mr. Jeanin Ranaivonasy also helped me with my administrative paperwork. Special thanks are also extended to Dr. Jacky Youssouf for collaborating with me during my field work. “Aiiii…, manaikitra be ilay voalavo”. Thanks also go to the ANGAP staffs at Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve (BMSR) for working together with the local communities and indeed for keeping me safe during those years of research. I address my thanks to the heads of BMSR, Jeannicq Randrianarisoa, Ramanantsiory, and Andry William. I would also like to express my thanks to the forest agents Ralaivao, Olivier, Miandry, Eric, and Velo for their participation in the field work. I am greatly indebted to all of my local assistants for their hard work, day and night. Thank you Elahavelo, Rigobert, Enafa, Edabo, Ehandidy, Edada, Etinahy, Filaoke, viii Niavosoa, and Fanomezana. I will never forget the famous words that we shared together when working at night “Daro-mi-Kotipoka” and “Iny…Iny…any…very”. Thank you all for treating me as part of your family. I thank Stephane, Meltine, Celestine, Delaprairie, Vavy, Lala, and Bolo for cooking our daily beans. You all made it so good. I would like to thank all Beza Mahafaly people who participated in the interviews. Your participation was very useful to my dissertation, and you helped me to understand your daily culture and your life struggles. Schoolchildren, I will never forget to thank all of you for your participation while I was teaching at school. Thank you kids for visiting the camp and the forest reserve. I would like to thank Dr. Robert Zimmermann and his wife Athleen Ellington for visiting the BMSR and the school at Mahazoarivo. They made a big impression on the school children. Since their first trip there, Bob and Athleen decided to support kids at Beza Mahafaly to go to school. Thank you for helping schoolchildren. Thank you indeed for the friendship that we have shared. I would not forget our trip to Beza Mahafaly, the dancing car in the muddy unpaved road. I would never forget to thank Wenner-Gren Foundation for supporting my academic studies in the United States.