Coexistence of Confamilial, Folivorous Indriids, Propithecus Diadema And
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Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations Arts & Sciences Spring 5-15-2017 Coexistence of Confamilial, Folivorous Indriids, Propithecus diadema and Indri indri, at Betampona Strict Nature Reserve, Madagascar Lana Kerker Oliver Washington University in St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds Part of the Biodiversity Commons, Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, and the Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons Recommended Citation Oliver, Lana Kerker, "Coexistence of Confamilial, Folivorous Indriids, Propithecus diadema and Indri indri, at Betampona Strict Nature Reserve, Madagascar" (2017). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1134. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/1134 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Arts & Sciences at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Department of Anthropology Dissertation Examination Committee Crickette Sanz, Chair Kari Allen Benjamin Z. Freed Jane Phillips-Conroy David Strait Mrinalini Watsa Coexistence of Confamilial, Folivorous Indriids, Propithecus diadema and Indri indri, at Betampona Strict Nature Reserve, Madagascar by Lana Kerker Oliver A dissertation presented to The Graduate School of Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2017 St. Louis, Missouri © 2017, Lana Kerker Oliver Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ vi List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. ix Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................... xi Abstract .................................................................................................................................... xvi Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Coexistence .................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.2 Primate Diets and Sympatric Folivorous Primates ........................................................ 6 1.1.3 Seasonality in Primates ................................................................................................ 11 1.1.4 Malagasy Primate Communities and Seasonality ........................................................ 12 1.1.5 Subfossil Lemurs ......................................................................................................... 13 1.1.6 Indriids ......................................................................................................................... 14 1.2 Research Questions and Hypotheses .................................................................................. 25 1.2.1 Activity Budget ............................................................................................................ 26 1.2.2 Feeding Ecology .......................................................................................................... 27 1.2.3 Home Range Use and Daily Path Length .................................................................... 28 1.3 Outline of the Dissertation .................................................................................................. 29 References ................................................................................................................................. 32 Chapter 2: Study Site and Subjects ............................................................................................... 41 2.2 Site Description and History ............................................................................................... 41 2.3 Biodiversity at BNR ............................................................................................................ 47 2.4 Temperature and Rainfall ................................................................................................... 48 2.5 Data Collection Methods .................................................................................................... 51 2.5.1 Darting, Biomedical Assessments, and Radio Collaring ............................................. 51 2.5.2 Data Collection Protocols ............................................................................................ 53 2.5.3 Description of Focal Groups ........................................................................................ 57 2.5.4 Social Structure of Study Groups ................................................................................ 58 2.5.5 Contact and Observation Hours ................................................................................... 60 References ................................................................................................................................. 61 Chapter 3: Activity Patterns of Indri and Diademed Sifakas at Betampona Nature Reserve, Madagascar ................................................................................................................................... 64 ii 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 64 3.2 Hypotheses and Predictions ................................................................................................ 68 3.4 Methods............................................................................................................................... 71 3.4.1 Data Collection ............................................................................................................ 71 3.4.2 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................... 72 3.5 Results ................................................................................................................................. 73 3.5.1 Sampling Effort ............................................................................................................ 73 3.5.3 Hourly Differences in Activity Patterns ...................................................................... 79 3.5.6 Seasonal Fluctuations and Daily Active Period ........................................................... 82 3.5.7 Daily Active Period and Climatic Variables ................................................................ 83 3.5.8 Vertical Stratification of Activity Patterns .................................................................. 86 3.5.9 Sex Differences in Activity Patterns ............................................................................ 87 3.5.10 Between-Site Comparisons ........................................................................................ 89 3.6 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 90 3.6.1 General Activity Patterns ............................................................................................. 90 3.5.2 Daily Active Period, Temperature, and Rainfall ......................................................... 92 3.5.3 Intraspecific Comparisons Between Males and Females ............................................. 93 3.6 Conclusions and Future Directions ..................................................................................... 94 References ................................................................................................................................. 96 Chapter 4: Dietary diversity and feeding patterns of Indri indri and Propithecus diadema in Betampona Nature Reserve, Madagascar ................................................................................... 100 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 100 4.2 Hypotheses and Predictions .............................................................................................. 103 4.3 Methods............................................................................................................................. 105 4.4 Results ............................................................................................................................... 109 4.4.1 General Feeding Behaviors ........................................................................................ 110 4.4.2 Dietary Profiles of Indri and Diademed Sifakas ........................................................ 111 4.4.3 Monthly Dietary Profiles and Dietary Overlap .......................................................... 116 Bark ....................................................................................................................................