1 REVIEW 2 Elevation gradients of lemur abundance emphasise the importance of Madagascar’s 3 lowland rainforest for the conservation of endemic taxa 4 5 Marco CAMPERA* Nocturnal Primate Research Group, Department of Social Sciences, 6 Oxford Brookes University, Gibbs Building, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, UK. Email: 7
[email protected] 8 Luca SANTINI Department of Environmental Science, Institute for Water and Wetland 9 Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Email: ??? 10 Michela BALESTRI Nocturnal Primate Research Group, Department of Social Sciences, 11 Oxford Brookes University, Gibbs Building, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, UK. Email: ??? 12 K.A.I. NEKARIS Nocturnal Primate Research Group, Department of Social Sciences, 13 Oxford Brookes University, Gibbs Building, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, UK. Email: ??? 14 Giuseppe DONATI Nocturnal Primate Research Group, Department of Social Sciences, 15 Oxford Brookes University, Gibbs Building, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, UK. Email: ??? 16 17 * Correspondence author 18 Running head: Elevation gradients of lemur abundance 19 Submitted: 25 January 2019 20 Returned for revision: 18 March 2019 21 Revision accepted: 29 July 2019 22 Editor: DR 23 24 1 25 ABSTRACT 26 1. Elevation gradients correlate with changes in several environmental conditions and are 27 known to influence animal abundance. Animals in regions with a naturally limited extent of 28 lowland rainforest are expected to have evolved adaptations to intermediate elevations that 29 provided a stable environment during their evolution. 30 2. Since the lowland rainforest of Madagascar has a limited extent and suffers from 31 increasing anthropogenic pressure, it is essential to understand how well species tolerate 32 intermediate and high elevations. In this study, we aim to quantify the relationship between 33 lemur abundance and elevation in the eastern rainforest of Madagascar.