Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository November 2017 Trees for the Primates: A Community-Based Assessment of Crowned Lemur (Eulemur coronatus) Habitat Preferences and Conservation in Northern Madagascar Fernando Mario Mercado Malabet The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Ian Colquhoun The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Anthropology A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree in Master of Arts © Fernando Mario Mercado Malabet 2017 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Mercado Malabet, Fernando Mario, "Trees for the Primates: A Community-Based Assessment of Crowned Lemur (Eulemur coronatus) Habitat Preferences and Conservation in Northern Madagascar" (2017). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 5028. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/5028 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Abstract As a result of the continuous loss of forest habitats in Madagascar, forest fragments that exhibit a high degree of degradation and are strongly embedded on the livelihood needs of rural Malagasy people are increasingly being considered as the focus of conservation management operations. This new type of protected areas, based on the IUCN’s Category V management model for conservation action, promises a social-ecologically balanced method of environmental intervention that seeks to protect ecological communities while promoting sustainable socioeconomic systems. However, due to the poor ecological quality and immense level of anthropogenic influence in the type of forests that serves as the background to this conservation system, the benefit that this model can provide to lemur conservation remains unclear. In this thesis, I address these uncertainties exploring how the habitat conditions and current conservation initiatives of a small Category V new protected area in northern Madagascar influence the present and long-term viability pattern of a resident crowned lemur population. Using ecological niche models (ENMs) and occupancy assessments, my research shows that at Oronjia Conservation Park, crowned lemurs navigate high levels of anthropogenic disturbance and poor habitat quality by maximizing their use of the few forest sections capable of supporting the population. Furthermore, my research shows that community-based conservation initiatives are creating a social landscape where the continued risk of habitat loss and deterioration can be properly managed. Keywords: Primatology, conservation biology, spatial ecology, ethnoprimatology, ecological anthropology, habitat loss, environmental niche model, Category V management, crowned lemur, northern Madagascar. I Acknowledgements The completion of this project would have not been possible without the advice and support that was provided by a key number of people and organizations. First and foremost, I wish to express my gratitude towards my supervisor, Dr. Ian Colquhoun, whose advice, encouragement, and like-minded appreciation for lemur conservation were instrumental for the completion of each step of this project and graduate school. Furthermore, I would like to thank my project advisors, Dr. Andrew Walsh and Dr. Nusha Keyghobadi, for their valuable mentorship and the feedback they provided at various stages of this research; as well as Dr. Jean-François Millaire, for his general GIS insight and for the remote sensing data he provided that was so instrumental for the completion of this project. Similarly, thank you to the faculty, staff, graduate students of the Department of Anthropology, who helped me in more ways that I can recount. Special thanks go to Heather Peacock for the technical support she provided in the formulation and trial and error process that led to my final MaxEnt models. Furthermore, completion of this research was possible thanks to the funding provided by: The Social Science and Humanities Research Council (Insight Grants 435- 2014-1413 and 435-2016-739), the government of Ontario (Ontario Graduate Scholarship), the Centre for the Environment & Sustainability, and the Faculty of Social Sciences. Field research in Madagascar was made possible by the assistance of Dr. Chris Birkinshaw and Jeremie RAZAFITSALAMA, as well as the other members of the Oronjia team of the Missouri Botanical Gardens, who facilitated the development of this project by providing all the necessary on-site logistic support and lending their valuable insight on the ecological and socioeconomic context of Oronjia. I would also like to thank Dr. Alex Totomarovario and the Université d’Antsiranana who welcomed me to Madagascar and granted the necessary sponsorship to conduct this research thanks to the existing research partnership with Western University. Similarly, I want to thank my two field assistants, TOMBONIRINA Jean Jacques Wira and ANDRIAMIHARIMANA Donatien, for their dedication, daily support, expertise, and great deal of patience. Without their help and insight, my time in Madagascar would have not been as productive. Similarly, I want to thank the residents of Ankorikahely and Ramena, who welcomed me into their home and II their forest, and did their best to communicate with me given my sub-par French and Malagasy skills. I would also like to thank all of my wonderful extended-cohort friends – including but not limited to, Arwen Johns, Becca Parry, Becky Goodwin, Hannah McGregor, Tyler Macintosh, Scott Eckford, Jenn Willoughby, Lauren Gilhooly, Amy St. John, Pat Galler, and Driton Nushaj – and family members. Their words of encouragement were the outlet needed to healthy progress through my work. I especially want to name my parents, Diana Malabet Novella and Fernando Mercado Santamaria, as well as my brother, Jose Mercado Malabet, who were always there when I needed them most. The completion of this thesis is as much their success as it is mine. On a final, more light-hearted note, I want to thank the crowned lemurs of Oronjia, whose ‘presence’ are the basis of this project in more ways than one. III Table of Contents Abstract.................................................................................................................................... I Acknowledgements................................................................................................................. II Table of Contents.................................................................................................................. IV List of Tables.......................................................................................................................... VI List of Figures...................................................................................................................... VII List of Formulas.................................................................................................................... XI List of Appendices................................................................................................................ XII Chapter 1.................................................................................................................................. 1 1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Statement of the Problem............................................................................................ 1 1.1.1. Overview of the Protected Area Network...................................................... 2 1.1.2. Social Drivers of Natural Resource Exploitation in Madagascar................ 4 1.2. Research Objective...................................................................................................... 5 1.3. Ecology of Crowned Lemur......................................................................................... 8 Chapter 2................................................................................................................................ 10 2 RESEARCH CONTEXT.................................................................................................. 10 2.1. Description of the Research Site............................................................................... 10 2.1.1. Description of Ecological and Environmental Characteristics of the NPA Oronjia............................................................................................................... 12 2.1.2. Description of the Social and Economic Characteristics of the NPA Oronjia............................................................................................................... 20 2.2. The Goal of Conservation Management at Oronjia Park......................................... 30 2.3. Description of Local and Neighbouring E. coronatus population........................... 35 Chapter 3................................................................................................................................ 43 3 METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK.......................................................................... 43 3.1. Data Collection Protocols.......................................................................................... 43 3.1.1. Summary of Field Observation