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Feeding Patterns and Dietary Profile of Nocturnal Southern Woolly Lemurs (Avahi meridionalis) in Southeast Madagascar

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Abstract

Folivory has evolved in all primate radiations but the relative importance of resource quantity and nutritional quality of food is controversial. To understand how food abundance and different nutrients affect a folivorous diet, we investigated food composition of the leaf-eating lemur Avahi meridionalis. From June to December 2004, we conducted 26 nights of focal observation (256.1 h) in Sainte Luce pluvial littoral forest (southeast Madagascar) and recorded feeding behavior of 4 radiocollared individuals. Within the subjects’ home ranges, we recorded vegetation characteristics (morphospecies, phenology, diameter at breast height) and sampled food and nonfood items for chemical analyses. A. meridionalis did not eat fruit but only leaves and flowers and did not base their choice on food abundance. Adult leaves eaten were higher in easily soluble protein than adult leaves that were not consumed. The subjects ate young leaves and flowers as soon as they became available. These young leaves contained the same concentrations of soluble protein, higher concentrations of crude protein, and lower concentrations of acid detergent fiber and sugar than mature food leaves. A. meridionalis ate leaves with condensed tannins, alkaloids, and intermediate concentrations of polyphenolics. Contrary to previous studies that considered Avahi spp. a specialist, A. meridionalis acted as leaf-eating generalists with moderate selectivity, based on nutritional quality and tolerance of a wide array of plant secondary metabolites. This illustrates the dietary flexibility within a single genus of primates that seems to be driven by environmental constraints rather than morphological or physiological adaptations.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Commission Tripartite du Département des Eaux et Forêt, the Parque Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbasasa, the Université d’Antananarivo, and Silvana M. Borgognini for research permits and support; Qit Madagascar Minerals (QMM) for providing logistic support; the QMM conservation staff: Manon Vincelette for research follow-up and Faly Kandriantafika and David Rabehevitra for botanical identification of plant species; Givet, Kadoff, Roline, and Josette for their excellent help in the field; the people of the villages of Ambandriky and S. Luce for helping in case of need. Irene Tomaschewski did a wonderful job for plant analyses. We also thank Elisabetta Palagi and the anonymous reviewers for their thorough and thoughtful suggestions. Joanna Setchell did an outstanding job providing excellent guidance and editing the manuscript. This research is part of the Ph.D. thesis of I. Norscia partly funded by MIUR.

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  1. Museo di Storia Naturale e del Territorio, Università di Pisa, 56011, Calci, Pisa, Italy

    Ivan Norscia

  2. QIT Madagascar Minerals SA, BP 614, Tolagnaro, Madagascar

    Jean Baptiste Ramanamanjato

  3. Abt. Tierökologie und Naturschutz, Universität Hamburg, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Jörg U. Ganzhorn

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  1. Ivan Norscia
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Norscia, I., Ramanamanjato, J.B. & Ganzhorn, J.U. Feeding Patterns and Dietary Profile of Nocturnal Southern Woolly Lemurs (Avahi meridionalis) in Southeast Madagascar. Int J Primatol 33, 150–167 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-011-9562-3

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