Journal ArticleDOI
Niche partitioning and environmental factors affecting abundance of strepsirrhines in Angola
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
Levels of disturbance, canopy cover and undergrowth density were the habitat factors that most influenced variation in abundance of Galagoides demidovii and Perodicticus edwardsi, the latter also preferring the habitat with higher tree density.Abstract:
The African nocturnal primates (galagos, pottos, and angwantibos: suborder Strepsirrhini) are the result of the first major primate radiation event in Africa, and are found in different primate communities spread across the entire sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, they represent an interesting group of taxa to investigate community strategies to avoid interspecific competition. Here, we present the result of the first study on nocturnal primate communities in western Angola. We aimed to identify habitat factors influencing strepsirrhine abundance, collect evidence of spatial niche segregation, and discuss possible indications of competitive exclusion in this region. We conducted nocturnal surveys at four study sites: Kumbira, Bimbe, Northern Scarp, and Calandula. At each encounter we recorded species, group size, height of animals above ground, and GPS location. We sampled vegetation using the point-centered quarter method and collected data on canopy cover, disturbance, and undergrowth density. We observed a total of five strepsirrhine species with varying community structures. We did not encounter Galagoides thomasi but we recorded a new species Galagoides sp. nov. 4. Levels of disturbance, canopy cover and undergrowth density were the habitat factors that most influenced variation in abundance of Galagoides demidovii and Perodicticus edwardsi, the latter also preferring the habitat with higher tree density. Vertical separation between sympatric strepsirrhines was strongest in Northern Scarp, where overall relative abundance was also highest. Competitive exclusion between G. thomasi and G. sp. nov. 4 may explain why the former was not present within the Angolan Escarpment sites. We observed coexistence between mainly allopatric Otolemur crassicaudatus and P. edwardsi in Kumbira, and of Galago moholi and G. demidovii in Calandula. Both unusual combinations showed some levels of spatial segregation. Habitat characteristics of the Escarpment region are likely to allow for unique nocturnal primate species assemblages. We urge immediate conservation interventions in the Angolan Escarpment.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
A giant among dwarfs: a new species of galago (Primates: Galagidae) from Angola
Magdalena S. Svensson,Elena Bersacola,Michael S L Mills,Rachel A. Munds,Vincent Nijman,Andrew Perkin,Judith C. Masters,Sébastien Couette,K. Anne-Isola Nekaris,Simon K. Bearder +9 more
TL;DR: This discovery points to the importance of Angolan forests as refuges for endemic biodiversity and there is an urgent need to establish conservation measures and designate protected areas.
Journal ArticleDOI
Sleep patterns, daytime predation, and the evolution of diurnal sleep site selection in lorisiforms
Magdalena S. Svensson,K. A. I. Nekaris,Simon K. Bearder,Caroline M. Bettridge,Thomas M. Butynski,Susan M. Cheyne,Nabajit Das,Yvonne A. de Jong,Averee M. Luhrs,Lydia V. Luncz,Simon T. Maddock,Andrew Perkin,Elizabeth Pimley,Stephanie A. Poindexter,Kathleen D Reinhardt,Denise Spaan,Denise Spaan,Danica J. Stark,Danica J. Stark,Carly Starr,Vincent Nijman +20 more
TL;DR: Variations in sleep behavior, sleep patterns and vulnerability to daytime predation provide a window into the variation that was present in sleep in early primates.
Journal ArticleDOI
Comparative Ecology and Behaviour of Eastern Potto Perodicticus ibeanus and Central Potto P. edwardsi in Angola, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda
TL;DR: It is shown that unique ecological adaptations and behaviours may further elucidate their diversity, with potentially more species to be revealed within this cryptic and nocturnal genus.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities
Norman Myers,Russell A. Mittermeier,Cristina G. Mittermeier,Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca,Jennifer Kent +4 more
TL;DR: A ‘silver bullet’ strategy on the part of conservation planners, focusing on ‘biodiversity hotspots’ where exceptional concentrations of endemic species are undergoing exceptional loss of habitat, is proposed.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Competitive Exclusion Principle
TL;DR: By emphasizing the very aspects that might result in their denial of them were they less plain the authors can keep the principle explicitly present in their minds untit they see if its implications are, or are noty as unpleasant as their subconscious might suppose.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Struggle for Existence
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors attributed organic evolution mainly to the combined action of variation and the struggle for existence, primarily the competitive struggle, and argued that if competition is greatest the results for evolution are nil; where the results are greatest competition is absent.