Mouse Lemurs in an Assemblage of Cheirogaleid Primates in Menabe Central, Western Madagascar – Three Reasons to Coexist
Mouse Lemurs in an Assemblage of Cheirogaleid Primates in Menabe Central, Western Madagascar – Three Reasons to Coexist
复制标题
马达加斯加西部梅纳贝中部的 Cheirogaleid 灵长类动物群中的鼠狐猴——共存的三个原因
DOI：
10.3389/fevo.2021.585781
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发表时间：
2021
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
J. Halley
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Livia Schäffler;P. Kappeler;J. Halley
生态群落是由共存物种之间的相互作用构成的，这些物种相互影响其分布和丰度。相似的物种，预计将排除彼此合适的栖息地，所以两个鼠狐猴物种的共存在几个密切相关的手盔目灵长类动物在中部的马达加斯加Menabe地区的组合需要解释。我们评估了发生的Berthe夫人的鼠狐猴（Microcebus berthae）和灰鼠狐猴（Microcebus murinus），和两个较大的cheirogaleids，Coquerel的巨型鼠狐猴（Mirza coquereli）和西部胖尾侏儒狐猴（Cheirogaleus medius），夜间行样带行走2003年至2007年。我们探讨了四种不同的情况下，不同的资源供应（退化和非退化的栖息地在雨季和旱季），在区域空间尺度和更精细的本地（样带）尺度上的种间相互作用。我们测试了鼠狐猴个体的种间分布是否表明种间竞争，以及它们的区域共存是否可能通过与M的相互作用而稳定。coquereli或C.中位我们开发了"种间吸引力指数"（ISIA），以量化观察到的样带内的种间相互作用，并确定这些是否显着不同的零模型产生的随机化和自举控制种内聚集。对于两个鼠狐猴，种间空间排斥是最明显的在资源贫乏的旱季，与摄食竞争的假设一致。季节性变化的分布模式表示在时空异构环境中的资源跟踪。个体的种间分布表明，较大的手盔目有利于M。berthae在牺牲更丰富的M。murinus：spatial associations of both，M. coquereli和C. medius，M. murinus在大多数情景和空间尺度上都是负的，但与M. berthae。因此，我们的研究表明，生态相似的异种之间的共存可以依赖于复杂的密度介导的种间过程随栖息地质量和季节的变化。关于动物群落的稳定性，这一见解对生物多样性保护具有重大意义。
Ecological communities are structured by interactions between coexisting species that mutually influence their distribution and abundance. Ecologically similar species are expected to exclude one another from suitable habitat, so the coexistence of two mouse lemur species in an assemblage of several closely related cheirogaleid primates in the central Menabe region of Madagascar requires explanation. We assessed the occurrence of Madame Berthe’s mouse lemurs (Microcebus berthae) and Gray mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus), and of two larger cheirogaleids, Coquerel’s giant mouse lemur (Mirza coquereli) and the western fat-tailed dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus medius), by nocturnal line transect walks between 2003 and 2007. We explored interspecific interactions for four different scenarios with varying resource availability (degraded and non-degraded habitat in the wet and dry season), both on the regional spatial scale and on a finer local (transect) scale. We tested whether the interspecific distribution of mouse lemur individuals indicates interspecific competition and whether their regional coexistence might be stabilized by interactions with M. coquereli or C. medius. We developed the “Inter-Species Index of Attraction” (ISIA) to quantify the observed interspecific interactions within transects and determined if these were significantly different from a null model generated by a combination of randomization and bootstrapping to control for intraspecific aggregation. For the two mouse lemurs, interspecific spatial exclusion was most pronounced during the resource-poor dry season, consistent with the hypothesis of feeding competition. Seasonally varying distribution patterns indicated resource tracking in a spatio-temporally heterogeneous environment. The interspecific distribution of individuals suggested that the larger cheirogaleids benefit M. berthae at the expense of the more abundant M. murinus: spatial associations of both, M. coquereli and C. medius, with M. murinus were negative in most scenarios and across spatial scales, but neutral or even positive with M. berthae. Thus, our study revealed that coexistence among ecologically similar heterospecifics can rely on complex density-mediated interspecific processes varying with habitat quality and season. With regard to the stability of animal assemblages, this insight has major implications for biodiversity conservation.