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Highly Variable Densities and a Decline in Critically Endangered Golden-Crowned Sifaka (Propithecus tattersalli) Abundance from 2008–2018

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Abstract

Animal abundance is determined by a number of factors, including vegetation structure, food availability and quality, human activities, predation risk, and disease. Vegetation structure, food availability, and human activity often are used to guide conservation efforts, such as protected area zoning and reforestation, especially for primates. We sought to determine whether Critically Endangered golden-crowned sifaka (Propithecus tattersalli) densities could be predicted across a heterogeneous landscape as a function of vegetation structure, food availability, and human activity. We conducted walking transect surveys across the sifakas’ entire global range in Loky-Manambato Protected Area of Madagascar from 2016–2018, expanding upon a study conducted in 2006/2008. Potential predictors of sifaka density included metrics of vegetation structure (e.g., tree density, forest type), food availability (e.g., food tree basal area, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)), and human activity (e.g., tree cutting, livestock grazing). Low-intensity tree cutting and wet season NDVI were the best, positive predictors of sifaka densities. Sifaka densities within study units across their restricted range (880 km2) were highly variable (range: 6.8–78.1 sifakas/km2), emphasizing the importance of large-scale study designs across all suitable land cover types for assessing a species’ abundance, regardless of its area of occupancy. We estimated that 10,222–12,631 sifakas remain. Based on previous surveys, this indicates that populations either remained stable over the past 20 years or have declined by 30–43% in the past 10 years; we argue that a decline is most likely based on our updating of forest cover estimates for both of the prior studies. We also found that wet season NDVI is a positive predictor of sifaka densities, which will aid managers in prioritizing conservation actions in this region using widely available remotely sensed data.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship [Grant No. DGE 1607310], Graduate Research Development Program and a George E. and Hester B. Aker Fellowship from Virginia Tech’s Graduate School, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Cleveland Zoological Society, Greenville Zoo, Explorer’s Club Washington D.C., Virginia Tech Interfaces of Global Change Fellowship, International Primatological Society, Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, Sigma Xi, Stellar Aerobotics, Conservation International’s Primate Action Fund, American Society of Primatologists, Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, IDEA Wild, Primate Conservation Inc., Burd Sheldon McGinnes and Dwight Chamberlain Graduate Fellowships, and a Georgia-Pacific Corporation Scholarship through the Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources. The authors declare that they have no competing interests. We thank Amidou Bensouleimany, Paige Crane, Krsity Lapenta, Aylett Lipford, Giovanni Walters, our local guides (Amadou, Andre, Arsene, Augiste, Bezily, Charlin, Christone, Da, Edward, Ishmael, Jaojoby, John, Justin, Lahimena, Laurent, Lucien, Mamoud, Michelle, Moratombo, Patrice, Pierre, Seraphin, Sylvano, Theodore, Thierry, Vazaha, Zamenadene, Zoky), cooking staff (Ayati, Fatomia, Francia, Jao Fera, Nicole), and porters, Fanamby (Serge Rajaobelina, Celin, Narcisse, Tiana Andriamanana, Sylvano Tsialazo), and Madagascar Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments (MICET; Benjamin Andriamihaja, Benji Randrianambinina, Jean Marcel Rakotoarison, Tiana Razafindratsita, Haja Rasoanaivo, Claude, Nary) for their assistance with data collection and logistics. They authors also thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor for their constructive feedback. Opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fish & Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, 310 West Campus Dr., Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Brandon P. Semel, Sarah M. Karpanty & Dean F. Stauffer

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, 926 West Campus Dr., Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Meredith A. Semel & Jeffrey R. Walters

  3. ESE, Ecology and Ecosystems Health, INRAE, Agrocampus Ouest, 35042, Rennes, France

    Erwan Quéméré

  4. Département de Zoologie et Biodiversité Animale, Université d’Antananarivo, 566 Analamanga, 101, Antananarivo, BP, Madagascar

    Angelo F. Andrianiaina & Tamby Ranaivoson

  5. Département de Biologie Animale et Ecologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Mahajanga, BP 652, 401, Mahajanga, Madagascar

    Ando N. Rakotonanahary

  6. Département de Biologie Appliqué à l’Environnement, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Mahajanga, BP 652, 401, Mahajanga, Madagascar

    Dimbisoa V. Rasolonirina

  7. Mention Anthropobiologie et Développement Durable, Faculté des Sciences, Université d’Antananarivo, 566 Analamanga, 101, Antananarivo, BP, Madagascar

    Faramalala F. Vololonirina

Authors
  1. Brandon P. Semel
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  2. Sarah M. Karpanty
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  3. Meredith A. Semel
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  4. Dean F. Stauffer
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  5. Erwan Quéméré
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  6. Jeffrey R. Walters
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  7. Angelo F. Andrianiaina
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  8. Ando N. Rakotonanahary
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  9. Tamby Ranaivoson
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  10. Dimbisoa V. Rasolonirina
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  11. Faramalala F. Vololonirina
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Contributions

BPS and SMK originally formulated the idea. BPS, SMK, DFS, and EQ developed methods. BPS, SMK, and MAS helped to secure funding. BPS, MAS, AFA, ANR, TR, DVR, and FFV conducted fieldwork. BPS, SMK, DFS, and EQ conducted and guided analyses. BPS and SMK wrote the manuscript. MAS, DFS, JRW, and EQ edited the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brandon P. Semel.

Additional information

Handling Editor: Joanna M. Setchell

figure a

Badge earned for open practices: Open Data. Experiment materials and data are available in the repository at https://doi.org/10.7294/19778806.

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Semel, B.P., Karpanty, S.M., Semel, M.A. et al. Highly Variable Densities and a Decline in Critically Endangered Golden-Crowned Sifaka (Propithecus tattersalli) Abundance from 2008–2018. Int J Primatol 44, 94–115 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-022-00314-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-022-00314-x

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