Abstract
Ambatorongorongo Mountain lies at the historical intersection betweenhumid, spiny, and littoral forests in southeastern Madagascar. We report theresults of surveys of the herpetofauna and lemurs occurring in Malahelo Forest,a small (<25 ha) forest fragment lying on the western slope ofAmbatorongorongo Mountain. There are at least 41 reptile, 11 amphibian, and 7lemur species in this forest, including several that are endemic to southeasternMadagascar and are at severe risk of extinction. The species richness of theMalahelo fauna is comparable to that of even the largest forest reserves in theregion. We also evaluate the similarity of the Malahelo herpetofauna to that ofnearby humid, spiny, and littoral forests to assess the biogeographic affinitiesof its amphibians and reptile assemblages. Both groups contain speciescharacteristic of each of the three surrounding forest types, but thebiogeographic patterns appear to differ for amphibians and reptiles. Overall,the herpetofauna and lemurs of the Malahelo Forest indicate that it is a remnantof a biogeographic transition zone between the major forest types ofsoutheastern Madagascar. The combination of high species richness, regionalendemics, and unique herpetofaunal and lemur assemblages should make MalaheloForest a high conservation priority, and we give recommendations for protectingwhat remains of this important transitional forest.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andreone F. and Randriamahazo H. 1997. Ecological and taxonomic observations on the amphibians and reptiles of the Andohahela low altitude rainforest, S. Madagascar. Revue Francais Aquariologie 24: 95–128.
Brown J.H. and Gibson A.C. 1983. Biogeography. Mosby, St Louis, Missouri.
Cowling R.M. and Bond W.J. 1991. How small can reserves be? An empirical approach in Cape Fynbos, South Africa. Biological Conservation 58: 243–256.
Creighton G.K. 1992. Madagascar Minerals Project Environmental Impact Assessment Study. Part 1: Natural Resources, Appendix IV. Lewis Environmental Consultants, Montreal, 121 pp.
Feistner A.T.C. and Schmid J. 1999. Lemurs of the Réserve Naturelle Intégrale d'Andohahela, Madagascar. Fieldiana: Zoology (new series) 94: 269–283.
Foiben-Taosarintanin'i Madagasikara 1979. Ranopiso, feuille M-62. Institut National de Geodesie et Cartographie, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Ganzhorn J.U. 1998. Progress report on the QMM faunal studies: lemurs in the littoral forest of southeast Madagascar. Lemur News 3: 22–23.
Ganzhorn J.U., Rakotosamimanana B., Hannah L., Hough J., Iyer L., Olivieri S. et al. 1997. Priorities for biodiversity conservation in Madagascar. Primate Report 48: pp. 1–81.
Ganzhorn J.U., Goodman S.M., Ramanamanjato J.B., Ralison J., Rakotondravony A.D. and Rakotosamimanana B. 2000. Effects of fragmentation and assessing minimum viable populations of lemurs in Madagascar. In: Rheinwald G. (ed.), Isolated Vertebrate Populations in Tropical Forests. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 46, pp. 265–272.
Gelderblom C.M. and Bronner G.N. 1995. Patterns of distribution and protection status of the endemic mammals in South Africa. South African Journal of Zoology 30: 127–135.
Glaw F. and Vences M. 1994. A Fieldguide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar. Vences and ¨ Glaw Verlags, Koln, Germany.
Goodman S.M., Pidgeon M., Hawkins A.F.A. and Schulenberg T.S. 1997. The birds of southeastern Madagascar. Fieldiana: Zoology (new series) 87: 1–132.
Gottfried M., Pauli H. and Grabherr G. 1998. Prediction of vegetation patterns at the limits of plant life: a new view of the alpine-nival ecotone. Arctic and Alpine Research 30: 207–221.
Hamann A., Barbon E.B., Curio E. and Madulid D.A. 1999. A botanical inventory of a submontane tropical rainforest on Negros Island, Philippines. Biodiversity and Conservation 8: 1017–1031.
Krebs C.J. 1999. Ecological Methodology. Addison Wesley Longman, Menlo Park, California.
Mittermeier R.A., KonstantW.R., Nicoll M.E. and Langrand O. 1992. Lemurs of Madagascar: An Action Plan for their Conservation 1993–1999. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
Mittermeier R.A., Tattersall I., Konstant W.R., Meyers D.M. and Mast R.B. 1994. Lemurs of Madagascar. Conservation International, Washington, DC.
Nicoll M.E. and Langrand O. 1989. Madagascar: Revue de la conservation et des aires protégées.World Wide Fund for Nature, Gland, Switzerland.
Nussbaum R.A. and Raxworthy C.J. 1994a. A new species of Uroplatus Dumeril (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae) from southern Madagascar. Herpetologica 50: 319–325.
Nussbaum R.A. and Raxworthy C.J. 1994b. The genus Paragehyra (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkonidae) in southern Madagascar. Journal of Zoology &(London) 232: 37–59.
Nussbaum R.A., Raxworthy C.J., Raselimanana A.P. and Ramanamanjato J.B. 1999. Amphibians and reptiles of the Réserve Naturelle Intégrale d'Andohahela, Madagascar. Fieldiana: Zoology (new series) 94: 155–173.
Ramanamanjato J.B. 2000. Fragmentation effects on reptile and amphibian diversity in the littoral forest of southeastern Madagascar. In: Rheinwald G. (ed.), Isolated Vertebrate Populations in Tropical Forests. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 46, pp. 297–308.
Raxworthy C.J. and Nussbaum R.A. 1993. A new Madagascan Phelsuma, with a review of Phelsuma trilineata and comments on Phelsuma cepediana in Madagascar (Squamata: Gekkonidae). Herpetologica 49: 342–349.
Raxworthy C.J. and Nussbaum R.A. 1994. A review of the Madagascan snake genera Pseudoxyrhopus, Parhadinaea, and Heteroliodon (Squamata: Colubridae). Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Vol 182: pp. 1–37.
Raxworthy C.J. and Nussbaum R.A. 1996. Patterns of endemism for terrestrial vertebrates in eastern Madagascar. In: Lourenço W.R. (ed.), Biogéographie de Madagascar. Editions de l'ORSTROM, Paris, France, pp. 369–383.
Stuart S.N., Adams R.J. and Jenkins M.D. 1990. Biodiversity in sub-saharan Africa and its islands: conservation, management, and sustainable use. Occasional papers of the IUCN Species Survival Commission no. 6, 242 pp.
Schwartz M.W. 1999. Choosing the appropriate scale of reserves for conservation. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 30: 83–108.
Turner I.M. and Corlett R.T. 1996. The conservation value of small, isolated fragments of lowland tropical rain forest. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 11: 330–333.
Vallan D. 2000. Influence of forest fragmentation on amphibian diversity in the nature reserve of Ambohitantely, highland Madagascar. Biological Conservation 96: 31–43.
Vences M. and Glaw F. 2001. When molecules claim for taxonomic changes: new proposals on the classification of Old World treefrogs (Amphibia, Anura, Ranoidea). Spixiana 24: 85–92.
Williams P.H. 1996. Mapping variations in the strength and breadth of biogeographic transition zones using species turnover. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 263: 579–588.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ramanamanjato, JB., Mcintyre, P.B. & Nussbaum, R.A. Reptile, amphibian, and lemur diversity of the Malahelo Forest, a biogeographical transition zone in southeastern Madagascar. Biodiversity and Conservation 11, 1791–1807 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020325415489
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020325415489