Better Few than Hungry: Flexible Feeding Ecology of Collared Lemurs Eulemur collaris in Littoral Forest Fragments

Frugivorous primates are known to encounter many problems to cope with habitat degradation, due to the fluctuating spatial and temporal distribution of their food resources. Since lemur communities evolved strategies to deal with periods of food scarcity, these primates are expected to be naturally adapted to fluctuating ecological conditions and to tolerate a certain degree of habitat changes. However, behavioral and ecological strategies adopted by frugivorous lemurs to survive in secondary habitats have been little investigated. Here, we compared the behavioral ecology of collared lemurs (Eulemur collaris) in a degraded fragment of littoral forest of south-east Madagascar, Mandena, with that of their conspecifics in a more intact habitat, Sainte Luce.Lemur groups in Mandena and in Sainte Luce were censused in 2004/2007 and in 2000, respectively. Data were collected via instantaneous sampling on five lemur groups totaling 1,698 observation hours. The Shannon index was used to determine dietary diversity and nutritional analyses were conducted to assess food quality. All feeding trees were identified and measured, and ranging areas determined via the minimum convex polygon. In the degraded area lemurs were able to modify several aspects of their feeding strategies by decreasing group size and by increasing feeding time, ranging areas, and number of feeding trees. The above strategies were apparently able to counteract a clear reduction in both food quality and size of feeding trees.Our findings indicate that collared lemurs in littoral forest fragments modified their behavior to cope with the pressures of fluctuating resource availability. The observed flexibility is likely to be an adaptation to Malagasy rainforests, which are known to undergo periods of fruit scarcity and low productivity. These results should be carefully considered when relocating lemurs or when selecting suitable areas for their conservation

Inoculation of Mimosa latispinosa Lam with the Commercial Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus Rhizophagus irregularis DAOM 197198, and Bradyrhizobium spp. Under Nursery Production Conditions in South-East Madagascar

Qit Madagascar Minerals (QMM) has planned several actions to reduce the environmental footprint of its mining project located near the city of Fort-Dauphin (Madagascar). One of these actions is the reclamation of a portion of its mined sites. Different symbiotic strains were tested as bio-enhancers for the ecological restoration using Mimosa latispinosa Lam, a native and pioneer shrub. The symbiotic strains tested in nursery were the commercial strain of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, Rhizophagus irregularis DAOM197198, and two local strains of Bradyrhizobium spp., STM1415 and STM1447, inoculated alone or dually with the arbuscular mycorrhiza. Treatments did not significantly increase the plant height and dry mass. However, plants grown in tyndallized soil had better growth than those in unsterilized soil. Results obtained twenty weeks after inoculation suggest that soil tyndallization (heating at 100°C and at atmospheric pressure of 700 kPa during three hours) is an effective method for nursery production of high quality seedlings of M. latispinosa

A scoping review-Missed nursing care in community healthcare contexts and how it is measured

Aim: To examine the extent and nature of missed nursing care in elderly care in community healthcare contexts from the perspective of healthcare staff, and to identify instruments used to measure missed nursing care and the content of these instruments. Design: Scoping review. Methods: Searches were conducted in the CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases in March 2020. The selection process followed the PRISMA flow diagram. Results: Sixteen research papers were found from nine countries. The instruments used in the studies were Basel Extent of Rationing of Nursing Care for nursing homes (BERNCA-NH), modified MISSCARE survey and study-specific instruments or items. The item content differed, as did the number of items, which was between one and 44. The studies reported values for missed nursing care, as well as described reasons for and/or the relation between missed nursing care and organization, working climate and patient outcomes