Transfert de gestion et conservation de la biodiversité de Makira, Nord-Est de Madagascar

International audienceAvec sa biodiversité unique dans l'un des grands blocs de forêts humides de l'Est de Madagascar, les ressources naturelles de la forêt de Makira (Nord-Est) occupent une place prépondérante dans le développement des communautés riveraines et la préservation des organismes endémiques de l'Île. Le système de gestion rationnelle mise en place ces dernières années à Makira montre un certain niveau de contribution à la réduction des menaces pesant sur l'aire protégée. Toutefois, pour atteindre un niveau satisfaisant à la fois pour le bien-être des communautés riveraines et la préservation d'un tel patrimoine biologique, un système de suivi basé sur des actions-réponses, le " Law Enforcement Monitoring " (LEM), devrait être mise en place

Data from: Hunting, exotic carnivores, and habitat loss: anthropogenic effects on a native carnivore community, Madagascar

The wide-ranging, cumulative, negative effects of anthropogenic disturbance, including habitat degradation, exotic species, and hunting, on native wildlife has been well documented across a range of habitats worldwide with carnivores potentially being the most vulnerable due to their more extinction prone characteristics. Investigating the effects of anthropogenic pressures on sympatric carnivores is needed to improve our ability to develop targeted, effective management plans for carnivore conservation worldwide. Utilizing photographic, line-transect, and habitat sampling, as well as landscape analyses and village-based bushmeat hunting surveys, we provide the first investigation of how multiple forms of habitat degradation (fragmentation, exotic carnivores, human encroachment, and hunting) affect carnivore occupancy across Madagascar’s largest protected area: the Masoala-Makira landscape. We found that as degradation increased, native carnivore occupancy and encounter rates decreased while exotic carnivore occupancy and encounter rates increased. Feral cats (Felis species) and domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) had higher occupancy than half of the native carnivore species across Madagascar’s largest protected landscape. Bird and small mammal encounter rates were negatively associated with exotic carnivore occupancy, but positively associated with the occupancy of four native carnivore species. Spotted fanaloka (Fossa fossana) occupancy was constrained by the presence of exotic feral cats and exotic small Indian civet (Viverricula indica). Hunting was intense across the four study sites where hunting was studied, with the highest rates for the small Indian civet ( individuals consumed/year), the ring-tailed vontsira (Galidia elegans) ( consumed/year), and the fosa (Cryptoprocta ferox) ( consumed/year). Our modeling results suggest hunters target intact forest where carnivore occupancy, abundance, and species richness, are highest. These various anthropogenic pressures and their effects on carnivore populations, especially increases in exotic carnivores and hunting, have wide-ranging, global implications and demand effective management plans to target the influx of exotic carnivores and unsustainable hunting that is affecting carnivore populations across Madagascar and worldwide

Hunting, Exotic Carnivores, and Habitat Loss: Anthropogenic Effects on a Native Carnivore Community, Madagascar

<div><p>The wide-ranging, cumulative, negative effects of anthropogenic disturbance, including habitat degradation, exotic species, and hunting, on native wildlife has been well documented across a range of habitats worldwide with carnivores potentially being the most vulnerable due to their more extinction prone characteristics. Investigating the effects of anthropogenic pressures on sympatric carnivores is needed to improve our ability to develop targeted, effective management plans for carnivore conservation worldwide. Utilizing photographic, line-transect, and habitat sampling, as well as landscape analyses and village-based bushmeat hunting surveys, we provide the first investigation of how multiple forms of habitat degradation (fragmentation, exotic carnivores, human encroachment, and hunting) affect carnivore occupancy across Madagascar’s largest protected area: the Masoala-Makira landscape. We found that as degradation increased, native carnivore occupancy and encounter rates decreased while exotic carnivore occupancy and encounter rates increased. Feral cats (<i>Felis species</i>) and domestic dogs (<i>Canis familiaris</i>) had higher occupancy than half of the native carnivore species across Madagascar’s largest protected landscape. Bird and small mammal encounter rates were negatively associated with exotic carnivore occupancy, but positively associated with the occupancy of four native carnivore species. Spotted fanaloka (<i>Fossa fossana</i>) occupancy was constrained by the presence of exotic feral cats and exotic small Indian civet (<i>Viverricula indica</i>). Hunting was intense across the four study sites where hunting was studied, with the highest rates for the small Indian civet (<math><mrow>x<mo>¯</mo> = <mn>90</mn></mrow></math> individuals consumed/year), the ring-tailed vontsira (<i>Galidia elegans</i>) (<math><mrow>x<mo>¯</mo> = <mn>58</mn></mrow></math> consumed/year), and the fosa (<i>Cryptoprocta ferox</i>) (<math><mrow>x<mo>¯</mo> = <mn>31</mn></mrow></math> consumed/year). Our modeling results suggest hunters target intact forest where carnivore occupancy, abundance, and species richness, are highest. These various anthropogenic pressures and their effects on carnivore populations, especially increases in exotic carnivores and hunting, have wide-ranging, global implications and demand effective management plans to target the influx of exotic carnivores and unsustainable hunting that is affecting carnivore populations across Madagascar and worldwide.</p></div

Farris et al. Madagascar data

Excel data file containing the photographic captures of wildlife at seven sites, ranked by their varying degrees of degradation (S01-S07), across the Masoala-Makira landscape. Photographic capture data contains the common name, scientific name, number of photos, and number of individuals of each animal captured, as well as the date and time of the capture and the camera type the animal was photographed with and the type of human observed (researcher, non-researcher), where applicable

Summary of survey effort, lemur species richness and abundance, and encounter rates for six native and three exotic (bold) carnivores, birds, and small mammals at each of the seven study sites.

<p>* TS: trap success is the number of independent photographic capture events of a target species divided by the number of trap nights multiplied by 100</p><p>** Relative abundance = number of lemur species (diurnal and nocturnal) observed per km</p><p>Summary of survey effort, lemur species richness and abundance, and encounter rates for six native and three exotic (bold) carnivores, birds, and small mammals at each of the seven study sites.</p

Site-specific single-season occupancy for native and exotic carnivores across the landscape.

<p>Site-specific occupancy estimates (± SE) for each native A) and exotic B) carnivore species across the seven study sites, ranked from least degraded (S01) to most degraded (S07), with the estimated total number of animals consumed per year (diamond; natural log squared) by site on secondary axis. The * indicates the naïve occupancy estimate was used.</p

Single-season occupancy estimates for native and exotic carnivores.

<p>Probability of occupancy for: A) multiple native carnivores (grey symbols) and the exotic feral cat (black symbols) as a function of bird trap success (number of captures/trap night * 100); B) broad-striped vontsira (grey symbol) and exotic domestic dog (black symbol) as a function of small mammal trap success; and C) spotted fanaloka (<i>Fossa fossana</i>) as a function of feral cat (gray) and small Indian civet (black) trap success based on regression coefficients (β) resulting from landscape level single-season occupancy models across all seven sites combined.</p

Review of the status and conservation of tenrecs (Mammalia: Afrotheria: Tenrecidae)

The mammal family Tenrecidae (Afrotheria: Afrosoricida) is endemic to Madagascar. Here we present the conservation priorities for the 31 species of tenrec that were assessed or reassessed in 2015–2016 for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Six species (19.4%) were found to be threatened (4 Vulnerable, 2 Endangered) and one species was categorized as Data Deficient. The primary threat to tenrecs is habitat loss, mostly as a result of slash-and-burn agriculture, but some species are also threatened by hunting and incidental capture in fishing traps. In the longer term, climate change is expected to alter tenrec habitats and ranges. However, the lack of data for most tenrecs on population size, ecology and distribution, together with frequent changes in taxonomy (with many cryptic species being discovered based on genetic analyses) and the poorly understood impact of bushmeat hunting on spiny species (Tenrecinae), hinders conservation planning. Priority conservation actions are presented for Madagascar's tenrecs for the first time since 1990 and focus on conserving forest habitat (especially through improved management of protected areas) and filling essential knowledge gaps. Tenrec research, monitoring and conservation should be integrated into broader sustainable development objectives and programmes targeting higher profile species, such as lemurs, if we are to see an improvement in the conservation status of tenrecs in the near future.ISSN:0030-605