The proposed Parc Regional de Belomotse - Frontier-publications ...

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species for timber. It is fortunate, or perhaps well judged, that the two keystone species within gallery forest are provided with such protection. 4.4.3 Threats to habitats The areas of spiny forest and gallery forest are very different in terms of plant composition and structure, but the threats to both of these habitats are similar. Large areas of gallery and spiny forest have been cleared cultivation, predominantly maize and cassava. Many trees have been felled for timber, and areas have been cleared for the production of charcoal. Grazing of cleared areas has prevented regeneration. These destructive uses of plant resources have led to the clearance of almost all significant areas of gallery forest along the south bank of the Onilahy River, mainly for cultivation purposes. The gallery forests contained within the surveyed areas represent the last significant forested areas along the Onilahy River. On the hillsides, large areas of spiny forest have been cleared for cultivation and charcoal production. Within all surveyed gallery forest quadrats, there was clear evidence of previous forest clearance for the purposes of cultivation or charcoal production. The gallery forest quadrats around Lake Antafoky contained evidence of fairly recent fire damage and slash-and-burn activities. In fact, the area was observed in the process of clearance in September 2001. The need for agricultural land is great around Lake Antafoky, so the threat to the areas of gallery forest in this area is severe. The gallery forest quadrats to the west of the Sept Lacs region (around the village of Mahaleotse) showed evidence of past use for small-scale charcoal production. However, the areas that were cleared for charcoal production appeared to be fairly small and old, and regeneration was evident. Unfortunately, goats were regularly seen in the gallery forests throughout the surveyed area, which will have affected the forest structure and reduced the rate of regeneration considerably. The areas of spiny forest around Lake Antafoky showed comparatively low levels of disturbance within the quadrats and on the hillsides, although large areas of cleared forest were visible on the hilltops. These areas had been cleared several years previously for the cultivation of maize. The spiny forest within the Sept Lacs region was fairly intact within the surveyed quadrats and on the hillsides, but an area of cleared forest was located on the plateau. This area was extremely large, extending for several kilometres across the plateau, and had been cleared primarily for maize cultivation. Taking into account the relative areas both of the spiny forest and gallery forest, it is evident that the habitat of primary concern is gallery forest, particularly around Lake Antafoky. The remaining areas of gallery forest within the region are fairly small and are gradually becoming degraded through selective logging and localised clearance. The structure and quality of these forests are therefore affected, and they are becoming fragmented. In comparison, the spiny forests within the surveyed region show large areas of relatively intact forest on the hillsides, although clearance for cultivation has severely impacted the spiny forest in large areas across the plateau. 18
5. Mammals 5.1 Introduction Mammals occur in a wide variety of terrestrial and aquatic habitats throughout the world, and constitute an essential aspect of the fauna in Madagascar. Because of the long period of isolation of Madagascar from other landmasses, the mammal fauna has evolved separately and created species and communities endemic to Madagascar (Hutcheon, 1994; Cook et al, 1991). As with many islands, Madagascar lacks many familiar higher taxa such as the wild cats, dogs, monkeys, apes and the large herbivores that dominate the plains of mainland Africa (Cook et al, 1991; Garbutt, 1999). Only six orders are present on Madagascar - Chiroptera, Insectivora, Rodentia, Carnivora, Primates and Artiodactyla. Of all the native species, of which more than 90 % are endemic to the island, the best known are the primate order of lemurs and insectivore order of tenrecs. Aside from the charismatic lemurs, most mammal species are poorly studied, indeed the suborder of microchiroptera are one of the most diverse orders and yet the least studied (Stephenson, 1994; Goodman, 1996). There have been no comprehensive small mammal studies in the region of the proposed Parc Regional de Belomotse. A short survey was conducted in this area (Raxworthy, 1995), but no mammals were captured. No other reported mammal studies have been undertaken in the region prior to this survey, so the mammal fauna is comparatively un-studied and unknown. Small mammals have important roles in their ecosystems because they are central to the food chain. They feed on vegetation and invertebrates and are preyed upon by carnivorous mammals, reptiles and birds. Furthermore, mammals often function as seed dispersers and are therefore important for plant species distribution and regeneration. Small mammals are comparatively easy to catch, handle, and identify. They have short life spans so changes in diversity, density, and community composition over time are relatively easy to detect and monitor. Small mammals are a useful ecological indicator group. Data from repeated surveys can be used to monitor the level of disturbance to an area and thereby contribute to the management of these areas. As with most other groups of animals in Madagascar, the mammals are threatened by habitat destruction, excessive hunting and competition by introduced species. 5.2 Methods As mammals have adapted to many different habitats, several methods are necessary to reveal the species occurring within an area. 5.2.1 Pitfall trapping Small insectivores and rodents were captured using pitfall traps. Pitfall traps are a cheap and effective method, used to sample ground dwelling small mammal, reptile and amphibian species. The method consists of buckets sunk into the ground along a plastic sheeting drift fence, that channels the animals into the buckets (commonly called bucket lines). The buckets were 275 mm deep, with a top diameter of 290 mm. Three 100-metre long bucket lines, each with 11 buckets, were used at every trapsite. 19
Page 1 and 2: Frontier Madagascar Environmental R
Page 3 and 4: Suggested Technical Paper citation:
Page 5 and 6: Contents List of Figures List of Ta
Page 7 and 8: 10.1 Introduction 46 10.2 Methods 4
Page 9 and 10: List of Figures Figure 1: Figure 2:
Page 11 and 12: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report descr
Page 13 and 14: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This summary repor
Page 15 and 16: 1. Introduction 1.1 Madagascar Mada
Page 17 and 18: 1.3 Threats to Conservation The hig
Page 19 and 20: collected by the WWF-Madagascar Dry
Page 21 and 22: initiative. This regional departmen
Page 23 and 24: 3. The Study sites Work was carried
Page 25 and 26: The trapsites were positioned such
Page 27 and 28: 4. Plants 4.1 Introduction The Mala
Page 29 and 30: Table 3. The number and endemism of
Page 31: These results seem to show that the
Page 35 and 36: madagascariensis and the Barn Owl,
Page 37 and 38: 5.3.3 Observations, tracks and call
Page 39 and 40: Cheirogaleus medius, the Coquerel
Page 41 and 42: However, only two year-round trappi
Page 43 and 44: In many areas, species are hunted f
Page 45 and 46: 6.4 Discussion 6.4.1 Temporal varia
Page 47 and 48: 7.2 Methods Between May and August
Page 49 and 50: 7.4 Discussion 7.4.1 Comparison of
Page 51 and 52: threatened. Several species, includ
Page 53 and 54: Nine species were observed solely i
Page 55 and 56: 9.3 Results A total of fifty-five d
Page 57 and 58: areas, all of them were found in th
Page 59 and 60: 9.4.5 Range extensions and locality
Page 61 and 62: 10.2 Methods Amphibians were observ
Page 63 and 64: the associated riparian forest, the
Page 65 and 66: knowledge, are linked solely to rip
Page 67 and 68: 11.2 Malaise Trapping 11.2.1 Introd
Page 69 and 70: The genus Cerapachys is rarely foun
Page 71 and 72: 11.5 Molluscs and Millipedes 11.5.1
Page 73 and 74: 12. Resource use and Socio economic
Page 75 and 76: 12.3 Results 12.3.1 Biological dive
Page 77 and 78: Reeds are collected from the shallo
Page 79 and 80: egion’. The development of the re
Page 81 and 82: oat or on foot. From the lake, the
Page 83 and 84:
Figure 10. The approximate position
Page 85 and 86:
the development of tourism and asso
Page 87 and 88:
References Billé, R. & Mermet, L.
Page 89 and 90:
Lundahl, S. L. L. & Olsson, A. 2000
Page 91 and 92:
Appendix 1. Trapsite (TS) Habitat D
Page 93 and 94:
Ground layer < 10 %, scrub layer 10
Page 95 and 96:
Appendix 2. Continued. FABACEAE Rob
Page 97 and 98:
Appendix 3. Numbers of individuals
Page 99 and 100:
Appendix 3. Continued. LOGANIACEAE
Page 101 and 102:
Appendix 4. Plant numbers and speci
Page 103 and 104:
Appendix 6. List of mammal species
Page 105 and 106:
Appendix 7. Continued. 42 Centropus
Page 107 and 108:
Appendix 9. List of reptile species
Page 109 and 110:
Appendix 10. List of butterfly spec
Page 111 and 112:
Appendix 11. Descriptions of Sugges
Page 113 and 114:
Ring-tailed lemurs and Verreaux’s
Page 115 and 116:
Hide 3 Surroundings - Located in ga
Page 117:
Appendix 13. Specimen identificatio
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