Madagascar Biodiversity and Conservation
Understanding the links between landscape ecology, behavior and population genetics in fragmented forests.
In this project we integrate long-term behavioral, mark and recapture, landscape and genetic data of various lemur species present in Ranomafana National Park and surrounding areas. Our goal is to better understand the effects of climate and land cover change on lemur populations to assess population health and inform conservation management. Wright, P. C., Otero Jiménez, B., et al. 2020. The Progressive Spread of the Vascular Wilt Like Pathogen of Calophyllum Detected in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 91. (Link) Zhang, L., Ameca, E.I., Otero Jiménez, B., et al. 2022. Human-induced deforestation increases extinction risk faster than climate pressures: Evidence from long-term monitoring of the globally endangered Milne-Edward's sifaka. Biological Conservation, 274, p.109716. |
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Exploring the history and biodiversity of the Ivohiboro Forest
The Ivohiboro-Analamary is a humid isolated forest embedded in a landscape dominated by dry forest and savannah in south-central Madagascar. In 2016 Dr. Patricia Wright and the Centre ValBio research team conducted the first biological surveys of the site since 1921. These surveys reveal a diverse and unexpected biodiversity. Our team is working to understand the land-change history of the site and the factors driving the biodiversity present in this isolated forest. Into the Forbidden Forest. July 2022. Smithsonian Magazine (Link) Otero Jimenez, B., Montaño S.K., Rothman R., Wright P.C. Biological surveys of a fragmented humid forest in the savannah of south-central Madagascar. Conservation Science and Practice (accepted January 2023) |