By Brynn Harshbarger

Happy World Lemur Day! In honor of this very special day, Vero Ramananjato has shared with us her research experience studying lemurs in Madagascar. Vero is a PhD student in Dr. Onja Razafindratsima’s lab at UC Berkeley and recently moved to California from Madagascar! She received her MS in Zoology and Animal Biodiversity at the University of Antananarivo. She has similar interests to our Seedscape Ecology Lab and is currently studying seed dispersal by one of Madagascar’s tiniest lemurs! You can check out her paper on “The role of nocturnal omnivorous lemurs as seed dispersers in Malagasy rain forests”. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12789

What is World Lemur Day? 

World Lemur Day is a day of the year, during which we raise awareness about the lemurs, the unique primates in Madagascar, through festivals and public engagement. In fact, lemurs are the most endangered primates on Earth, and their conservation needs multi-level involvement, from local communities to international organization to be effective. In Madagascar, it is a big event: any environmental organizations, public or private, working or not with lemurs, join forces to organize a big walk across all the roads of cities and towns. People disguise in lemurs or wear lemur masks, dance and chant a slogan related to the year’s theme of World Lemur Day. This walk usually ends in a park or parking lot, where one conduct diverse animations, games and short talks about lemurs and people working for lemurs from any discipline. In regions with national parks and reserves, one organizes free field trips for the local students to allow them see lemurs in the wild on World Lemur Day.

What got you started on your path of lemur research? 

A field trip in Ankarafantsika National Park in 2015. Researchers had us help them take measurements on captured mouse lemurs, and I just fell in love with these tiny hyperactive fluffy animals. Then, two years later, during fieldwork with an amazing ecologist (Onja Razafindratsima), it just came up that exploring their seed dispersal could be fun and interesting! And yes, I successfully defended a master’s from my findings on their dispersal roles.

What are your current research interests?

Plant-animal interactions, especially seed dispersal ecology of mouse lemurs! Or anything related to the ecology of mouse lemurs, really! Particularly, changes in ecological functions and habitat preference in human-modified forest landscapes.

Could you tell us a bit about your master’s research studying the role of mouse lemurs as seed dispersers? 

Sure! It was a very basic seed dispersal ecology study. It explored the diversity, quantity of seeds dispersed and the effects of the ingestion on seed germination by two mouse lemur species through field observations and experiments. Surprisingly (small-bodied animals do not usually eat that much fruit), the results showed that mouse lemurs are effective seed dispersers. We found that not only do they disperse a high quantity of seeds and enhance their germination and growth, but their services are also particularly important for native species dispersal in rainforests. It was one of the first papers highlighting mouse lemurs as primary seed dispersers in Madagascar, and more importantly showed that some of the plant species they disperse have no known seed dispersers to date.

What research do you hope to pursue during your PhD at UC Berkley? 

I built my PhD project on these previous findings. I expect it to focus more on the effects of population decline and habitat quality on the seed dispersal effectiveness and services of nocturnal omnivores, using mouse lemurs in Madagascar as model system. I am now planning on working on only one mouse lemur species, but hope to expand it on other small nocturnal lemurs as well.

What is one fun field story you’d like to share? (Or what is your favorite part of field work)

Fieldwork is just the most amazing part of being a researcher! It takes you to incredible places and although it can be tiring, being close to nature is always reinvigorating. Plus, we have the same schedule for a couple of months to maximize data collection, you always have something to discover every day or a funny story to tell. Here is mine: slipped down a hill thinking I was holding on a tree boa. It was during a night walk when we surveyed for nocturnal animals, after rain. At the top of the hill, while I was looking around for a branch to hold onto, I slipped so I fell couple of feet down the slope and finally stopped myself when I gripped to something. When I pulled to get up, I realized it I gripped to something cold and when I turned to see: the patterns were that of a snake, a medium-sized Malagasy tree boa. Startled, I immediately let it go and I ended sliding and falling to the bottom of the hill. When I got up, I saw the research technicians accompanying me holding onto the same snake to help themselves, so I warned them. And they just made fun of me because it was not a snake, it was liana full of well-organized white, green and brown lichens and wetted by the rain!