Ring-tailed lemurs are sympatric with 9 other primates within their range, but there is little direct competition for food, even during the dry season when resources are limited.
Ring-tailed lemurs are sympatric with nine other primates within their range including: Verreaux’s sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), red-tailed sportive lemur (Lemur ruficaudatus), white-footed sportive lemur (Lemur leucopus), brown lemur (Eulemur fulvus), greater dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus major), fat-tailed dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus medius), aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis), ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata), and lesser bamboo lemur (Hapalemur griseus.)
Research on competition for resources between Verreaux’s sifaka and ring-tailed lemurs reveals that there is little direct competition for food, even during the dry season when resources are limited.
Though they naturally have overlapping ranges in other parts of Madagascar, at Berenty Private Reserve, brown lemurs were introduced in 1975 and now compete with ring-tailed lemurs for access to food. The two species have high dietary overlap at Berenty and likely compete for similar foods during times of scarcity. The development of a tourist center at the reserve has decreased this competition because new opportunities for both water and food have been introduced via the establishment of watering troughs and the addition of cultivated and ornamental plants. In the Antserananomby Forest, where brown and ring-tailed lemurs naturally occur together, niche separation is significant and daily activity patterns separate the two species, preventing direct competition for resources.
Competition with the other sympatric species has not been recorded, likely because many of the other species are nocturnal.
Sources: (Cawthon Lang, 2005; Mittermeier, et al., 2010; Simmen, Hladik, & Ramasiarisoa, 2003; Sussman, 2000)
Image: Mathias Appel
