The Red Ruffed Lemur
Ecological Values
Because the Red Ruffed Lemurs eat mostly fruit, nectar, and pollen - for example the 12-inch flower of the baobab tree, during the dry season, when food is scarce, these lemurs occasionally eat some leaves and seeds - possibly to help with digestion. When feeding on the nectar of flowers, Red Ruffed Lemurs play a vital role in the pollination of some hardwood trees, another species endemic only to Madagascar.
The long, fox-like snouts of these lemurs are covered with pollen after feeding from the nectar of deep, tubular flowers. The next flower fed on receives this pollen. It’s important to note that the flower, for example that of the baobab tree flower, are not harmed during this process, meaning a non parasitic relationship.
This mutually beneficial relationship is common with most hardwood species of trees on Madagascar, including the rosewood and the baobab. Red Ruffed Lemurs can travel 1,200 meters or more in a single day, visiting nearly every tree in that area (Encyclopedia of Life, 2015). Red Ruffed Lemurs need large and uninterrupted habitat, with a single group maintaining a territory of 25-60 hectares (Lemur world, 2015).
Without these lemurs, the hardwood trees would lose their main pollinator, and would most likely die out as well; we would lose a major environmental resource. Precious hardwoods have endless important uses, such as furniture making and house building, and if lemurs go extinct the island of Madagascar would lose a large source of income from the inability to sell this hardwood, and their economy would be at high risk of collapse.
Along with pollen also comes seeds. Countless other plants and animals literally depend on Red Ruffed Lemurs for their survival. When the lemurs eat fruit and plant seeds, like most animals, they cannot digest the seeds; they leave the lemur’s body in their droppings (Reuter, 2015). As lemurs travel throughout the forest, they spread their droppings, dispersing the seeds in their own natural fertilizer (Reuter, 2015).
Eventually, these seeds grow new trees, providing shelter and food not only for the lemurs, but also for snakes, chameleons, geckos, and even the lemurs’ number one natural predator, fossas (Reuter, Kim, 2015).
Ecologic Benifits
The Red Ruffed Lemur performs many vital ecological functions within its ecosystem. One of the major roles of the Red Ruffed Lemur is to disperse undigested seeds, from the various fruits that they consume, throughout the forest floor (Happy, 2015).
The lemurs main diet consists of fruit and nectar, also known as a fruitivore (Duke, 2015). While these magnificently evolved lemurs feed amongst those fruits they also carry out the crucial task of pollinating the assorted trees and flowers. They feed with their slim snouts and dextrous tongues while hanging from slim branches with their dexterous hands and feet.
When appropriate flowers are available, the lemurs eagerly feed on nectar by sticking their long noses deep into the flower. During this feeding, the flowers are not harmed, but the lemur’s snouts become coated with pollen, which is then transported to other flowers. Thus, for certain species of plants in the tropical forests of Madagascar, the ruffed lemur is an important pollinator (Duke, 2015).
The red ruffed lemur also has many vocalizations due to their social, familial, nature. When there is a threat near by, members of the group will sound an alarm. This alarm not only alerts others within the family group, but other lemurs of other species (Duke, 2015) - aiding in the survival of not only the endangered red ruffed lemur, but others of the widely threatened lemur families too.
Ruffed lemurs can found living in sympatry with a number of other primate species including the greater dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus major), grey gentle lemur (Hapalemur griseus griseus), sportive lemur (Lepilemur mustelinus), diademed sifaka (Propithecus diadema), brown lemur (Eulemur fulvus), red-bellied lemur (Eulemur rubriventer), eastern avahi (Avahi laniger), indri [shown to the right] (Indri indri), rufous mouse lemur (Microcebus rufus) and possibly the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis). Ruffed lemurs are also thought to demonstrate feeding dominance over red-bellied lemurs (Eulemur rubriventer). Infant ruffed lemurs have even been observed to play with white-fronted lemurs (E. fulvus albifrons) (Gron, 2007).
Ecologic Roles
The biotic potential of the Red Ruffed Lemurs is quite promising as they do have one of the highest birth rates of any other lemur (Gron, 2015). The main reason for the lemurs endangered status on the topic of population is due to their rapidly diminishing treetop homes thanks to illegal logging and habitat fragmentation.
Although it is illegal to log within the natural reserves of Madagascar, the much sought after hardwood trees - especially rosewood - have become so desirable that the price of reward outweighs the consequences of getting caught exponentially.
Over time the population of the Red Ruffed Lemur has been in sharp decline after an upsurge of illegal logging after controversial events in early 2009 [click here for more info]. Also, the local hunting pressure and frequent fires and cyclones along the coast where many of the lemurs can be found have been decreasing their numbers as well.
Originally it was estimated that the density of the population of Red Ruffed Lemurs was at 31-53 individuals per km^2 in Andranobe and 21-23 individuals per km^2 in Ambatonakolahy during the time period of 1997-1993 (IUCN, 2015). Now it is believed that in approximately 24 years there will be a population reduction of more than 80% in the next three generations of Red Ruffed Lemurs (Red, 2011).
Biotic Potental
These lemurs are vitally important to their ecosystem, and their extinction would lead to a major drop in biodiversity; there would be no shelter for the desperate lemurs and the other tree depending animals as well, along with a decline in important resources provided by the growth of new trees.
Habitat degradation would arise from the lack of seed dispersal, because the trees would no longer be able to support their ecological functions, meaning that they could no longer support the innocent life that usually depends on these trees to survive.
The lack of seed dispersal would also lead to a lack in biodiversity in other areas of the forest as well; without lemurs spreading seeds new to areas, the trees would only grow in clumps in little parts of the forest, causing a lack in species evenness and richness of the forest, two major aspects needed for a healthy, thriving ecosystem.
