Travelling Seeds: How Do They Survive in Human-Modified Landscapes?

Many plants rely on fruit-eating animals to disperse. The world’s smallest primates, the mouse lemurs, can effectively disperse seeds in Madagascar’s rainforests. Since they can live and move through human-modified landscapes, my research examines how they perform such ecological roles along different habitat disturbance levels. I found that these tiny animals are full of surprise: they are resilient to cyclones and forest degradation; they are able to maintain their population size at the expense of their body conditions; and they can travel far and fast in the rainforest. Such discoveries are good news for them because they can escape unfavorable areas to better thrive and they can take the seeds away from their parents, promoting their regeneration and that of the forest.