Mouse lemurs (Primates: Cheirogaleidae) cultivate green fruit gardens

By dispersing the seeds of the fruits they consume, frugivores may cultivate inadvertent gardens that became more diverse as associations become generalized (diffuse coevolution). We tested this hypothesis for nocturnal Malagasy reddish-grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus griseorufus), predicting that related females and their young should create local aggregations of typical fruits consumed by mouse lemurs (small and green). Within our 5.7 ha site, animals disperse the seeds of ten plant species, forming aggregations associated with matriarchal core areas (2982 food plants recorded). Over 424 nights, we radio-tracked 25 males and 25 females and identified four gardens constructed by four matrilines and used as crèches of weaned infants. Two green garden fruits produced by Maerua nuda (111 trees) and Viscum trachycarpum (94 plants) were spatially associated, fruited during the crucial weaning period, and the germination of their seeds was enhanced by partial digestion. In the southern xerophytic forest, animals ingest the seeds of ≥ 25 plant species producing small green fruits. In the dry forests of Madagascar, most small zoochorous seeds are dispersed by mouse lemurs rather than birds. As predicted, mouse lemurs create complex gardens, i.e. species-rich plant aggregations dominated by species producing small green fruits.