Savoka Surprises

After 4 flights and several bumpy car rides, my team and I finally reached Ambodivoara village, a community in the SAVA region of Northeastern Madagascar. The journey from my doorstep in Durham, North Carolina to Ambodivoara was so long that it afforded me enough time to overcome any jet-lag. 
 
Climbing the steep trails to the campsite, I was surprised by the feeling of familiarity. It had been nine months since my last stint in COMATSA, a newly established (2015) protected area, yet I still recalled certain slippery log crossings and a particularly beautiful lychee grove. Four hours into the hike, I began to climb faster and faster, eager to reach the field site. 
 
The closer I moved towards camp, the more I realized that the landscape had indeed changed. I was prepared to see newly felled trees and altered stream water levels, so these changes did not surprise me. However, I did not expect to be greeted by large swaths of regenerating forests. All around camp, I was met with regrowth from previous clear-cutting for agriculture. The successional progress of this regenerating forest (savoka in Malagasy) was delightful. After not even a year, many new stems had already popped up. Although mostly early successional, shrubby species, these plants represented hope in a rapidly-changing landscape. 
 
In pervious field expeditions to COMATSA, my team and I diligently surveyed the primary forest. But what lives in the savoka? Might lemurs be dispersing seeds from the primary forest into the savoka, promoting regeneration of native species in disturbed habitats? With renewed motivation, we set out to establish botanical plots and two new lemur transects (a line where we conduct standardized data collection) in the savoko.
 
Establishing (“cutting”) the transects was a challenge. Wielding machetes, measuring tapes, flagging tape, and GPS devices, we set out into the regenerating forest. It’s a good thing that sweaty and covered in mud is my preferred state of being. I could do without the leech bites, but they are parr for the course in the savoka. 
 
Because cutting transects disturbs the forest, waited several days before collecting data on the new savoka transects. When the first survey day finally came, my stomach sank when we did not see any lemurs on our diurnal (during the day) survey. However, diurnal lemurs can be tricky to spot even in the primary forest; it wasn’t time to lose hope just yet. Even still, my nerves tingled as the nocturnal (nighttime survey) drew near. 
 
Lo and behold, our team encountered a nocturnal lemur (Goodman's mouse lemur) in the savoka that first night. The next night, we saw a different species of nocturnal lemur. As the days progressed, we identified four nocturnal lemur species and two diurnal lemur species in the savoka. Although early-successional forests are often thought of as “defaunated” (lacking animals), our research is showing that savoka can indeed provide habitat for threatened lemur species. These lemurs can assist forest regeneration and promote forest growth through ecological services such as seed dispersal. ​

Organizing porters to hike equipment, food, and all other supplied from Ambodivoara village to the campsite.

Hiking up to the campsite with my undergraduate collaborator, Duke student Dedriek Whitaker.

Campsite Bekona. Photo credit to Jane Slentz-Kesler.

Goodman's mouse lemur, one of the nocturnal lemur species in COMATSA.

A hairy-eared dwarf lemur, one of the other nocturnal lemur species found in COMATSA.