Berenty Private Reserve is
primarily a tourist site. The concern is with ensuring tourists have an
enjoyable stay and see lots of lemurs right outside of their cabins. The few
researchers who come to Berenty to work must contend with this fact.
Invasive vine that has been very successful |
Here at Berenty, certain
plants have been planted for aesthetic pleasure. For example a row of cactus
was planted along the road and the edge of the forest. This seems perfectly
harmless at first glance. However, the inclusion of this plant in the ecosystem
does change things. Lemurs eat the cactus, birds eat it, and before you know it
you have cactus popping up in the forest itself. Cactus is popping up where it
shouldn’t be and where it doesn’t belong. The same is true for other plant
species brought in for aesthetic pleasure: they spread everywhere and find
their way into the forest. These invasive species may be more successful than
native species, driving out the original inhabitants and causing extinction of
native species.
At least two of my three
sifaka groups that I study I’ve seen eat from a species not native to this
habitat. I’m doubtful it will affect my research, because I am looking to see
if there are any differences between the sexes in their feeding habits.
Invasive species certainly affects any researchers who come here to study diet.
In fact, because of the introduced plant species and the provisioning of
primates with human food that occurs at Berenty, this site could not really be
used to study natural primate diet.
With the world growing
smaller, humans travelling globally inadvertently bring seeds and invasive
species with them. Primates and humans increasingly come into contact. Questions concerning primate diet in unnatural, altered ecosystems
may be all that scientists are able to ask.
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