Edward E. Louis

Aligning Conservation Priorities Across Taxa in Madagascar with High-Resolution Planning Tools

Globally, priority areas for biodiversity are relatively well known, yet few detailed plans exist to direct conservation action within them, despite urgent need. Madagascar, like other globally recognized biodiversity hot spots, has complex spatial patterns of endemism that differ among taxonomic groups, creating challenges for the selection of within-country priorities. We show, in an analysis of wide taxonomic and geographic breadth and high spatial resolution, that multitaxonomic rather than single-taxon approaches are critical for identifying areas likely to promote the persistence of most species. Our conservation prioritization, facilitated by newly available techniques, identifies optimal expansion sites for the Madagascar governments current goal of tripling the land area under protection. Our findings further suggest that high-resolution multitaxonomic approaches to prioritization may be necessary to ensure protection for biodiversity in other global hot spots.

Genetic identification of units for conservation in tomato frogs, genus Dyscophus

Dyscophus antongilii and D. guineti are two morphologically very similar microhylid frogs from Madagascar of uncertain taxonomy. D. antongilii is currently included in Appendix I of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and its exportation is banned completely. In contrast, D. guineti does not receive any legal protection and it is regularly exported. Field data on ecology and behaviour are to a large extent lacking. Here we report on a genetic survey of D. antongilii and D. guineti using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers. Sequences of a fragment of 501xa0bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from one population of D. antongilii and two populations of D. guineti resulted in a single haplotype network, without haplotype sharing among the populations. However, haplotypes of D.␣guineti were only 1–4 mutational steps from those of D. antongilii, and did not form a clade. The analysis of eight microsatellites newly developed and standardized for D. antongilii revealed an excess of homozygotes and the absence of Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The microsatellite data clearly distinguished between D. antongilii and D. guineti, and fixed differences were observed at one locus. Although confirmation of the status of Dyscophus antongilii and D. guineti as separate species requires further data, our study supports the definition of these two taxa as different evolutionary significant units under the adaptive evolutionary conservation concept.

Phylogeny and phylogeography of the Malagasy leaf-tailed geckos in the Uroplatus ebenaui group

Abstract Leaf-tailed geckos, genus Uroplatus, are one of the most prominent endemic reptile groups from Madagascar, but the species diversity and diversification of this taxonomic group are not completely understood. Here, we present a phylogenetic reconstruction of the small-sized Uroplatus which are included in the Uroplatus ebenaui group, focusing on the most widespread species of these geckos, Uroplatus phantasticus, which occupies a large mid-altitude distribution range in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar. Our phylogeny is based on DNA sequences of four mitochondrial genes (12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, COI and ND4), with a total of 2 312 base pairs. Partitioned Bayesian analysis confirmed U. malama from south-eastern Madagascar as the most basal representative of the group, followed by U. ebenaui from northern lowlands, and clades containing various undescribed candidate species as well as U. finiavana from Montagne dAmbre in the north. Within our main targeted species U. phantasticus, the northernmost population from Zahamena (here considered as unconfirmed candidate species) forms the most basal lineage, while the southernmost populations studied from Marolambo, Ranomafana and Kianjavato form a nested clade, suggesting the species has expanded its range southwards undergoing repeated events of isolation and differentiation of lineages. Within the Ranomafana–Kianjavato area, we identified three different lineages, of which the two from Ranomafana are differentiated by 28 mutational steps in a fragment of the ND4 gene and occur on opposing banks of the Namorona River. This result suggests that this relatively small river currently limits dispersal and gene flow in these geckos. However, further downstream the Kianjavato population is more closely related to the population on the opposite side of the Namorona in Ranomafana, indicating that this genetic isolation is not absolute, and the river probably represents only a secondary barrier to gene flow in U. phantasticus.

Comparative ecophysiology of a critically endangered (CR) ectotherm: Implications for conservation management

Captive breeding is a vital conservation tool for many endangered species programs. It is often a last resort when wild animal population numbers drop to below critical minimums for natural reproduction. However, critical ecophysiological information of wild counterparts may not be well documented or understood, leading to years of minimal breeding successes. We collected endocrine and associated ecological data on a critically endangered ectotherm concurrently in the wild and in captivity over several years. We tracked plasma concentrations of steroid stress and reproductive hormones, body condition, activity, and environmental parameters in three populations (one wild and two geographically distinct captive) of ploughshare tortoise (Astrochelys yniphora). Hormone profiles along with environmental and behavioral data are presented and compared. We show that animals have particular seasonal environmental requirements that can affect annual reproduction, captivity affects reproductive state, and sociality may be required at certain times of the year for breeding to be successful. Our data suggest that changes in climatic conditions experienced by individuals, either due to decades-long shifts or hemispheric differences when translocated from their native range, can stifle breeding success for several years while the animals physiologically acclimatize. We also found that captivity affects stress (plasma corticosterone) and body condition of adults and juveniles differently and seasonally. Our results indicate that phenotypic plasticity in reproduction and behavior is related to environmental cues in long-lived ectotherms, and detailed ecophysiological data should be used when establishing and improving captive husbandry conditions for conservation breeding programs. Further, considering the recent revelation of this tortoises’ possible extirpation from the wild, these data are critically opportune and may be key to the survival of this species.

Stress response to handling is short lived but may reflect personalities in a wild, Critically Endangered tortoise species

Abstract We detected a short-term stress response to our handling procedures in only half of wild, critically endangered radiated tortoises. After collecting nearly 2 years of monitoring data, we found that those initial stress responses were also reflective of differences in traits, i.e. body sizes, behaviours, home ranges and movements.

Evaluating the Genetic Diversity of Three Endangered Lemur Species(Genus: Propithecus) from Northern Madagascar

1Bill and Berniece Grewcock Center for Conservation and Research, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, 3701 South 10th Street, Omaha, NE 68107, USA 2State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, 100 Seymour Road, Utica, NY 13502, USA 3University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada 4Conservation Fusion, 504 Ridgewood Dr, Bellevue, NE 68005, USA 5Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership, VO 12 Bis A, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar 6Department of Animal Biology, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar 7Giraffe Conservation Foundation, P.O Box 86099, Eros, Windhoek, Namibia

Characterization of seasonal reproductive and stress steroid hormones in wild Radiated Tortoises, Astrochelys radiata

The critically endangered Radiated Tortoise (Astrochelys radiata) is endemic to the southern coastlines of Madagascar. Once common, wild populations of this tortoise have undergone dramatic declines in recent years. Although there have been studies documenting reproductive activities, reproductive physiological parameters are unknown yet may be crucial in the recovery of the species. Over four research seasons in remote field locations native to A. radiata, we surveyed for, radio-tracked, and sampled wild, free ranging tortoises. We sampled and measured stress and reproductive parameters (corticosterone [CORT], testosterone [T], estradiol-17β [E2], and progesterone [P]) in 311 plasma samples from 203 wild A. radiata, capturing their active period. Generally, hormone concentrations were associated with body condition, temperature, and humidity. There was wide variation in CORT that varied monthly and by group. Juvenile tortoises maintained more than twice the mean basal CORT concentrations than either adult sex, with the most dramatic distinctions in the middle of the wet season. For adult sex hormones, the last months of the dry season and into the wet season when ground humidities are low and just begin to rise prior to temperature declines, male T concentrations gradually increased to a peak before returning to near undetectable values into the dry season. We had limited data for T concentrations in females, but found average T concentrations were much lower than in males and positively correlated with larger female home range sizes. For female hormone cycles, E2 also peaked in the early 1/3 of the wet season along with male T, and was followed by an uptick in P which correlates to the putative ovulatory cycle. Females tracked over four years showed variation in patterns of P, indicating that number and frequency of clutches vary. Our results suggest that 1) there is high species plasticity in response to stress; 2) A. radiata reproductive cycling is somewhat dissociated with courtship timing and is instead triggered by environmental cues; and 3) individual female reproductive output is irregular. This study is oone of the first to document and describe multi-year seasonal stress and reproductive hormones in a free-ranging Malagasy chelonian. These data may be used to identify key high-production habitats for conservation, and aide in captive management and reproduction in assurance colonies for species health and survival.