What causes the disappearance of Mme Berthe's mouse lemur in Western Madagascar?

Understanding the causes of population declines in nocturnal lemurs in the Central Menabe region, Western Madagascar, and local disappearence of the critically endangered Mme. Berthe's mouse lemur

Our study “Is Madame Berthe’s Mouse lemur extinct?” paved the way for this follow-up project intended to more thoroughly assess the distribution of remnant M. berthae populations. This included expeditions to community managed forests and to the Reserve Spéciale Andranomena managed by Madagascar National Parks (MNP). Moreover, we have visited areas in southern and northern Menabe for which the presence of M. berthae was previously reported (forests between Morondava and Maharivo rivers, Kirindy Mite National Park) or could not be unequivocally excluded (forests between Tsiribihina and Manambolo rivers).

Knowledge of the causes of biodiversity change is essential to take sound conservation action preserving remaining populations or even paving the way for recolonization of areas from which species have disappeared. We have thus complemented our lemur surveys with structural habitat assessments and microclimatic data recordings. We have also collected data on the occurrence of key sympatric nocturnal lemur species which have been shown in earlier studies to determine the distribution of M. berthae (Microcebus murinus, Cheirogaleus medius, Mirza coquereli).