The Inextricable Plant Animal Relationship Unique to Madagascar: Ashley

The Inextricable Plant Animal Relationship Unique to Madagascar - Ashley Jowell

My blog post this week is based on the relationship between lemurs and Malagasy Plant Life. A recent Smithsonian Article has released terribly upsetting news: the article, titled “Lemur Extinctions Are Harmful to Madagascar’s Plant Life Too,” discuss esthe impact that a lowering lemur population has on Malagasy plants. 

In this article, readers learn about Yale University’s Sarah Federemen who recently conducted a study documenting the “seed dispersing ability” of Malagasy lemurs - essentially, she found the following information: while many plants in ecosystems across the globe have birds as the primary disperser of plant seeds, many malagasy plants are dispersed for reproduction by unique lemurs'. Unfortunately, anthropogenic activity has recently led to the extinction of at least 17 Malagasy lemur species, according to this article; this has drastic effects on consequent “orphan” plants that no longer have animal seed dispersers to allow them to reproduce! Therefore, these orphan plants rely on less effective  “secondary” dispersers to lemurs, such as wind and rodents, and are at the risk of extinction themselves since they are unable to as effectively reproduce.

This article points to the dramatic effect that keystone species, such as lemurs, has on  their surrounding ecosystem. It highlights the inextricable relationship between organisms and their environment, and the tremendous impact that humans have on their environment themselves. While some people think it might be ‘silly’’ to try and save a species, this article contradicts this idea by demonstrating how the loss of one species influences the entire environment at large. 

Source Article: 

Lemur Extinctions Are Harmful to Madagascar's Plant Life, Too

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/lemur-extinctions-are-harmful-madagascars-plant-life-too-180958717/?no-ist