Lemur population density in Sahamalaza-Iles Radama National Park, Madagascar

The clearing and fragmentation of tropical forest is the single biggest threat to primate populations who depend on this habitat for survival. In contrast to primates that live in continuous, undisturbed forests, primate communities of fragmented forests need to adapt to decreased food availability and increased inter- and intraspecific competition typical of these degraded and anthropogenically disturbed habitats. Some primate species are highly sensitive to habitat fragmentation, whilst other species can adapt and even thrive in fragmented and degraded forests. Here, we assessed how forest fragmentation and associated edge-effects impact the population density of four species of nocturnal lemur in the Sahamalaza-Iles Radama National Park, North West Madagascar. We conducted 118 transect walks over a three-year period covering a total distance of 107 km to collect encounter rate (N/km) and population density (N/Ha) data for each species, which we then compared between the edge and core..., , , This dataset contains two data sheets. The first, `Transects`, contains the raw transect distance sampling data. The \"Individuals\" sheet contains individual lemur observations, where each row represents a single lemur individual. For each individual (Observation_Number), information on the time of observation (Date, Time), location of observation (Forest, Fragment, Edge_or_Core, Transect, Transect_ID, Latitude, Longitude), the species and individual (Species, Lemur_ID) and their perpendicular distance from the transect in metres (Distance) is provided. The length of the transect in metres is provided in the Transect_Length field. The \"Transects\" sheet contains summary information on each transect walk , where each row represents a single transect walk. For each walk (Transect_Number), information on the transect location (Forest, Fragment, Edge_or_Core, Transect, Tranect_ID), its length in metres (Length), the date (Date) and the number of each species observed (Mirza_zaza, Lepilemur_sa...