Lemurs in Madagascar Assignment
View the “Lemurs in Madagascar – Surviving on an Island of Change” video.
Using the information found in this video, and in Ch. 5 and 6 of Visualizing Environmental Science, answer the following questions in 25 to 100 words each.
1. What are Madagascar’s biomes? Discuss the major features of at least one of these biomes. Use the textbook for biome examples.
Madagascar has several biomes on the island. It has man-made grasslands, tropical rain forest, and dry forest. The tropic rain forest is one of the major biomes and it consist of four levels, the forest floor, the emergent layer, canopy layer, and the understory level. The rain forest is also home to much biodiversity.
2. What changes happening in Madagascar are posing challenges for lemurs? Give details about the sources, time scale, and types of change.
Habitat destruction is the major change, it is caused by humans moving into the lemurs area and cutting down the trees, which serve has a food sources. The time scale is happening rapidly as far as how fast humans are changing the environment of Madagascar.
3. Which types of lemurs are adapting to the changes? Which types of lemurs are not adapting well? Why?
The ring tail lemurs seem to be adapting to the changes the best. They are adjusting well to a secondary habitats and habitats alter by humans. The bamboo lemur is not adjusting well because they solely eat bamboo, and the people are cutting down their only food source.
4. What behavioral and physical traits are being favored in lemurs in the changing Madagascar environment?
Some lemurs such has the ring tail lemur has shown behavioral change to the changing environment by doing such things as using people's crops as a food source. The lemur is evolving, some researchers speculate that there may be as many as 20 new species of lemurs by the next generation.
5. Why might lemurs not evolve to adapt to the changes