Onja Razafindratsima, 2016­–2017 Sarah and Daniel Hrdy Visiting Fellow in Conservation Biology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University

Many plant species in Madagascar’s highly diverse forests have fruits that are eaten by lemurs, a primate group native to Madagascar.  Lemurs disperse the seeds of these plants throughout the forest with their scat. This seed dispersal process plays a crucial role in the survival of the island’s plant species, the maintenance of high plant diversity, and the integrity of the forest ecosystem. Onja Razafindratsima will discuss the role and impact of lemur seed dispersal on plants in Madagascar’s rainforests on multiple levels.