Godfrey Laurie R, Irwin Mitchell T
Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass., USA.
Folia Primatol (Basel). 2007;78(5-6):405-19. doi: 10.1159/000105152. Epub 2007 Sep 7.
There are two possible approaches to understanding natural and human-induced changes in the primate communities of Madagascar. One is to begin with present-day and recent historic interactions and work backwards. A second is to begin with paleoecological records of Malagasy primate communities before and immediately following human arrival, and the associated evidence of human and nonhuman primate interactions, and work forwards. On the basis of biological and climatic studies, as well as historic and ethnohistoric records, we are beginning to understand the abiotic and biotic characteristics of Madagascar's habitats, the lemurs' ecological adaptations to these unique habitats, the extent of forest loss, fragmentation and hunting, and the differential vulnerability of extant lemur species to these pressures. On the basis of integrated paleoecological, archaeological and paleontological research, we have begun to construct a detailed chronology for late prehistoric Madagascar. We are beginning to understand the complex sequence of events that led to one of the most dramatic recent megafaunal extinction/extirpation events. Combining the perspectives of the past and the present, we see a complex set of interactions affecting an initially rich but vulnerable fauna. The total evidence refutes any simple, unicausal (e.g. hunting/habitat destruction/climate change) explanation of megafaunal extinctions, yet unequivocally supports a major role--both direct and indirect--for humans as the trigger of the extinction process. It also supports a change over time in the relative importance of hunting versus habitat loss, and in the trophic characteristics of the primate communities in Madagascar.
理解马达加斯加灵长类动物群落中自然和人类引发的变化有两种可能的方法。一种是从当今和近期的历史相互作用入手，然后逆向追溯。另一种是从人类到达之前及刚到达之后马达加斯加灵长类动物群落的古生态记录，以及人类与非人类灵长类动物相互作用的相关证据入手，然后向前推导。基于生物学和气候学研究，以及历史和民族历史记录，我们开始了解马达加斯加栖息地的非生物和生物特征、狐猴对这些独特栖息地的生态适应、森林丧失、碎片化和捕猎的程度，以及现存狐猴物种对这些压力的不同脆弱性。基于综合的古生态、考古和古生物学研究，我们已开始构建马达加斯加史前晚期的详细年表。我们开始了解导致近期最引人注目的大型动物灭绝/绝迹事件之一的复杂事件序列。结合过去和现在的观点，我们看到一系列复杂的相互作用影响着一个最初丰富但脆弱的动物群。所有证据都反驳了对大型动物灭绝的任何简单的单因果（如捕猎/栖息地破坏/气候变化）解释，但明确支持人类作为灭绝过程的触发因素所起的主要作用——包括直接和间接作用。它还支持随着时间推移，捕猎与栖息地丧失的相对重要性以及马达加斯加灵长类动物群落的营养特征发生的变化。
