Focused on the critically endangered day gecko - Phelsuma antanosy (IUCN redlist entry), this project is a collaboration between researchers at the University of East Anglia and local conservation NGO SEEDmadagascar, and is supported by the Mohamad Bin Zayed species conservation fund.

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The species is locally endemic to the Tolagnaro region of Southeastern Madagascar where SEEDmadagascar operate their conservation and sustainable livlihoods programs from a base in Ste Luce.

 

Range-limited within primary dry-humid transitional rainforest fragments, current conservation effort is limited by a lack of data on genetic variation and population sub-structuring.

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We aim to take tissue samples from individuals from several populations for use in next-generation DNA sequencing. This information will then be combined with landscape-scale habitat datasets and used to quantify the relative importance of habitat variables on the genetic health of populations.

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This study will provide the empirical, evolutionary genetic basis on which to build a robust conservation plan to preserve P.antanosy, while giving a wider perspective on how other reptile species with analogous life history traits may be responding to the pervasive and concerted threats of habitat fragmentation and global climate change.

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The fieldwork for this project is now complete and the analysis is underway - results will appear here as they are generated but for now here are some pictures from the field.