“…This is equivalent to a wet-weight dung deposition rate of ca 62.5 g/m2/yr, a rate comparable to that reported by Laws et al (197'5) for bush elephants in mesic woodland habitats of North Bunyoro, Uganda (58.5 g/m2/yr). Assuming a defecation rate of 14 dung piles/elephant/d (Guy 1975(Guy , 1976 and an average of 228 woody plant seedsldefecation (this study), the estimated average elephant-dispersal rate for woody plant seeds in dung would be ca 3 192 seeds/elephant/d, with an extrapolated rate of ca 80 million seeds/ d (79,800,000) for the Hwange ecosystem as a whole. Availability of ripe fruits and seeds from woody plants within semiarid woodland landscapes of southern central Africa is highly seasonal, with peak availability for most species occurring during the early and middle dry season (Coates Palgrave 1983, Barnes et al 1997, this study).…”