Inundation area drives hippo group aggregation and dispersal in a seasonal floodplain system

Fritsch, Camille J.; Plebani, Marco; Downs, Colleen T.

doi:10.1007/s42991-022-00286-8

Cited by 4 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Moreover, hippos often congregate in large numbers (Fig. 3A) (Chomba, Simpamba & Nyirenda, 2013;Dutton et al, 2018b;Fritsch, Plebani & Downs, 2022), extenuating and amplifying their individual engineering impacts. Lewison (2007) and Lewison & Pluh aček (2017).…”

Section: The Making Of An Ecosystem Engineer: the Case For Hipposmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…in the dry season) leads to organic matter and sediment build‐up in more isolated river sections and pools, which can lead to water eutrophication, lower dissolved oxygen levels, and increased water turbidity and sediment loads (Wolanski & Gereta, 1999; Dutton et al ., 2018 a ; Stears et al ., 2018). Such conditions can be further exacerbated during dry periods when hippos aggregate in large numbers where water persists (Stommel, Hofer & East, 2016; Fritsch et al ., 2022), which can also have direct impacts on species co‐occurring with hippos. For instance, during the dry season, high‐density hippo pools have lower dissolved oxygen than pools with low hippo density, compelling fish to position themselves higher up in the water column where sufficient oxygen is available.…”

Section: Hippo Influences On Terrestrial and Aquatic Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Developing an understanding of how hippo ecological impacts may vary in response to changing river flow regimes is becoming increasingly critical. As African savannas become hotter and more arid (Arnell & Gosling, 2013; Nicholson, 2017), hippos may be forced into smaller and more isolated aquatic habitats (Fritsch et al ., 2022), increasing the likelihood of subsidy overload to the detriment of aquatic biodiversity (Dawson et al ., 2016; Dutton et al ., 2018 b ; Masese et al ., 2018). In future, and already in some areas (Smit et al ., 2020), such a dilemma could become analogous to the problem of growing elephant numbers in small, fenced reserves, whereby high elephant abundance leads to unintended vegetation responses and declines in biodiversity (Kerley & Landman, 2006; Guldemond et al ., 2017).…”

Section: Hippo Influences On Terrestrial and Aquatic Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, many scientific challenges remain. Hippo population dynamics and many aspects of their social lives remain unknown despite group size and density likely being key for determining hippo engineering impacts (Sayer & Rakha, 1974; Inman et al ., 2022; Fritsch et al ., 2022). Understanding hippo population dynamics, and ecological impact, would benefit tremendously from the establishment of methods to assign individuals with unique identifiers (e.g.…”

Section: Future Research Directions and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, hippo movement and ecological impact could differ with water body type as different aquatic habitats (e.g. rivers, dams, estuaries) vary in terms of the seasonal occupancy of hippos (Fritsch et al ., 2022). Hippo movement studies could also help demonstrate where in the landscape their impacts are most concentrated and at what distance away from water these effects dissipate.…”

Section: Future Research Directions and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are hippos Africa's most influential megaherbivore? A review of ecosystem engineering by the semi‐aquatic common hippopotamus

2023

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Megaherbivores perform vital ecosystem engineering roles, and have their last remaining stronghold in Africa. Of Africa's remaining megaherbivores, the common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) has received the least scientific and conservation attention, despite how influential their ecosystem engineering activities appear to be. Given the potentially crucial ecosystem engineering influence of hippos, as well as mounting conservation concerns threatening their long‐term persistence, a review of the evidence for hippos being ecosystem engineers, and the effects of their engineering, is both timely and necessary. In this review, we assess, (i) aspects of hippo biology that underlie their unique ecosystem engineering potential; (ii) evaluate hippo ecological impacts in terrestrial and aquatic environments; (iii) compare the ecosystem engineering influence of hippos to other extant African megaherbivores; (iv) evaluate factors most critical to hippo conservation and ecosystem engineering; and (v) highlight future research directions and challenges that may yield new insights into the ecological role of hippos, and of megaherbivores more broadly. We find that a variety of key life‐history traits determine the hippo's unique influence, including their semi‐aquatic lifestyle, large body size, specialised gut anatomy, muzzle structure, small and partially webbed feet, and highly gregarious nature. On land, hippos create grazing lawns that contain distinct plant communities and alter fire spatial extent, which shapes woody plant demographics and might assist in maintaining fire‐sensitive riverine vegetation. In water, hippos deposit nutrient‐rich dung, stimulating aquatic food chains and altering water chemistry and quality, impacting a host of different organisms. Hippo trampling and wallowing alters geomorphological processes, widening riverbanks, creating new river channels, and forming gullies along well‐utilised hippo paths. Taken together, we propose that these myriad impacts combine to make hippos Africa's most influential megaherbivore, specifically because of the high diversity and intensity of their ecological impacts compared with other megaherbivores, and because of their unique capacity to transfer nutrients across ecosystem boundaries, enriching both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Nonetheless, water pollution and extraction for agriculture and industry, erratic rainfall patterns and human–hippo conflict, threaten hippo ecosystem engineering and persistence. Therefore, we encourage greater consideration of the unique role of hippos as ecosystem engineers when considering the functional importance of megafauna in African ecosystems, and increased attention to declining hippo habitat and populations, which if unchecked could change the way in which many African ecosystems function.

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Section: The Making Of An Ecosystem Engineer: the Case For Hipposmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hippo Influences On Terrestrial and Aquatic Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hippo Influences On Terrestrial and Aquatic Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Future Research Directions and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Future Research Directions and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Are hippos Africa's most influential megaherbivore? A review of ecosystem engineering by the semi‐aquatic common hippopotamus

2023

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Zambia–Zimbabwe 2022 hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius ) and other species population distribution along Zambezi River

Chakuya,

Mulenga,

Ndebele

et al. 2024

International Journal of Environmental Studies

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Activity and nocturnal home range size of male common hippopotamus in Kruger National Park, South Africa

2023

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The common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) is a driver of ecological processes in African savannah aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Recent studies have highlighted the ecological impacts of hippos in these systems; however, these lack behavioural data to contextualise their ecological inputs. We fitted global positioning system (GPS) transmitter bracelets on male hippos (n = 3) in Kruger National Park, South Africa. The mean home range size for hippos using Adaptive Local Convex Hull (a‐LoCoH) home range (~6 km2) was smaller than previously documented. This study contributes baseline behavioural data for managing hippos in Kruger National Park and southern Africa.

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Inundation area drives hippo group aggregation and dispersal in a seasonal floodplain system

Cited by 4 publications

References 63 publications

Are hippos Africa's most influential megaherbivore? A review of ecosystem engineering by the semi‐aquatic common hippopotamus

Are hippos Africa's most influential megaherbivore? A review of ecosystem engineering by the semi‐aquatic common hippopotamus

Zambia–Zimbabwe 2022 hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius ) and other species population distribution along Zambezi River

Activity and nocturnal home range size of male common hippopotamus in Kruger National Park, South Africa

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