Seasonal diet changes in elephant and impala in mopane woodland

Kos, Martine; Hoetmer, Arno J.; Pretorius, Yolanda; Boer, Willem F. de; Knegt, Henrik J. de; Grant, C.C.; Kohi, Edward M.; Page, Bruce R.; Peel, Mike; Slotow, Rob; Waal, C. van der; Wieren, S.E. van; Prins, Herbert H. T.; Langevelde, Frank van

doi:10.1007/s10344-011-0575-1

Cited by 40 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(51 reference statements)

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“…Large herbivore species commonly found in the area include elephant ( L. africana ) at a mean density of 0·3 elephants km −2 , buffalo ( Syncerus caffer ), impala ( Aepyceros melampus ), warthog ( Phacochoerus aethiopicus ), duiker ( Sylvicapra grimmia ), zebra ( Equus burchellii ) and steenbok ( Raphicerus campestris ). C. mopane was the main food plant for elephant in the area (Kos et al. 2007; Pretorius 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil nutrient status determines how elephant utilize trees and shape environments

Pretorius

Boer

Waal

et al. 2011

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Summary1. Elucidation of the mechanism determining the spatial scale of patch selection by herbivores has been complicated by the way in which resource availability at a specific scale is measured and by vigilance behaviour of the herbivores themselves. To reduce these complications, we studied patch selection by an animal with negligible predation risk, the African elephant. 2. We introduce the concept of nutrient load as the product of patch size, number of patches and local patch nutrient concentration. Nutrient load provides a novel spatially explicit expression of the total available nutrients a herbivore can select from. 3. We hypothesized that elephant would select nutrient-rich patches, based on the nutrient load per 2500 m 2 down to the individual plant scale, and that this selection will depend on the nitrogen and phosphorous contents of plants. 4. We predicted that elephant would cause more adverse impact to trees of lower value to them in order to reach plant parts with higher nutrient concentrations such as bark and root. However, elephant should maintain nutrient-rich trees by inducing coppicing of trees through re-utilization of leaves. 5. Elephant patch selection was measured in a homogenous tree species stand by manipulating the spatial distribution of soil nutrients in a large field experiment using NPK fertilizer. 6. Elephant were able to select nutrient-rich patches and utilized Colophospermum mopane trees inside these patches more than outside, at scales ranging from 2500 down to 100 m 2 . 7. Although both nitrogen and phosphorus contents of leaves from C. mopane trees were higher in fertilized and selected patches, patch choice correlated most strongly with nitrogen content. As predicted, stripping of leaves occurred more in nutrient-rich patches, while adverse impact such as uprooting of trees occurred more in nutrient-poor areas. 8. Our results emphasize the necessity of including scale-dependent selectivity in foraging studies and how elephant foraging behaviour can be used as indicators of change in the availability of nutrients.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil nutrient status determines how elephant utilize trees and shape environments

Pretorius

Boer

Waal

et al. 2011

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…The prevalence of unclassified bacteria in the rumen may be a reflection of the impala's diverse diet of both browse and graze and speculated to be a result of a dry, winter diet, consisting of leaves, pods, twigs, dried grasses, and bushvelds [4,32]. Prior to this study, it was determined that the phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria were the most abundant rumen sequences in GenBank [33].…”

Section: Impala Rumen Bacterial Taxa In Relation To Domestic and Wildmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examination of the Rumen Bacteria and Methanogenic Archaea of Wild Impalas (Aepyceros melampus melampus) from Pongola, South Africa

et al. 2014

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Although the rumen microbiome of domesticated ruminants has been evaluated, few studies have explored the rumen microbiome of wild ruminants, and no studies have identified the rumen microbiome in the impala (Aepyceros melampus melampus). In the present study, next-generation sequencing and real-time polymerase chain reaction were used to investigate the diversity and density of the bacteria and methanogenic archaea residing in the rumen of five adult male impalas, culled during the winter dry season in Pongola, South Africa. A total of 15,323 bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences (from five impala), representing 3,892 different phylotypes, were assigned to 1,902 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). A total of 20,124 methanogen 16S rRNA gene sequence reads (from four impala), of which 5,028 were unique, were assigned to 344 OTUs. From the total sequence reads, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Firmicutes were the most abundant bacterial phyla. While the majority of the bacterial genera found were unclassified, Prevotella and Cupriavidus were the most abundant classified genera. For methanogens, the genera Methanobrevibacter and Methanosphaera represented 94.3 % and 4.0 % of the classified sequences, respectively. Most notable was the identification of Methanobrevibacter thaueri-like 16S rRNA gene sequence reads in all four impala samples, representing greater than 30 % of each individual's total sequences. Both data sets are accessible through NCBI's Sequence Read Archive (SRA), under study accession number SRP [048619]. The densities of bacteria (1.26×10 10 -3.82×1010 cells/ml whole rumen contents) and methanogens (4.48×10 8 -7.2×109 cells/ml of whole rumen contents) from five individual impala were similar to those typically observed in domesticated ruminants.

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“…(ii) The impala, an abundant mixed feeder (Kos et al 2012) and the nyala (Tragelaphus angasii), are expected to track the mesobrowser response, because of their reliance on browse in their diet, although to a lesser extent than the pure browsers. Finally, as above, (iii) the opening up of the canopy and the decrease in tree densities is expected to positively influence the grazers over the entire elephant density gradient.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elephant-mediated habitat modifications and changes in herbivore species assemblages in Sabi Sand, South Africa

Boer

Oort

Grover³

et al. 2015

Eur J Wildl Res

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Elephant Loxodonta africana conservation might indirectly influence the wider herbivore community structure, as elephants have the ability to significantly modify the savanna habitat. Uncertainty remains as to the consequences of these effects, as elephants might either compete with other species or facilitate foraging especially for grazers and smaller browsing species by increasing the amount of grass or the amount of browse at lower feeding heights. We studied these potential cascading effects of elephants by using 16 years of data (1992-2011) from the Sabi Sand Wildtuin, South Africa, which showed a steady increase in elephant densities from 0.12 to 2.03 elephants/km 2 over this period. We demonstrate that tree densities, and browse availability at feeding heights below 2 m, decreased with increasing elephant densities, and that there was no positive effect of elephants on browse availability. The changes in elephant densities were good predictors (R 2 adj >0.50) in explaining population fluctuations of other herbivore species. The total body mass of grazers increased more than that of the browsers, shifting the community toward a grazer and megaherbivore-dominated community. An increasing density of elephants changes the composition of the herbivore community, as mesobrowsers are unable to benefit from the impact of elephants on trees, but megagrazers show strong positive responses. Hence, changes in elephant densities as a result of poaching or conservation may trigger cascading community effects. These are neglected but important consequences of (negative or positive) human impacts on elephant numbers, especially in restricted areas such as reserves and national parks.

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Seasonal diet changes in elephant and impala in mopane woodland

Cited by 40 publications

References 35 publications

Soil nutrient status determines how elephant utilize trees and shape environments

Soil nutrient status determines how elephant utilize trees and shape environments

Examination of the Rumen Bacteria and Methanogenic Archaea of Wild Impalas (Aepyceros melampus melampus) from Pongola, South Africa

Elephant-mediated habitat modifications and changes in herbivore species assemblages in Sabi Sand, South Africa

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