Activity patterns of African elephant in nutrient rich and nutrient poor savannas

Publication date: Available online 4 December 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Rosemary Peter Mramba, Harry P. Andreassen, Valeri Mlingi, Christina SkarpeAbstractThe Jarman-Bell principle states that small herbivores feed on the high quality forage in nutrient-rich, eutrophic savannas, whereas large herbivores tolerate the lower quality forage in nutrient poor, dystrophic, savannas. The African elephant, Loxodonta africana, is a large herbivore occurring in both savanna types, where it meets different quality and quantity of forage and different competition from small herbivores. Activities of elephants are comparatively well studied, but little emphasis has been on contrasting time allocation on different activities in eutrophic and in dystrophic savannas. We studied elephant activities in eutrophic Serengeti and dystrophic Mikumi, in Tanzania in order to explain differences between the savannas which differ in nutrient availability and herbivore densities. The two parks had similar, mean annual precipitation. We drove along all accessible roads in our study areas, and once an individual or a group of elephants was sighted the car was stopped for observation. We used group activity scan sampling methods to record number of individuals grazing, walking, resting, browsing, interacting with other group members or vigilant in a group. We also recorded group type, group size, and habitat. The study revealed that activity patterns of elephants differed between the eutrophic...
Source: Mammalian Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: research